It may become necessary to measure a room at home if you wished to lay out new carpeting, or different types of flooring such as wood, laminate, vinyl, ceramic tiles, etc. While a perfectly rectangular-shaped room throws no challenges for taking measurements, it becomes a little more complicated if the room is built in any other shapes, or has annexes such as alcoves, stairs, etc. Also the measurements you need to take will depend upon the purpose for which you're measuring. Some of these instances with correct measurement techniques are discussed in this article.
Step 1
Carpet laying. Measure the room at its widest point and include all doors and large bay windows. Also make allowances for any niches, fireplaces and alcoves, if your room contains these. To the final measurement, add about 4 inches extra to account for cutting and fixing the carpet.
Step 2
Vinyl flooring. When measuring the room for laying vinyl flooring, follow the same method of measurement as in step one, but keep these additional points in mind:
- Measure from the centre of doorways or entrances and not from the bottom of walls
- If the flooring is patterned, budget for additional flooring so that you can match patterns while laying down the flooring
- Seams of the flooring should not be perpendicular to entrances, especially those frequently used
- Direct seams toward primary light sources and should always be kept to the minimum as far as possible
Step 3
Wood and laminate flooring. Measure the room at its widest points for both length and width, taking into account doors, windows (bay or French), alcoves, fireplaces, niches, etc. Add 10% to the final estimates, to allow for wastage during the laying process. To determine how many blocks of wood or laminate flooring is required, find out the individual measurement of each block of wood or laminate in square feet, divide the area of the room you've just measured (length x width in square feet) by the dimensions of the floor block. Add 10% extra to account for wastage or damage.
Step 4
Ceramic tiles. Take the room measurements as provided in the previous step and follow the same method of calculation to find out how many tiles will be required to completely cover the floor as above. As always, keep 10% extra allowance for any wastage incurred during the tiling process.
Step 5
Carpet tiles. Apply the same method of measurements as you would for ceramic, wooden or laminate flooring. Calculate the number of tiles required, based upon the dimensions of each individual tile and divide the room area in square feet by the area of each tile, also in square feet. Add 10% additional allowance for wastage.
Measuring your room for a variety of purposes is very simple. However, if you do not want to get into the hassles of taking the measurement ask the company or service which will be carrying out the carpeting or flooring job, to take the measurements for you. Make sure you're available when they take the measurements, to avoid any extra inflation of the measurements and hence, increased expenditure by the vendors.
