Job takeoff
Carpet and cushion takeoff
Carpet roll length, cushion and seam tape for a room, from the number of drops its width takes off the roll.
A takeoff is the trade word for the shopping list a job produces — every material, and how much of each, worked out by its own cited calculator.
- 4Measurements in
- 3Trades out
Give the job once
Every figure on the right follows these, in the units you choose.
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the carpet and underlay quote check: each line is read against these same calculators — what it leaves out, what it adds, and what to ask.
Check the quoteEvery trade, from those dimensions
then change a dimension, and each line shows what moved.
| Trade | Quantity | |
|---|---|---|
Carpet Roll Length & Waste CalculatorRoll length for the drops, each cut the floor's length, with the waste allowance added for trimming. The calculator's Room Area here is the carpet cut (drops × roll width × floor length), not the floor's area, so the roll width divides back out and the length follows the drop count.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Carpet Roll Length & Waste Calculator | 36.3 ft | |
Carpet Cushion Roll CalculatorCushion rolls for the same floor.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cut allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Carpet Cushion Roll Calculator | 1 roll | |
Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer CalculatorTape and sealer for one seam fewer than there are drops, each running the floor's length.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The waste allowance: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. Change any other figure on the Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer Calculator | 1 roll | |
Carpet Roll Length & Waste CalculatorRoll length for the drops, each cut the floor's length, with the waste allowance added for trimming. The calculator's Room Area here is the carpet cut (drops × roll width × floor length), not the floor's area, so the roll width divides back out and the length follows the drop count.
Why this quantity? | 11 m | |
Carpet Cushion Roll CalculatorCushion rolls for the same floor.
Why this quantity? | 1 roll | |
Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer CalculatorTape and sealer for one seam fewer than there are drops, each running the floor's length.
Why this quantity? | 1 roll |
Estimates, not a quote. Each row gives its base, the allowance on top, the adjusted figure and what to order; change an allowance on the row, or open its reasoning to see every figure it rests on. A trade's own page carries what it does not cover — open the one you are about to order against.
Labour and programme
Person-hours for the rows going in, from trade rules of thumb: a range for each piece of work, never a price.
- Carpet Cushion Roll5.0 h (3.0–10.0)
About 5.0 person-hours in all, between 3.0 and 10.0.
Trade by trade
- Floor layer1 floor layer + 1 labourerhalf a day
About half a day, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Carpet Roll Length & Waste: counted with Carpet Cushion Roll
- Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer: counted with Carpet Cushion Roll
Labour and programme
Person-hours for the rows going in, from trade rules of thumb: a range for each piece of work, never a price.
- Carpet Cushion Roll5.0 h (3.0–10)
About 5.0 person-hours in all, between 3.0 and 10.
Trade by trade
- Floor layer1 floor layer + 1 labourerhalf a day
About half a day, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Carpet Roll Length & Waste: counted with Carpet Cushion Roll
- Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer: counted with Carpet Cushion Roll
Setups you have saved
The build-up, the dimensions and any allowance you changed — kept on this device, and reusable on any job. Your prices are not copied in: they stay in your price book, so a setup never holds a stale one.
How far does a budget go?
At your own prices, with this build-up unchanged.
About this job
Carpet is the one floor covering where the material cost is set by a number that is not the room's area. Broadloom comes off a roll of fixed width, so a room 20 mm (under an inch) wider than the roll takes a second drop down its whole length, and the waste in that drop is charged whether it is used or not. Two rooms of identical area can differ by a third in carpet because one of them fits the width and the other does not.
That is also why the seam matters. A seam is not a defect — it is what lets a wide room be covered at all — but it must be planned to fall away from the light and out of the traffic line, and it needs tape and sealer that a simple area calculation never asks for. The carpet row buys whole drops, each the floor's length, and there is one seam fewer than there are drops. Set Drops to one if the floor fits a single width of the roll, and the tape row drops out with it.
How each line reads
- Base
- What the calculator gives for these dimensions, before anything is added.
- Allowance
- Cutting waste, a lap or spare stock — named, with where it comes from, and changeable on the row.
- Adjusted
- The base with its allowance on top.
- Order
- What to buy: the adjusted figure in whole boards, bags, rolls or lengths.
The order this happens in
Quantities do not tell you the sequence, and on this job the sequence is where the money goes wrong.
- Measure the room at its widest point, including doorways and any bay, before choosing a roll width.
- Plan the drops and the seam positions on paper — with the pile direction consistent across them.
- Fit gripper around the perimeter, leaving the gap the carpet will tuck into.
- Lay the cushion, butted and taped, never overlapped.
- Bring the carpet in, cut roughly oversize, then seam before any stretching.
- Power-stretch across the room, not just along it, and trim into the gripper last.
What this takeoff does not cover
- Gripper, tacks and door bars, which are perimeter lengths rather than areas.
- The pile direction and pattern repeat. A patterned carpet needs extra length to match across a seam, and the repeat is on the product rather than in the room.
- Stairs, which are measured tread by tread and take considerably more per square metre of plan than a flat room.
- Subfloor preparation and the removal of what is down now.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the carpet and underlay quote check. Every line of it is read against these same calculators and your measurements. Quantities only, never prices.
What it leaves out
Every line this takeoff has that nothing on the quote reads as.
What it adds
Labour, removal, hire, fees — each named for what it is.
What to ask
One list of questions, ready to copy. Never a verdict.
More takeoffs
Other job takeoffs
Room fit-out
7 tradesBoard, fill, paint and floor a rectangular room, walls and ceiling, from one set of dimensions.
Run this takeoffStud partition
3 tradesStuds, jointing compound and outlets for a single run of internal partition.
Run this takeoffTile a floor
4 tradesBacker board, the thinset it is bedded in, tile and adhesive for a rectangular floor from one measurement.
Run this takeoff
Frequently asked questions
- What does the carpet and underlay takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Floor length 5 m · Floor width 4 m · Drops 2 · Roll width 3.66 m, it orders: Carpet Roll Length & Waste, 11 m; Carpet Cushion Roll, 1 roll; Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer, 1 roll. Opened at Floor length 16.5 ft · Floor width 13 ft · Drops 2 · Roll width 12 ft: Carpet Roll Length & Waste, 36.3 ft; Carpet Cushion Roll, 1 roll; Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer, 1 roll. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the carpet and underlay takeoff run?
- 3 calculators, one to a line: Carpet Roll Length & Waste Calculator, Carpet Cushion Roll Calculator, Carpet Seam Tape and Sealer Calculator. Each has a page of its own with its formula and its sources; the takeoff runs them all on one set of dimensions.
- What does the carpet and underlay takeoff leave out?
- 4 things, each named on this page: Gripper, tacks and door bars, which are perimeter lengths rather than areas; The pile direction and pattern repeat; Stairs, which are measured tread by tread and take considerably more per square metre of plan than a flat room; Subfloor preparation and the removal of what is down now.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The carpet and underlay quote check reads a quote's lines against these same calculators and your measurements, and reports what it leaves out, what it adds and what to ask. It reads quantities, never prices.