SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
The length of the room to be floored.
Measure the longest straight run of floor area.
Tools needed: Tape measure or laser measure
The width of the room to be floored.
Measure perpendicular to the length.
Tools needed: Tape measure or laser measure
Different materials and layouts waste different amounts of material.
Diagonal layouts and small-format tile need more extra material for angled and edge cuts than a simple straight-lay pattern.
Estimated flooring needed
161.5 sq ft
- Room area
- 149.5 sq ft
- Waste factor applied
- 8 %
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Flooring Calculator: 161 sq ft — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Waste factor ranges: 7-10% for straight-lay hardwood, 12-15% for diagonal hardwood, 5-10% for straight laminate/LVP, 10% for straight-set tile, 15% for diagonal tile — standard flooring-industry rules of thumb
Inputs used
- Room Length
- 13 ft
- Room Width
- 11.5 ft
- Material & Layout
- Laminate / Luxury Vinyl Plank
Intermediate steps
- Room area
- 149.5 sq ft
- Waste factor applied
- 8 %
What this calculation does not cover
- The waste allowance is fixed by the material and layout you choose — 8, 10, 13 or 15 percent — and there is no field to raise or lower it, so a floor with an unusual amount of cutting, such as a hallway of doorway returns or a run of bay windows, cannot be given more than its category carries.
- Each side is capped at 30 m (100 ft) and only one rectangle is accepted, so an L-shaped or open-plan floor has to be broken up and run piece by piece, and because the percentage was set for a plain room it does not widen for the extra cut perimeter an L-shape brings.
- Nothing is subtracted from that rectangle: a kitchen island, a hearth, a fitted wardrobe or a chimney breast is still counted as floor by length times width, so the figure covers the full footprint between the walls.
- Board width and tile size are never asked for, so every straight-set tile job takes the same 10 percent whether the units are 600 mm (24 in) squares or the small formats the material help itself says cut more heavily.
- The answer is an area in square metres, not a count of boxes, packs or planks, and since flooring is sold in boxes covering a fixed area the quantity you actually order will be the next whole box above this number.
- The cost line prices the whole waste-inflated area at an installed rate per square foot, so the offcut destined for the skip is charged at the same rate as the floor you walk on.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Part of a bigger job
This trade is one line of a job takeoff. Run the whole job and every other trade comes back with it, off the same measurements.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-17 · v1.0.2
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Waste factor ranges: 7-10% for straight-lay hardwood, 12-15% for diagonal hardwood, 5-10% for straight laminate/LVP, 10% for straight-set tile, 15% for diagonal tile — standard flooring-industry rules of thumb
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Your workspace
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