The single most useful tool to bring with you when shopping for flooring is the measurements of your space.

Measuring your project for new flooring is a simple task which makes hunting for that right product so much easier. Without measurements it’s very hard for us to accurately estimate the cost of your job. And it’s always frustrating to find the perfect carpet remnant only to later discover it’s the wrong size for your project.

The simplest way to measure is to draw a rough floor plan of your space and then take wall measurements. The floor plan is particularly helpful when connected rooms are being floored because it lets us know where the seams will need to go and if there are any ways we can help you save on wasted material.

Here are a few pointers:

• Transitions between different flooring should ideally happen under a closed door, so make sure to measure from under the door to the far wall.
• It’s always a good idea to add a fudge factor of about two inches to your measurements, walls often aren’t square and measurements often aren’t perfect.
• To figure out how much material will be needed on a stairway we need to know the rise between each step, the depth of each step, the width of each step along with how many steps you have in total. We’ll also need to know about any landings, turns in the stairs, wrapped sides, and if your stairway is waterfall or bullnose. Waterfall stairs have 90° angles while bullnose has a lip on each step.

While the contractors we partner with do offer free measurements and labor estimates, we ask that you come into the store first to get an idea of what product you’re interested in. This allows the contractor to keep an eye out for any potential complications that might arise from a particular flooring in your space. Examples include subfloor issues for vinyl or hardwood, or waste caused by pattern matches in carpeted rooms. For simple carpet jobs contractor measurements often aren’t needed.
   

Here is an example of a rough measurement that has all the information we need to help you find carpeting for this apartment. It lets us know we need a single piece 12’ x 48’7” to carpet the whole unit, or we could break up the space with one 12’ x 20’7” piece in the living room and hall and the bedrooms in a second 12’ x 28’ piece.

Have questions about measuring your space for flooring?  Visit us at the store or give us a call at (707) 822-5733, we're happy to help.

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