If you’re planning to move your carpet, whether to replace it or to simply get rid of it, then you’ll need to know how difficult it will be to move. So, how much does carpet weigh exactly?
Carpet will usually weigh between 0.5 and 2.2 pounds per square foot depending on a few different factors.
Keep reading this article to find out what actually affects the weight of a carpet as well as how you can get a good estimate of how much your carpet weighs.
What Factors Affect The Weight Of Carpet?
Now you’ve got a rough idea of how much a carpet will weigh per square foot let’s dive into the factors that can cause this to vary so much between carpets.
Type Of Carpet
The type of carpet you have is the number one indicator of how much it will weigh on a per square foot basis.
A good rule of thumb is that carpets with long and loose strands will weigh less than those with short and dense fibres. Woven carpets, for example, will tend to be on the heavier side of things as the fibres are designed to be durable and last for longer periods of time, which means they are quite densely packed.
You can always check the underside of any carpet to quickly find out how much it weighs.
Size Of The Roll
This probably seems obvious but if you are transporting a new carpet then it will more than likely be in a roll. Carpet rolls typically come in standard sizes as per manufacturer guidelines and common sizes include 12 and 15 feet, but this can vary depending on which manufacturer you buy from.
Obviously, a larger carpet roll size will result in a heavier carpet, but this is something to keep in mind when you are moving a carpet roll around as the weight can increase a lot.
New vs Old Carpet
This is an interesting point that you’ve probably not considered but an older carpet is likely to weigh a different amount to one that is new.
The weight can either be more or less, but an old carpet will usually weigh more than a new one due to the collection of dust and debris in the carpet fibres. An older carpet may sometimes weigh less though if it has been damaged and carpet fibres have become loose and eventually unstuck.
If you’re removing an older carpet you might even cut it up into pieces as well which will make it easier to carry versus a newer carpet which will come as a roll.
How Can You Calculate The Weight Of Your Carpet?
The first thing to check is if the carpet has the weight written on the underside, as this is the case with most carpets.
Otherwise, you can get a rough estimate by using the guidelines of 0.5 to 2.2 pounds per square foot and multiplying this by the area of carpet in feet. A tape measure can be used to easily estimate the area of your carpet and then you can get an idea of how much weight of carpet there is.
If your carpet has longer and loose fibres an estimate of around 0.5-1 pounds per square foot would be more suitable, whereas a tighter woven carpet would be more suited to a 1 to 2.2 pound per square foot range.
Frequently Asked Questions
During our research for this article, we came across a few frequent questions that we’ve decided to summarise below along with the answers. If you have any other questions you would like to see added then please let us know here!
How Much Does A 12 Foot Roll Of Carpet Weigh
A 12-foot roll of carpet can be assumed to weigh between 0.5 and 2.2 pounds per square foot, so all you need to work out is the area of the carpet which is quite simple as the width is already specified for you.
The only thing to find out is the length of the carpet, so for example, if your 12-foot roll was 100 feet long then you would multiply the height and width to find the surface area which would give: 12 x 100 = 1,200 square feet.
You could then multiply this by, say 1 pound per square foot for a lighter carpet to give: 1,200 x 1 = 1,200 pounds.
This would of course be for a very, very long length of 12-foot roll but the calculation would be the same for any length.
How Much Does A 30 Foot Roll Of Carpet Weigh
A 30-foot roll weight is calculated exactly the same as above with the only difference being that the width is 30 feet instead of 12, so it will weigh more for the same length of carpet than a 12-foot roll.
Final Thoughts
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, if there are any other questions you want to see answered then please contact us here.
Don’t forget that the weight of your carpet depends mainly on the type of carpet that it is as well as how much of it you have. You can use the estimate of 0.5 to 2.2 pounds per square foot for a good estimate of the weight.