How Much Does Carpet Cost?
Most carpet-cost figures online are one rate per square yard with no working. This guide does it the other way: get the quantity first, price each line - carpet, underlay, gripper, fitting - and the total falls out, so you can see what moves it.
By the Calculate My Reno Team / Published
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Open the Carpet Calculator
A carpet price is just the sum of its parts, plus fitting. The trouble with a single rate per square yard is that it hides the things you can actually change - the carpet grade, the underlay, whether the roll width suits your rooms. Build the list instead.
Start with the quantity
Run your rooms and stairs through the carpet calculator to get the broadloom to buy, then price each line locally:
carpet cost = carpet + underlay + gripper + door bars + fitting + uplift/disposal
| Line | What drives it |
|---|---|
| Carpet | Linear yards × roll width, at your chosen grade |
| Underlay | Floor area - sized separately from the broadloom run |
| Gripper rod | The room perimeter |
| Door bars / trims | One per doorway |
| Fitting | Charged per square yard / metre laid; stairs per step |
| Uplift & disposal | Removing and tipping the old carpet |
What moves the total
Three things shift a carpet budget more than floor area does:
- Carpet grade. Polypropylene is the cheapest, wool and wool-blend the most, with nylon and twist piles in between. This is the single biggest lever.
- Roll width vs room size. A room a little wider than the roll forces a second strip and a wide offcut you still pay for. Picking a roll width that suits the room avoids buying carpet you bin.
- Stairs. A flight is slow, fiddly work and is usually priced per step on top of the room rate.
Worked example
A 4 m × 5 m living room and a 13-step flight, costed from the list (use your own local prices):
- Carpet: the calculator gives the broadloom metres or linear yards - price it at your chosen grade.
- Underlay: 20 m² of floor (the room area), plus the stair area.
- Gripper: the room perimeter, about 18 m, plus the stairs.
- Fitting: the laid area at the local rate, plus a per-step charge for the flight.
- Add a door bar at the doorway and uplift of the old carpet.
The point is not the numbers - it is that every line is one you can price and change.
A few tips
- Price the carpet and the fitting first; together they are most of the job.
- Don’t cut the underlay to save a little - it is cheap per metre and it is what makes the carpet feel good and last.
- Ask whether the quote is for supply and fit or carpet only, and whether uplift of the old carpet is included - these are where surprise costs hide.
- Get the quantity right before you ask for quotes, so you are comparing like for like.
Carpet prices vary a lot by region and quality, so treat any single rate you read online as a starting point, not a quote - the material list above is what makes your estimate yours.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate the cost of carpet?
Get the carpet quantity first - the linear yards or square yards from the carpet calculator - then price the carpet itself, the underlay, the gripper rod and door bars, and the fitting. Add uplift and disposal of the old carpet if you have it. Pricing each line locally beats a single rate, because it shows exactly what is driving your total.
How much does it cost to install carpet?
Fitting is usually charged per square yard or square metre laid, and on most jobs the fitting, underlay, gripper and door bars together come to roughly a third to a half of the installed price - the rest is the carpet. Stairs are charged more per step because they are slower to fit. Rates vary widely by region, so get a couple of local quotes.
What is the cheapest way to carpet a room?
Choose a polypropylene carpet on a roll width that suits the room so you are not paying for a wide offcut, reuse sound underlay if it is in good condition, and fit a simple room yourself if you are confident. The biggest savings are in the carpet grade and avoiding waste from an awkward roll width, not in skipping underlay - good underlay makes a cheap carpet last longer.