ChartStandard dimensions — nothing to enter.
"Carpet size" means two completely different things. Fitted carpet comes off a roll, and in the US that roll is almost always 12 ft wide. Area rugs come in stock sizes from 2 × 3 up to 12 × 15 ft. Both are below — the first table is the one you need if a fitter is coming.
| Roll width | Inches | Centimeters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 ft | 144 in | 366 cm | The US standard. Almost all residential carpet is milled at this width. |
| 15 ft | 180 in | 457 cm | Available in some lines. Worth asking for — it can remove a seam in a wide room. |
| 13 ft 2 in | 158 in | 401 cm | The 4-metre European width, seen on imported and commercial goods. |
| 6 ft | 72 in | 183 cm | Some commercial broadloom and most sheet vinyl; rare in residential carpet. |
| Carpet tiles | 19.7 × 19.7 in | 50 × 50 cm | The common square. Also sold at 24 × 24 in and in planks. |
Roll width is fixed; length is cut to your order. A room wider than the roll needs a seam, and where that seam falls is a decision worth making before the fitter arrives rather than after.
Ask which kind you mean first. If someone is fitting carpet wall to wall, the number that matters is the roll width — 12 ft in the US. If you are buying a rug, the number is a stock size from the second table.
The 12 ft rule and what it costs you. A room up to 12 ft in one direction takes a single piece with no seam. Go over that and you need a seam, which is visible in a plain loop and nearly invisible in a patterned cut pile. A 13 ft room is the awkward one: it needs a second strip an inch wide, and you pay for the full roll width of it.
Order length, not area. Broadloom is sold by the linear foot or yard off a 12 ft roll, so a 10 × 14 ft room does not need 140 sq ft — it needs 14 ft of roll, which is 168 sq ft, and you pay for all of it. Work out the roll length, not the floor area.
Add for pattern repeat. A patterned carpet has to line up across a seam, which means extra length — commonly one repeat per seam. Ask for the repeat before you price the job.
Area rugs are a different market. Stock sizes, no fitting, and they are sized to the furniture rather than the floor. Our rug sizes page has the full table and the placement rules.
12 ft in the US, almost universally. Some lines offer 15 ft, and imported or commercial goods often come in the 4-metre width, which is 13 ft 2 in.
Only if the room is wider than the roll. Under 12 ft in one direction it goes down in a single piece. Over that, you get a seam, and it is worth deciding where it falls — away from the doorway and out of the main sightline.
By the linear foot or yard off a fixed-width roll. That means a 10 × 14 ft room costs you 14 ft of a 12 ft roll — 168 sq ft of carpet for 140 sq ft of floor. Ordering by floor area understates it every time.
3 × 5, 4 × 6, 5 × 8, 6 × 9, 8 × 10 and 9 × 12 ft cover most of the market. Those are area rug sizes rather than fitted carpet, and they are sized to the furniture, not the room.
50 × 50 cm, which is 19.7 × 19.7 in, is the common square. 24 × 24 in tiles and long planks are also sold. Tiles avoid the roll width problem entirely, which is why they suit awkward rooms.
Sometimes. 15 ft broadloom exists in some lines and removes a seam in a wide room, but the choice of styles is much narrower. Ask before you fall in love with a sample.