Can anyone help me with determining the square yardage for carpeting stairs. We have a carpet installer lined up but he has not been around lately to give us the information and we want to get our carpet ordered quickly. I have tried calling numerous carpet stores and even checked the web but it seems there is no clear consensus on how to do this. We have 10 stairs (7 straight and 3 “pies”). The longest distance on one of the pies is 43″. The longest distance on the straight stairs is 40″ and the longest rise and run length is 28″. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
From plumbing failures to environmental near disasters, OHJ staffers dish on our worst and best moments.
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Will the carpet be full width, or will there be a section of wood exposed on each end?
Are you saying one rise plus one run = 28"? Usually it's in the 14" range.
Carpet comes 12 ft wide. Divide by 40" and you can get 3 strips per running foot of carpet. Assume 10 equal straight steps = 10 x 14" = 140" or 12 ft total. 12 LF divided by 3 strips = 4 LF of carpet needed, but with no allowance for oops. There is a 2 ft rip of waste off the edge of the carpet, but you can't use that cuz the grain would be going the wrong way.
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
Will the carpet be full width, or will there be a section of wood exposed on each end?
Are you saying one rise plus one run = 28"? Usually it's in the 14" range.
Ed,
The stairs are sided by walls on either side except for the two of the pies and about a 1/3 of the last straight stair before it turns. These exposed areas will be covered. There is very little needed to cover them.
When we last spoke with the installer he asked that I measure the longest rise and run total in the pie area. That is 28". The straight stairs are in the 14" range (17" roughly).
Some houses here have carpet in the middle 3/4 opf the treads, and exposed oak on the ends like borders.
Ok, a slight re-calc. Assume all the pie treads are the same as the bigest one ... gives a little extra carpet to work with.
7 straight treads at 17" = 10 LF. 3 pie treads at 28" = 7 lf.
Total length needed is 17 LF divided by 3 strips = 6 LF of carpet to buy, with a little extra for ease of cutting.
6 lf of 12 ft wide carpet = 8 sy
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
I have received estimates of 7 sq yds up to and including one saying 13-16 sq. yds. Your explanation is very logical. Thank you.