How To Measure Carpet for Stairs and Landing?

Most people in Singapore are afraid of doing the measurements of their stairs or landings when they want to buy carpet. They fear that they may buy more or less. It is better if they buy more than less since when they buy less, it will not be enough for all the stairs. However, if you buy more than the exact quantity required, then you will spend more just to waste the excess. Most people employ building experts to measure their stairs and landings and yet it is a very simple task to do provided you follow the simple steps required. Employing a building expert to measure the stairs and landing for you will take your time and money.



The expert you will employ may take advantage of your ignorance and charge you abnormal fee. This is something you can avoid by doing it yourself. Measuring your room for carpet is an easy step as you just take the length and the width of your room but this will not apply for the irregular shapes such as the stairs and landings. Here are the main steps that can be followed to measure carpet for stairs and landing:

1.The first step you can do is to measure the landings both at the top and the bottom of the stairs.  
Ensure that you have the right measurements from the door’s threshold across the landing and also down the nosing to the first. This can be achieved by the use of a tape measure. Ensure that you note the meeting point of the stairs and the hall. Most designs in Singapore have standard dimensions of the landings depending on the size of the stairs.

2.Measure the rise of one step of the steps meant to be carpeted
The rise is that portion of the stairs where you place your foot while walking on them. To measure it, you place a tape measure/ measuring tape at the point where the rise meets with the fall of the next step above it. Pull the tape to the tip of that rise and take the readings.

3.Obtain the fall of each step
The fall is that region of your stair that connects rise of two adjoining steps. Place your measuring tape at the edge of a rise then pull it to the bottom region of the fall of a stair adjoining the next step below it.

4.Add the measurements of the rise and falls of each step
Adding all the measurements will give you the total length of each uniform stair. An allowance of about 5.2 cm is added so as to take care of the carpet cutting, folding, padding and wastage. If you buy the exact length, it may be shorter due to such wastage.

5.Count the number of steps
The steps to be counted are those with similar sizes. Ensure that you know the number of similar steps in your entire house. This will assist you as you will just use one step to take measurements rather than taking for each step.

6.Multiply the number of steps by the total length 
This will give you the total length of the carpet required for the similar steps.

7.Get the measurements of any step that have different size
Not all the stairs may be having the same sizes depending on the design of the house and the specific use of the stairs. You just use the same steps and also multiply the total length of one stair with the total number of stairs. This will also give you the total length of the carpet required for that particular size.

8.Get the total measurement of length for both the stairs and the landing
This can be achieved by summing the individual lengths of all the stairs sizes and that of the landings at the top and the bottom of stairs. Once you have all the required lengths, then you have the total length of the carpet you require the remaining is the width of the carpet you need.

9.Measure the width of each landing and the widest stairs
You can measure the width of the widest step by putting the tape measure at the end of the rise and stretching it to the other end of the stair. Once you have the width of the widest stair, you just multiply by the number of stairs. Remember to do the same for the landings. Add the total widths of the stairs and the landings and you will have the dimensions of the carpet you need.