What is a Lineal Metre?

A lineal metre, also known as a broadloom metre or carpet metre, is a unit of measurement used to determine the amount of carpet you need for your space. When carpet was first manufactured, New Zealand, like the UK and the USA, used the imperial system (feet and inches). Due to this, carpet is manufactured in standard widths, most commonly in widths of 3.66 metres (12 feet) or sometimes four metres wide. This means that regardless of the width of your room, the carpet will come in rolls that are either 3.66 metres or four metres wide.

Understanding Lineal Metres in Carpeting

Let's say you have a room that is 4 metres long and 3 metres wide. To carpet the entire floor area, you would need to cover a space that is 4 metres by 3 metres, which equals 12 square metres.

Now, since carpet is typically sold by the lineal metre, we need to determine how many lineal metres of carpet we need to cover this 12 square metre area.

Since the carpet rolls come in widths of either 3.66 metres or four metres, we need to calculate how many lineal metres of carpet from one roll will cover the length of our room.

For example, if we choose a carpet roll that is 3.66 metres wide:

The length of the room (4 metres) is less than the width of the carpet roll (3.66 metres).
Therefore, we would need to unroll the carpet along the 4- metre length of the room, which would require one lineal metre of carpet.
In this case, you would need 1 lineal metre of carpet to cover the 12 square metre area of your room.

Conclusion

Understanding lineal meters when buying carpet is essential to ensure you purchase the correct amount of carpet for your space. By knowing the width of the carpet rolls and the dimensions of your room, you can accurately calculate how many lineal meters of carpet you need to achieve full coverage.

At Giles Carpets Ltd, we're here to help you navigate through these measurements and find the perfect carpeting solution for your home. Please call us or fill out a quote request form today.