Solve backwards
How much floor will my packs of laminate or vinyl plank cover?
- 10 packsThe example worked below
- LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor CalculatorEvery figure is its own
You have
How much flooring packs?
Worked by the LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator at the settings below.
The settings it uses
- Pack coverage
- 23.7 sq ft
- Room and lay
- Simple rectangular room — 7% waste
What it will do
221 sq ft of floor
20.6 m²
One room. Enough for a room about 14.9 × 14.9 ft.
Or several. Less than one room of the size the LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator opens on (a room about 16.4 × 16.4 ft).
Check it forwards
- Floor area
- 221 sq ft
- It asks for
- 10 packs
- You have
- 10 packs
The LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator asks for 10 packs at that size, and 11 packs one step larger.
If you had more, or less
Around your amount
Each worked by the LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator at the same settings.
Half
5 packs
111 sq ft
a room about 10.5 × 10.5 ft
Yours
10 packs
221 sq ft
a room about 14.9 × 14.9 ft
Half as much again
15 packs
332 sq ft
a room about 18.2 × 18.2 ft
Double
20 packs
443 sq ft
a room about 21 × 21 ft
Common amounts
What each amount of flooring packs covers
The sizes it is usually sold in, each worked by the LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator at the settings above.
| You have | It covers | As one room | Average rooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 packs | 111 sq ft(10.3 m²) | a room about 10.5 × 10.5 ft | under 1 |
| 10 packs | 221 sq ft(20.6 m²) | a room about 14.9 × 14.9 ft | under 1 |
| 20 packs | 443 sq ft(41.1 m²) | a room about 21 × 21 ft | 1 |
| 40 packs | 885 sq ft(82.2 m²) | a room about 29.8 × 29.8 ft | 3 |
The label's coverage is nominal
The area per pack comes from the label, because it changes with the plank size, and the calculator opens at 2.2 m², about 24 square feet. It is a nominal figure that does not allow for the offcut at the end of each row — in a narrow room, where few planks fit across, that offcut can be most of a plank per row.
Seven per cent in a simple room
In a click floor the end offcut from one row usually starts the next, which keeps a simple rectangular room at seven per cent. Alcoves, angles and doorways break that chain — twelve per cent — and a diagonal or herringbone lay breaks it on every row at eighteen. The same packs cover about 5 per cent less floor in a complex room than here, and about a tenth less on a diagonal.
Big open floors need breaks
Click systems carry a maximum for one continuous run — commonly around 10 to 12 m (33 to 40 ft) — and a break at every doorway, past which an expansion joint and a T-profile are required. And every perimeter and fixed obstruction needs an 8 to 12 mm (about 5/16 to ½ in) expansion gap, hidden under the skirting.
How the answer is worked
Nothing here is a second formula. The LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator runs forwards — a size in, a quantity out — and this page grows its own starting room in proportion until the quantity it asks for is what you have. Where it rounds up to whole containers, the answer is the largest size before the next one would be needed.
Where the calculator adds an allowance for cuts or breakage when you order, the same allowance comes off here, because it is the same calculator: a stack you already own finishes less than its face value. Where it adds none, neither does this page — the settings beside the answer say which.
LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator
runs it forwardsCount planks and packs for a click floor, with the waste a long plank in a small room really needs.
Work out what to buy insteadSolve backwards
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Solve backwards
Start from what is already in the yard
Paint, sheets, rolls, bags and pieces, each read the other way by the calculator that orders it.
The calculator's own figures
Nothing is estimated twice: the page runs the same calculator you would order with.
The largest size that fits
Where a calculator rounds up to whole containers, the answer stops before the next one.
Both unit systems
Gallons and litres, square feet and square metres, side by side.
Frequently asked questions
- How much floor does 10 packs of flooring packs cover?
- At the LVP, Laminate & Engineered Floor Calculator's own settings, 221 sq ft (20.6 m²) — a room about 14.9 × 14.9 ft. Every figure follows the settings, which you can change in the calculator.
- How many square feet are in a box of vinyl plank flooring?
- It varies with the plank size and is printed on the label; the calculator opens at 2.2 m², about 24 square feet. With seven per cent for a simple room's offcuts, a 24 square foot pack covers about 22 square feet (2 m²) of finished floor.
- How much extra laminate flooring should I buy?
- Manufacturers typically specify 5 to 10 per cent for a straight lay and 15 per cent or more for a diagonal lay or a room with many angles. Round up to whole packs and keep a pack from the same batch for repairs.
- What size expansion gap does laminate need?
- Commonly 8 to 12 mm (about 5/16 to ½ inch) at every wall and fixed obstruction, covered by the skirting or trim, per standard click-system installation instructions. Long runs past about 10 to 12 m also need an expansion joint with a T-profile.