Carpet Cost per Square Metre and per Square Foot: How It Really Adds Up
How carpet is priced per square metre or square foot, how to convert between the two, and why the room size on your quote is bigger than the floor itself.
Carpet in the UK is priced per square metre, and one square metre is roughly 10.76 square feet, so a per-square-foot figure is simply the metre price divided by about eleven. The number you see on a sample, though, is only the carpet itself: the amount you buy is set by the roll width rather than the exact floor area, and underlay, gripper, door bars and fitting sit on top of it.
That gap between a headline rate and a finished room is why two quotes for the same carpet can look very different. This page walks through each part so you can compare like with like, then ask us for a measured written quote for your own rooms.
Converting square feet to square metres
Older tape measures, American websites and some online calculators still work in feet, while UK carpet ranges are sold by the metre. To turn a square-foot area into square metres, divide it by 10.76. To go the other way, multiply by 10.76.
Do the conversion on the room's measurements rather than on a price. It is easy to compare a per-foot price with a per-metre price by mistake and think one carpet is ten times cheaper than it is.
Why you pay for more carpet than your floor area
Broadloom carpet comes off the roll in fixed widths, most commonly four and five metres. A room is covered by cutting a length off that roll, so a room slightly wider than the roll needs a join or a strip from a second cut, and a narrow room still takes a full roll width.
The fitter plans cuts so the pile runs the same way across the room and any seam falls out of the main walkway. That planning is why a measured quote often shows more square metres than a simple length times width sum, and it is normal rather than padding.
- Alcoves, bay windows and chimney breasts still use a full rectangle of carpet
- Pile direction has to match, so offcuts cannot always be turned to fill gaps
- Patterned carpet needs extra length to line the pattern up at joins
What else goes into the price of a carpeted room
Stairs are usually priced per step or as a whole staircase rather than per square metre, because the time goes into each tread and nosing rather than into area.
| Item | What it is | Why it changes the cost |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet | The chosen range, priced per square metre | Fibre, pile weight and construction vary widely |
| Underlay | The layer beneath the carpet | Grade and thickness affect comfort and wear |
| Gripper and trims | Edge fixings and door bars | Scales with the room perimeter and doorways |
| Fitting | Laying, stretching and finishing | Stairs, landings and awkward rooms take longer |
| Uplift and disposal | Removing the old floor | Only needed where an existing floor comes up |
How to compare carpet prices fairly
Ask each supplier what is included: underlay, gripper, door bars, furniture moving, removal of the old carpet and any subfloor repairs. A low per-metre figure with none of those can finish above a higher one that includes them.
Compare the same carpet construction where you can. A heavier pile or a wool blend will cost more per metre than a light polypropylene, but may be the better value on stairs or in a busy hallway. Our carpet fibres guide explains those differences.
Frequently asked questions
- How many square feet are in a square metre?
- About 10.76. Divide a square-foot area by 10.76 to get square metres, or multiply square metres by 10.76 to get square feet.
- Why is my quote for more square metres than my room?
- Carpet is cut from rolls of fixed width, and the pile has to run the same way, so the amount bought is usually more than the bare floor area.
- Is underlay included in a carpet price per square metre?
- Usually not. A sample or showroom price normally covers the carpet only, so check whether underlay and fitting are listed separately on any quote.
- Are stairs priced per square metre too?
- Not normally. Stairs are usually priced per step or per staircase because the work is in fitting each tread and nosing.
- Can I get an exact price without a visit?
- Room sizes help us give a guide, but a measured survey is the only way to confirm cuts, joins, doorways and the condition of the floor underneath.
Keep reading
Carpet, underlay, gripper, door bars and stairs: what each line on a carpet fitting quote covers, why stairs cost more, and where the money really goes.
A plain-English breakdown of what goes into a per-m² flooring price, with guide-only UK cost bands for materials, fitting and extras.
A plain-English guide to carpet fibre types, pile weight and underlay tog values, and how they affect feel and durability.
See how we survey, prepare and fit carpet across Kent.
Talk it through with a fitter, not a call centre
Send us your room sizes or book a free measure, and we will give you a written carpet quote that lists every line.