Flooring Calculator
Floor area, cut waste, packs to buy and underlay for laminate, vinyl, tile or solid wood flooring.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Room length, Room width, Layout, Waste allowance, Extra area to add, Coverage of one pack, Price per pack, Coverage of one underlay roll
- What you get
- Net floor area, Area to cover, Area to cover, Area added by the waste allowance, Flooring to buy, Packs to buy, Coverage of the packs you buy, Surplus flooring, Underlay rolls to buy, Beading or scotia to allow for, Cost of the flooring, Cost of the waste allowance, Share of what you buy that becomes floor
- Formula shown
- Yes, every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Flooring Calculator
- 1 Enter Room length (m), Measure between the skirting boards if the skirting is staying.
- 2 Enter Room width (m)
- 3 Enter Layout
- 4 Enter Waste allowance (%), Defaults to the layout you chose. Raise it for a room with many doorways or an irregular shape.
- 5 Enter Extra area to add (sq m), Doorways, alcoves, a cupboard floor, or a chimney recess.
- 6 Enter Coverage of one pack (sq m), Printed on the pack. A typical laminate pack covers 2 to 2.5 square metres.
- 7 Enter Price per pack, Optional. Used for the total cost and the cost of the waste.
- 8 Enter Coverage of one underlay roll (sq m), Leave at zero if the floor does not need underlay.
- 9 Press Calculate. You get Net floor area, Area to cover, Area to cover, Area added by the waste allowance, Flooring to buy, Packs to buy, Coverage of the packs you buy, Surplus flooring, Underlay rolls to buy, Beading or scotia to allow for, Cost of the flooring, Cost of the waste allowance, Share of what you buy that becomes floor, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
- 10 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A 4 by 3 metre living room, straight lay
Laminate at 2.2 square metres a pack, five percent waste.
You enter
- Room length
- 4 m
- Room width
- 3 m
- Layout
- 1
- Waste allowance
- 5%
- Extra area to add
- 0 sq m
- Coverage of one pack
- 2.20 sq m
- Price per pack
- $35.00
- Coverage of one underlay roll
- 10 sq m
You get
- Net floor area
- 12.00 sq m
- Area to cover
- 12.00 sq m
- Area to cover
- 129.17 sq ft
- Area added by the waste allowance
- 0.60 sq m
- Flooring to buy
- 12.60 sq m
- Packs to buy
- 6
- Coverage of the packs you buy
- 13.20 sq m
- Surplus flooring
- 1.20 sq m
- Underlay rolls to buy
- 2
- Beading or scotia to allow for
- 14.00 m
- Cost of the flooring
- $210.00
- Cost of the waste allowance
- $9.55
- Share of what you buy that becomes floor
- 95.5%
12 square metres, 12.6 with the waste, so six packs covering 13.2 square metres and one underlay roll. Surplus is about 0.6 square metres, not quite a full plank.
The same room laid diagonally
The same laminate, twelve percent waste for the diagonal.
You enter
- Room length
- 4 m
- Room width
- 3 m
- Layout
- 3
- Waste allowance
- 12%
- Extra area to add
- 0 sq m
- Coverage of one pack
- 2.20 sq m
- Price per pack
- $35.00
- Coverage of one underlay roll
- 10 sq m
You get
- Net floor area
- 12.00 sq m
- Area to cover
- 12.00 sq m
- Area to cover
- 129.17 sq ft
- Area added by the waste allowance
- 1.44 sq m
- Flooring to buy
- 13.44 sq m
- Packs to buy
- 7
- Coverage of the packs you buy
- 15.40 sq m
- Surplus flooring
- 3.40 sq m
- Underlay rolls to buy
- 2
- Beading or scotia to allow for
- 14.00 m
- Cost of the flooring
- $245.00
- Cost of the waste allowance
- $22.91
- Share of what you buy that becomes floor
- 90.6%
13.44 square metres to buy, so seven packs. One extra pack, about 35 pounds, is the price of the diagonal pattern.
A hallway with a doorway to add
A 6 by 1.2 metre hall, herringbone, with 1.5 square metres of doorway and cupboard.
You enter
- Room length
- 6 m
- Room width
- 1.20 m
- Layout
- 4
- Waste allowance
- 18%
- Extra area to add
- 1.50 sq m
- Coverage of one pack
- 1.80 sq m
- Price per pack
- $42.00
- Coverage of one underlay roll
- 10 sq m
You get
- Net floor area
- 7.20 sq m
- Area to cover
- 8.70 sq m
- Area to cover
- 93.65 sq ft
- Area added by the waste allowance
- 1.57 sq m
- Flooring to buy
- 10.27 sq m
- Packs to buy
- 6
- Coverage of the packs you buy
- 10.80 sq m
- Surplus flooring
- 2.10 sq m
- Underlay rolls to buy
- 1
- Beading or scotia to allow for
- 14.40 m
- Cost of the flooring
- $252.00
- Cost of the waste allowance
- $36.54
- Share of what you buy that becomes floor
- 85.5%
8.7 square metres to cover and 10.27 to buy, so six packs of 1.8. A narrow hall in herringbone is the worst case for waste because every row needs a cut.
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