Guide · For the trade
Ordering a carpet roll: how broadloom is sold, cut and shipped to the trade
A carpet roll is broadloom as it leaves the mill: 12 feet, 13 feet 2 inches (4 meters) or 15 feet wide, in a full roll of roughly 100 to 150 linear feet and the trade almost never buys one whole. Through Interiors you order a cut from the roll by the linear foot, which the mill prices by the square yard; a 12 by 15 room is a single 15-foot cut from a 12-foot roll, 20 square yards, with no seam. The order goes in with the sample approved, the measure done and the dye lot held and the cut ships from the mill to the installer, not to the showroom.
This guide is for the designer or the junior placing a first broadloom order, or writing the process down for the office. It covers what a roll is and how it is priced, minimum cuts and when a full roll makes sense, the order sequence from sample to install, dye lots, lead times and freight and what we need from you at each step. The broadloom carpet guide covers widths and seams; the carpet calculator guide covers the quantity math.
What width do carpet rolls come in?
Three widths cover almost everything in our library of about 3,700 broadloom styles. Domestic tufted lines, including most of Masland, Fabrica and Bloomsburg Carpet, run 12 feet, with many styles also at 15 feet. European and Indian wovens and hand-looms, which is most of Kane Carpet, Couristan and DMI, run 13 feet 2 inches, the metric 4 meters. Milliken runs 13 feet 6 inches. A few hand-loomed wools from Stanton come 15 or 16 feet 4 inches wide.
How a roll is priced and sold
The mill prices broadloom by the square yard (some imports by the square meter, which we convert; 1 square meter is 1.196 square yards). You order linear feet of the roll width: 15 linear feet of 12-foot goods is 180 square feet, 20 square yards. The quantity on the order is the installer's cut sheet, each drop by length, because every room wider than the roll takes a second drop. A 20 by 20 room on 12-foot goods is two 20-foot drops, 40 linear feet, 53 square yards, against 44 square yards of floor; the difference is the fill and the waste and it is normal.
| Room | Roll width | Cut | Square yards ordered | Seams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 by 12 | 12 ft | One drop, 12 ft | 16 | None |
| 12 by 15 | 12 ft | One drop, 15 ft | 20 | None |
| 14 by 18 | 15 ft | One drop, 18 ft | 30 | None |
| 20 by 20 | 12 ft | Two drops, 20 ft | 53 | One |
| Straight stair, 14 risers | Any | Runner cut, 24 to 26 ft | Priced by linear foot | None |
Carpet minimum order and when to buy the full roll
Most mills will cut from a running-line roll at a minimum of 3 to 6 linear feet; a few European wovens hold a minimum of 10 to 15 linear feet and we confirm the minimum per style when we quote. A full roll is worth asking about on a whole-house job of 150 square yards or more on one style and one color: the mill holds one dye lot, the price per yard usually drops and the balance stays with the installer for repairs. Under that, cut orders on a held dye lot do the same job without the storage.
How to order carpet through Interiors, step by step
- Samples. Request them through trade samples; they are complimentary to approved trade accounts and ship from the mill within 24 hours, enough to show the client the full color line.
- Measure. Send us the plan with room dimensions, door swings, closets, stairs and the direction you want the pile to run, or ask us to measure through our installer in the client's city. We return a seam diagram and a cut sheet.
- Quote. Net pricing by the square yard on the cut-sheet quantity, with pad, freight and installation itemized, usually within a business day for a running-line style.
- Approve and reserve. On approval and deposit we place the order with the mill, hold a single dye lot for the whole job and confirm the ship date. A cut from a roll the mill has on hand ships in days; a made-to-order weave takes the mill's current lead time, typically 3 to 8 weeks domestic and 6 to 12 weeks for European and Indian wovens.
- Ship. The cut rolls to the installer or a receiving warehouse, never to the showroom and we send tracking. Freight is by common carrier with a liftgate; the site needs room for a 12 to 15 foot tube.
- Install. Our installer unrolls, acclimates the goods 24 to 48 hours at room temperature, seams, stretches or glues and leaves the client the balance and the care sheet.
Dye lots: order the whole job at once
A dye lot is one run of color at the mill and two lots of the same style are close, not identical. Every room, stair and closet on the job should come off one lot, which means the cut sheet has to be complete before the order goes in, including the rooms the client is still deciding on. Adding a room three weeks later means a new lot and a visible line at the doorway. If a phase two is likely, order the balance now and have the installer store it. The dye lots guide explains how to read the lot number on the tag.
What we need to place the order
The style and color as it reads on the sample label, the cut sheet or the plan with dimensions, pile direction if it matters to you, the pad spec (7/16 inch 8 pound rebond for a residential cut pile, 1/4 to 3/8 inch dense felt or rubber under a loop, a Wilton or a stair), the ship-to address and a contact who can receive freight, the install date and the approved trade account on the order.
Questions designers ask
What width do carpet rolls come in?
12 feet for most domestic tufted lines, 13 feet 2 inches (4 meters) for European and Indian wovens, 15 feet on many domestic styles and 13 feet 6 inches at Milliken. Check the width on the spec sheet first, because it sets the seam layout and the quantity.
Is broadloom priced by the square yard or the square meter?
By the square yard in the US and we convert the imports that quote in square meters.
Who installs the carpet and can the client's own installer receive it?
Our installer network covers the whole country and we prefer to ship to our own installer, who checks the goods against the order on arrival. If the client's contractor is installing, the roll can ship to them; the inspection on arrival then becomes their responsibility and any claim on the goods has to be made before the carpet is cut.
How much carpet does a 12 by 12 room need?
One 12-foot cut from a 12-foot roll, 16 square yards, with no seam. On 13 feet 2 inch goods it is the same cut with a 14-inch strip of waste along one wall; on 15-foot goods the waste is 3 feet, which is why we match the roll width to the room before we match the color.
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