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For scales such as 3/8 in. equals 1 ft, or 3/16, in. equals 1 ft, it is advisable to use what is known as an '"architect's scale," a six-faced "ruler" with a triangular cross section that automatically converts fractions of an inch into the appropriate number of feet, depending on which scale is being used. A good carpet layer will want to include an architect's scale in his tool kit and use it not only for 3/8 in. scale but for the 1/4 in. and 1/8 in. scales also—it's a lot easier to use than a ruler and eliminates a lot of figuring and possible mistakes.

Some carpet companies provide handy printed forms on 81/2 X 11-in. paper for making drawings to the 1/4-in. scale. They use a grid of horizontal and vertical lines, with the edges numbered to correspond to actual feet. They can also be used for making rough sketches to scale. The back of these forms will also provide spaces for Order Number, Date, Customer's Name, Address and Phone Number, type of carpet, pattern, square yards and lineal yards, type of padding, and other special instructions. If these are not available, it would probably pay for your shop to have a similar form printed up in quantities.

ESTIMATING THE TOTAL YARDAGE

We said in the preceding chapter that even the most complicated room or layout can be broken up into one (or more) large rectangles plus a number of large and small right triangles—or, if the room is circular or elliptical, into one or more circles or semicircles plus a rectangle or triangle or two.

Beginning with the simplest of these geometric figures, the area of a rectangle is obtained by multiplying the length by the width. If both of these are in feet, the resulting area will be square jeet; if both have been converted into yards before multiplying, the results will be square yards.

To convert square feet into square yards, divide the number of square feet by 9 (not by 3, as some customers seem to think). The reason for this is that there are 3 ft in a yard, but 9 sq it in a sq yd.

A square is merely a special type of rectangle, and the area is therefore length x width as before, except here length and width are the same figure; e.g., a square that is 9 ft on a side has (9 x 9) or 81 sq ft, or 81 : 9 = 9 sqyd.

The next geometric figure is the right triangle—i.e., a triangle whose largest angle is 90°. Since a right triangle is only half a rectangle, the area is equal to one-half the length times the width—except that for triangles we use the terms "base" and "height" instead of "length" and "width." It doesn't matter which side you call "base" or "height"; just remember that for right triangles, the area = 1/2 (side A X side B).