Flooring Calculator
Work out floor area, waste allowance, how many packs of laminate, vinyl or hardwood to buy, underlay rolls and the total cost — across as many rooms as you like.
Rooms / areas
Flooring pack
Waste, underlay & price
- Total floor area
- 12.00 m²
- Area incl. waste
- 13.20 m²
- Coverage per pack
- 2.220 m²
- Packs to buy
- 6
- Coverage bought
- 13.32 m²
- Left over
- 1.32 m²
- Planks needed
- —
- Underlay rolls
- —
- Total cost
- —
A shopping estimate, not a substitute for measuring the real floor. Buy every pack from the same batch so the shade and pattern match, and keep the offcuts for future repairs.
How it works
The calculator uses the standard area ÷ pack coverage method, with the waste allowance applied before the rounding so you never buy a pack you do not need. Add up the rectangles that make up your floor — a 4 × 3 m room is 12 m² — multiply by 1 + waste ÷ 100 (12 × 1.10 = 13.2 m²) and divide by the coverage printed on the pack. A typical laminate pack of nine 1285 × 192 mm planks covers 2.22 m², so 13.2 ÷ 2.22 = 5.95, rounded up to 6 packs. Those 6 packs cover 13.32 m², which leaves 1.32 m² spare after fitting. Switch the pack to “plank size × planks per pack” and it works out the coverage for you, plus the number of individual planks you will lay.
Waste covers the boards you cut at walls, doorways, radiator pipes and the offcut that starts the next row. About 5–10 % is normal for a straight lay in a simple rectangular room, 10–15 % for a diagonal lay or a room with lots of alcoves, and 15–20 % for herringbone and chevron patterns, where almost every board is cut. Underlay is sized from the bare floor area without the cut allowance, because it is trimmed rather than staggered. Prices can be entered per pack or per square metre / square foot; the per-area price is charged on the coverage you actually buy, since shops sell whole packs.
Add as many rooms as you like — hallways, landings and bay recesses each get their own row — and switch between metric and imperial at any time, with everything you have already typed converted for you. All of the arithmetic runs in your browser in plain JavaScript: nothing is uploaded, there are no sign-ups, no ads and no tracking of your measurements.
Frequently asked questions
How many boxes of flooring do I need?
Add up the area of every room, add a waste allowance, then divide by the coverage printed on the pack and round up. A 4 x 3 m room is 12 m²; at 10 % waste that is 13.2 m², and a typical laminate pack of nine 1285 x 192 mm planks covers 2.22 m², so 13.2 ÷ 2.22 = 5.95, which means 6 packs. Those 6 packs supply 13.32 m² and leave about 1.32 m² spare. Always apply the waste percentage before rounding up, as this calculator does — rounding first and then adding waste makes you buy packs you do not need.
How much waste should I add for laminate or vinyl flooring?
Around 5–10 % for a straight lay in a simple rectangular room, 10–15 % if you are laying diagonally or the room has bays, alcoves and lots of door openings, and 15–20 % for herringbone or chevron, where nearly every board is cut. The allowance covers the cuts at walls and doorways, the offcut that starts each new row, and the occasional damaged board. Keep the leftovers: boards from a later batch rarely match the shade exactly, so spares are your only easy repair material.
Does the calculator handle multiple rooms and imperial measurements?
Yes. Press “Add room” for each rectangle you are flooring — a hallway, a landing, a bay recess — and the areas are summed before the waste and pack maths are applied. Switching between metric (m, cm, m²) and imperial (ft, in, sq ft) converts everything you have already typed, including plank sizes and pack coverage, so you can measure in feet and buy in square metres. Every calculation runs locally in your browser; no measurements are uploaded and there is no sign-up.