Carpet quoting

Carpet quoting software that cuts along the roll

Carpet is measured in square metres and bought in lineal metres. Squaro reads the carpeted rooms off the builder's plans, cuts each one along the roll at your roll width, and prices the carpet you will actually order, with your naplocks, stairs and preparation.

Why carpet quotes go wrong

A carpet quote that prices the net area of the rooms is always short. The supplier cuts a length off a roll of fixed width, and you pay for the full width along that length. A 3.6 m wide bedroom fits a 3.66 m roll with a sliver to spare. A 4.2 m wide bedroom does not, and the second piece is mostly offcut, unless the roll runs the other way.

So the work in a carpet quote is choosing the direction of each cut and adding up the lineal metres. On a house with five or six carpeted rooms that is a lot of small decisions, and each one moves the price. The carpet lineal metres guide walks through the method with a worked example.

How Squaro quotes carpet

It finds the carpeted rooms

Squaro reads the selections or colour schedule for the carpet range, colour and where it goes, then classifies every space on the plan. Bedrooms, theatres and separate lounges marked for carpet are picked up, along with the robes and walk-in robes that open off them. Wet areas, garages and outdoor spaces stay out.

It measures from the printed dimensions

Each carpeted room is measured from the dimension strings on the drawing, and shows the page and the dimension text it was read from. A robe inside a carpeted bedroom is carpet, and does not add hard floor trims.

It cuts each room along the roll

For every room, Squaro works out the number of drops across the roll at your roll width, multiplies by the room's length, and tries it both ways round. It takes the direction that uses fewer lineal metres. The carpet line then prices the area bought, lineal metres multiplied by the roll width, at your rate.

It adds the extras you always charge

• Naplocks at doorways where carpet meets another floor: enter the count and Squaro applies your price each.
• Staircases, counted from the plan when the selections put carpet on the stairs and priced per staircase from your rules.
• Scrape up and pulling up old carpet, per square metre, for renovation work.
• Any other line you need for the job, added by hand.

You decide the seams

Squaro works each room on its own, which is a safe, conservative cut. Experienced carpet estimators often do better across a whole house: using the offcut from one room to fill a robe, or choosing a direction that keeps a seam out of a walkway or keeps the pile running the same way through a doorway. Those are judgement calls that depend on the installer and the carpet. You can change the lineal metres on any room, and the quote recalculates.

Roll width, set per company

The roll width is one of your rules. Australian and North American companies start at 3.66 m (12 feet), and UK and Irish companies start at 4 m, and you can set whatever width your usual ranges come in. A wider roll is not always cheaper: it saves money on rooms wider than the narrower roll and costs more on rooms that already fit, so the right figure depends on the houses you quote.

Carpet and hard floors together

Most builder jobs mix finishes: hybrid through the living areas and carpet in the bedrooms. Squaro puts both on the same quote, each priced with its own rules. The trims between them are counted from the openings where the floor changes, and the hybrid side gets its doorway allowance and pack rounding. One reading of the plan produces both lines, so a room cannot be quoted twice or forgotten between two separate takeoffs.

Checking a carpet line

The carpet line shows the lineal metres, the area bought and the rooms behind it. Point at any room and you see the sheet it was read from and the dimension text. The estimator ticks each line before the quote is sent, and if the line's amount changes after it was ticked, the tick goes stale.

Square yards and imperial plans

Squaro reads metric plans today and quotes carpet in lineal metres and square metres. In the US and Canada, where carpet is usually sold by the square yard and plans are dimensioned in feet and inches, imperial plans with square yard carpet and seam planning are on the roadmap. Contractors there are welcome to join early access and tell us how they quote.

Who it suits

Squaro suits flooring contractors who quote carpet as part of builder work: new homes where the bedrooms are carpeted and the living areas are hard floor, quoted from the builder's working drawings and selections. It also handles the preparation and removal lines that come with renovation work.

Next steps

Read how Squaro handles the takeoff and the pricing rules it applies, or browse the guides. When you are ready, request early access and we will set up your carpet rules with you.

Related reading

• Carpet lineal metres and roll width, explainedWorking out carpet off a 3.66 m or 4 m roll, choosing the cut direction, and pricing what you buy.
• Flooring waste percentage, and when to round up to packsChoosing a waste figure, applying it in the right order, and rounding to whole packs.
• How to quote flooring from builder plansThe full method, from the builder's pack to a priced quote, with a worked hybrid example.
• Flooring quoting software that prices the way you doPricing builder plans with your own rules and rates, and checking every line before it is sent.

Quote your next plan set with Squaro

Squaro is open to a small group of flooring contractors first. Tell us how you quote and we will set up your rules with you and run your first plan.

Request early access