To change square feet to square yards, divide by 9, since a square yard is exactly 9 square feet. Going back, multiply the square yards by 9. A 1,080 square foot floor is 120 square yards, and a 35 square yard carpet quote covers 315 square feet. Neither factor is rounded, so keep every digit until the final step.
Table of Contents
How many square feet in a yard
A square yard holds 9 square feet. People type "yard" for three different things, and only that one is an area.
A yard on its own is a length of 3 feet, like a yard of ribbon. It has no square footage until a width comes with it.
A backyard is a place, not a unit. Tape its two sides in feet, multiply the pair and divide by 9 to read it in square yards. If the lawn turns a corner, enter each piece in the square footage calculator, which adds them and prints the total in square yards beside the square feet.
Why a square yard is 9 square feet
A yard is 3 feet long, and an area multiplies two lengths, so the 3 gets used twice. Picture a square 3 feet on each side split into one-foot tiles. Three rows of three make 9 tiles, which is how many square feet are in a square yard.
The 9 is exact, not a handy rounded figure. Handbook 44 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sets 3 feet equal to 1 yard and notes the U.S. yard has been exactly 0.9144 meter since 1959. Schedule 1 of the UK Weights and Measures Act 1985 reaches the same place from the area side. It defines the square yard as the surface of a square with one-yard sides, and the square foot as a ninth of it.
Square feet to square yards formula
Square yards equal square feet divided by 9. Square feet equal square yards times 9.
Keep the 9 rather than a decimal. One square foot is 1/9 of a square yard, which NIST's tables print as 0.1111111 after rounding. Cut that to 0.11 and every answer lands about 1% low.
Square yards for a room in feet and inches
Change each side to feet with decimals, multiply, then divide by 9. Take a bedroom taped at 14 ft 3 in by 11 ft 8 in.
- 3 inches is a quarter of a foot, so the length is 14.25 ft.
- 8 inches is two thirds of a foot, or 0.6667, so the width is 11.6667 ft. Reading it as 11.8 would add almost 2 square feet.
- Multiply: 14.25 x 11.6667 = 166.25 square feet.
- Divide by 9: 166.25 ÷ 9 = 18.47 square yards.
You can check it in yards from the start. The sides become 4.75 yd and 3.8889 yd, and their product is the same 18.47. Dividing the 166.25 by 3 instead gives 55.42, three times too much, because 3 only converts a length. The 0.11 shortcut gives 18.29.
Keep 18.47 when you write the room down or compare two documents. A quote in whole square yards needs 19, since 18 square yards covers only 162 square feet and leaves 4.25 bare. Seams and cuts come on top of that 19, and working out how much flooring to order covers them.
Square feet to square yards chart
Find your area on the left. The middle column is the conversion to two places. The right column is the next whole square yard, the number to hold against a carpet or turf quote written in whole yards.
| Your area | Square yards | Whole square yards |
|---|---|---|
| 9 sq ft | 1 sq yd | 1 sq yd |
| 50 sq ft | 5.56 sq yd | 6 sq yd |
| 100 sq ft | 11.11 sq yd | 12 sq yd |
| 144 sq ft | 16 sq yd | 16 sq yd |
| 200 sq ft | 22.22 sq yd | 23 sq yd |
| 250 sq ft | 27.78 sq yd | 28 sq yd |
| 300 sq ft | 33.33 sq yd | 34 sq yd |
| 500 sq ft | 55.56 sq yd | 56 sq yd |
| 750 sq ft | 83.33 sq yd | 84 sq yd |
| 1,000 sq ft | 111.11 sq yd | 112 sq yd |
| 1,200 sq ft | 133.33 sq yd | 134 sq yd |
| 1,500 sq ft | 166.67 sq yd | 167 sq yd |
| 2,000 sq ft | 222.22 sq yd | 223 sq yd |
| 2,500 sq ft | 277.78 sq yd | 278 sq yd |
A quote already in square yards runs the other way. Multiply by 9 and the result is exact.
| Square yards on the quote | Floor it covers |
|---|---|
| 10 sq yd | 90 sq ft |
| 14 sq yd | 126 sq ft |
| 20 sq yd | 180 sq ft |
| 25 sq yd | 225 sq ft |
| 50 sq yd | 450 sq ft |
| 100 sq yd | 900 sq ft |
| 105 sq yd | 945 sq ft |
| 200 sq yd | 1,800 sq ft |
Past 4,840 square yards a plot is bigger than an acre, and square feet to acres gives the handier figure.
Linear yards vs square yards
A linear yard is 3 feet pulled off a roll or bolt, while a square yard is 9 square feet of surface. The width of the roll turns one into the other, the same way width links linear feet and square feet.
Fabric-measuring devices show the difference, since the NIST code has them read in yards and eighths, quarters or halves of a yard, with no width at all.
Say a roll is 54 inches wide and 50 yards long. 54 inches is 4.5 feet, so the roll gives 4.5 x 3 = 13.5 square feet per yard of length. The full roll is 1.5 yd x 50 yd = 75 square yards, or 675 square feet.
When a carpet or turf quote says yards, ask which kind it means. Square yards times 9 gives square feet to set beside your room, but linear yards need the width first.
Are square feet and square yards the same
No. A square yard is nine times the size of a square foot. Square yards vs square feet changes the number and not the floor, so 120 square yards and 1,080 square feet measure the same area.
Both belong to the U.S. customary system, so a plan drawn in square meters needs the metric factor instead of 9.
Neither unit has depth. For gravel, soil or mulch, add a depth and switch to square feet to cubic yards.
FAQ
What is a square yard?
A square yard is the surface of a square with one-yard sides, which is 3 feet each way. It counts area rather than shape. A strip 1 ft wide and 9 ft long also covers exactly one square yard, though no side of it measures a yard.
How many feet are in a square yard?
None, strictly, because feet measure length and a square yard measures surface. What people usually want is one of two figures: its 9 square feet of area, or its 3 foot sides. Walking the edge of that square covers 12 feet, a different number again.
How many square feet do 14 square yards cover?
Fourteen square yards equal 126 square feet, because 14 x 9 = 126. Set that beside your taped area before any seams or cuts. A room 13 ft by 9 ft takes 117 square feet, so a 14 square yard quote leaves exactly one square yard spare.
How many square feet is 40 yards?
If the 40 means square yards, it is 360 square feet, because 40 x 9 = 360. If it means 40 yards of length off a roll or bolt, that is 120 feet. Multiply the 120 by the width in feet to get square feet.
How many square inches make up a square yard?
Exactly 1,296 square inches fit in a square yard. A yard is 36 inches, and 36 x 36 = 1,296. Split that by the 144 square inches in a square foot and you land back on 9, the same step used for converting square inches to square feet.
What is the short form for square yards?
The short form for square yards is sq yd, the way sq ft stands for square feet. NIST tables print the unit as yd², with a raised 2. A quote in sq yd and a chart in yd² name the same unit, so the numbers compare directly.
Conclusion
Before you accept a yardage figure, find out whether it counts a length or a surface. If it is surface, multiply by 9 and hold the result against your taped floor. A whole-yard quote for our 166.25 square foot bedroom has to say at least 19, even though the true figure is 18.47. If the yard you meant is the one behind the house, measuring your lot and lawn gives you the square feet, and dividing by 9 turns them into square yards.
