How many square yards?

How do I calculate square yards?

Measure the length and width in feet, multiply them and divide by 9. A 12 by 15 ft room is 12 × 15 = 180 square feet, and 180 ÷ 9 = 20 square yards. If you measured in yards, just multiply: 4 yd × 5 yd = 20 square yards.

How many square feet are in a square yard?

Nine. A square yard is 3 ft × 3 ft, so 1 yd² = 9 ft². In metric, a square yard is 0.836 square meters, and a square meter is 1.196 square yards — 10 m² is 11.96 yd².

How many square yards of carpet do I need for a 12 by 12 room?

The room is 144 square feet, or 16 square yards. Add about 10% for seams and trimming — about 17.6 square yards. Carpet comes off 12 ft wide rolls, so a room wider than 12 ft needs a seam; the carpet calculator plans the pieces and the pad.

What is the difference between square yards and cubic yards?

Square yards measure an area; cubic yards measure a volume — the area times the depth. A 20 square yard patio 4 inches deep holds 20 × 9 × 4 ÷ 12 = 60 cubic feet, which is 2.22 cubic yards of gravel or concrete. The cubic yard calculator does that step.

How do I find square yards of an odd-shaped area?

Split it into rectangles, circles and triangles, measure each, and add them with + Add another area. The calculator adds the pieces and shows the total in square yards, square feet and square meters.

How much does carpet cost per square foot if it is priced per square yard?

Divide the price per square yard by 9. Carpet at $36.00 per square yard costs $4.00 per square foot, and a 180 square foot room (20 square yards) costs 20 × 36 = $720 before waste, padding and installation.

How do I convert square meters to square yards?

Divide by 0.83612736, which is the exact number of square meters in a square yard, or multiply by about 1.19599. A 25 square meter room is 29.90 square yards.

How the calculation works

The calculator adds up the area of each piece you enter, applies your extra percentage, and shows the total in square yards (or square meters in metric mode), with the same figure in square feet and square meters below. The price table multiplies the total by a price per square yard or per square foot. A square yard is exactly 9 square feet and, because a yard is defined as 0.9144 meters, exactly 0.83612736 square meters. The calculation measures area only; it does not know the width of a roll, so it cannot tell you how a piece of carpet or turf has to be cut.

Worked example: a 14 by 18 ft room

The room is 14 × 18 = 252 square feet, which is 252 ÷ 9 = 28.0 square yards. With 10% for seams and trimming, the order is 30.8 square yards. That is the area-based figure. Carpet is sold from a roll 12 ft wide, so the room cannot be covered by a single piece in either direction. Running the roll along the 14 ft side takes two cuts, 14 ft long each, for 28 linear feet of roll: 28 × 12 = 336 square feet, or 37.3 square yards to pay for. The difference between 28.0 and 37.3 is the offcut from the second strip, which is why the carpet calculator should be used once you know the roll width.

Where square yards are used

Carpet, vinyl sheet flooring, turf and sod, and some paving and geotextile materials in the US are priced per square yard, while tile, hardwood and paint are priced per square foot. Landscape contractors also use it for asphalt and for sealing driveways. The unit is rarely used outside these trades, so when you compare quotes, convert them all to one unit first; a price per square yard is nine times a price per square foot for the same material.

Common mistakes

Dividing by 3 instead of 9 is the most frequent error, since a yard is 3 feet long but a square yard is 3 by 3 feet. The next is confusing square yards with cubic yards, which measure volume; if you need gravel, topsoil or concrete, work out the volume first with the cubic yard calculator. A third is ordering the net area for roll goods without checking roll width and pattern repeat. And entering inches as feet, such as 168 for a 14 ft side, inflates the area by a factor of 144.

Sources: NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C (units of measurement: 1 yd² = 9 ft² = 0.83612736 m²) and NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8; standard 12 ft broadloom carpet roll width as used in the carpet calculator on this site. Related: carpet calculator, square footage calculator and cubic yard calculator.