Flooring Calculator — How Much Flooring to Buy

This hub estimates how much flooring to buy before you stand in the aisle reading coverage on every carton. Measure each rectangle in the room — length and width in feet or meters — and treat closets, alcoves, and L-shaped areas as separate boxes you add together.

Waste is not padding for sloppy installs: about 10% covers straight-lay cuts and a few bad planks; 15% is a safer default for hardwood or diagonal layouts; tile and large-format floor tile often need 15–20% because breaks and pattern match eat extra pieces. The calculator applies your waste percent to total area, then rounds up to whole boxes using the sq ft per box printed on the carton.

Underlayment rolls, transition strips, and thinset or grout on tile layouts appear on the printable supplies list when those toggles apply. Figures are planning estimates only — your room dimensions never upload.

Standing in an empty room with a tape measure, you need boxes, not square feet on a sticky note. This calculator turns length and width into a box count with waste included.

The worked example uses a 12 by 14 ft room with 10% waste on a straight lay. Use the controls below for your dimensions, waste factor, and coverage per box from the carton.

Estimates only. Print at 100% with scaling off.