How much wastage should I allow for flooring?

Ten per cent is the minimum for a simple rectangular room with planks laid straight. Fifteen per cent is the sensible default for most rooms, because bays, chimney breasts, doorways and radiator pipes all create offcuts. Allow twenty per cent for herringbone, chevron or anything laid on the diagonal, where every board meets a wall at an angle and the offcut is rarely reusable.

How do I measure a room that is not a rectangle?

Split it into rectangles and add a room to the calculator for each one. An L-shaped lounge is two rectangles; a room with a square bay is the main room plus the bay. Measure into alcoves and through doorways to where the floor will finish, because the flooring has to reach those points too.

Should I round up to whole packs?

Yes, and the calculator does it for you. Flooring is sold by the pack, not cut to the metre, so the figure you order is always the next whole pack above what you need. The spare shown in the results is the leftover from that rounding, which is exactly what you want for future repairs.

Why does it matter that all the packs come from one batch?

Wood and vinyl are both manufactured in batches, and shade varies slightly between them. If you run short and order a single extra pack weeks later, there is a real chance it will not match the floor already down. Ordering the whole quantity at once avoids that, which is the main reason to get the measurement right first time.

Do I need underlay as well, and is that the same area?

Most floating floors need underlay, and you need the same area as the floor itself, though underlay is normally sold in rolls rather than packs so the coverage per roll is different. Glued and nailed floors do not use underlay but may need adhesive, damp-proof membrane or levelling compound instead. Tell us what your subfloor is and we will tell you what goes with it.

Is this the same as a quote?

No. It is an estimate of quantity to help you plan. A quote depends on the subfloor, the preparation needed, doorways, thresholds, skirting and how the rooms join together. Our measure is free and it removes the guesswork, so it is worth booking before you order anything.

How much wastage should I allow for flooring?

Ten per cent is the minimum for a simple rectangular room with planks laid straight. Fifteen per cent is the sensible default for most rooms, because bays, chimney breasts, doorways and radiator pipes all create offcuts. Allow twenty per cent for herringbone, chevron or anything laid on the diagonal, where every board meets a wall at an angle and the offcut is rarely reusable.

How do I measure a room that is not a rectangle?

Split it into rectangles and add a room to the calculator for each one. An L-shaped lounge is two rectangles; a room with a square bay is the main room plus the bay. Measure into alcoves and through doorways to where the floor will finish, because the flooring has to reach those points too.

Should I round up to whole packs?

Yes, and the calculator does it for you. Flooring is sold by the pack, not cut to the metre, so the figure you order is always the next whole pack above what you need. The spare shown in the results is the leftover from that rounding, which is exactly what you want for future repairs.

Why does it matter that all the packs come from one batch?

Wood and vinyl are both manufactured in batches, and shade varies slightly between them. If you run short and order a single extra pack weeks later, there is a real chance it will not match the floor already down. Ordering the whole quantity at once avoids that, which is the main reason to get the measurement right first time.

Do I need underlay as well, and is that the same area?

Most floating floors need underlay, and you need the same area as the floor itself, though underlay is normally sold in rolls rather than packs so the coverage per roll is different. Glued and nailed floors do not use underlay but may need adhesive, damp-proof membrane or levelling compound instead. Tell us what your subfloor is and we will tell you what goes with it.

Is this the same as a quote?

No. It is an estimate of quantity to help you plan. A quote depends on the subfloor, the preparation needed, doorways, thresholds, skirting and how the rooms join together. Our measure is free and it removes the guesswork, so it is worth booking before you order anything.

Plan your floor

How much flooring will I need?

Put in your room sizes and this works out the square metres, adds a sensible allowance for cuts and tells you how many packs to order. The pack coverage comes from the manufacturer’s own figures for every floor in our range, so the number of packs is the real number, not a rough guide.

07873 858738 Free measure and quote

Your rooms

Measure the longest and widest points of each room, including doorways and any bay or alcove. It is better to measure generously than to run short halfway through a floor.

Length (m)Width (m)

Wastage allowance

Every floor needs extra for cuts, and a few spare boards are worth having in case of damage later. Add more for patterns laid at an angle, because every board meets a wall on a diagonal.

10%A simple square or rectangular room, planks laid straight.15%The usual choice. An average room with a bay, chimney breast or a few cuts.20%Herringbone, chevron or diagonal laying, or a room with lots of angles.

Which floor?

Choose a floor and we will work out how many packs that is, using the manufacturer’s own pack coverage. Leave it blank if you only want the square metres.

Or enter a pack size yourself (m² per pack)

Your estimate

What you will need

Put the length and width of your first room in and the figures will appear here.

Before you order

This is an estimate to help you plan, not a quote. Order the whole floor in one go so every pack comes from the same batch, because shade varies between batches and a later top-up rarely matches. If you would rather we measured, it costs nothing and we will get it exactly right.

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Measuring well is most of the job

Measure to where the floor stops

That means into the doorway to the middle of where the threshold will sit, into every alcove, and under the radiators. Flooring has to be cut to reach those places, so leaving them out is the usual reason someone runs short.

Do not subtract the small things

Kitchen units, a chimney breast or a stud wall are worth taking off if they are large. Pipes, a small hearth or a doorframe are not, because the board still has to be cut around them and the offcut is waste either way.

Buy the whole floor at once

Shade varies between production batches. A pack bought a month later can be noticeably different, and there is no fixing that once the floor is down. Order the full quantity, keep the spare, and you have a matching repair for years.

Where the pack sizes come from

Every floor in our brochure carries the coverage the manufacturer publishes for a single pack, and that is the figure this calculator divides by. It varies a great deal: a wide-plank engineered oak might cover almost 3 m² a pack, while a narrow herringbone block covers well under 1 m². That is why working in square metres alone can be misleading, and why two floors with the same area can need very different numbers of packs.

A handful of our solid oak and solid herringbone floors are sold by the square metre rather than in fixed packs. Those are not in the floor list here, but the square metre figure the calculator gives you is exactly what you need for them.

See the full brochure

Flooring quantities: common questions

How much wastage should I allow for flooring?: Ten per cent is the minimum for a simple rectangular room with planks laid straight. Fifteen per cent is the sensible default for most rooms, because bays, chimney breasts, doorways and radiator pipes all create offcuts. Allow twenty per cent for herringbone, chevron or anything laid on the diagonal, where every board meets a wall at an angle and the offcut is rarely reusable.
How do I measure a room that is not a rectangle?: Split it into rectangles and add a room to the calculator for each one. An L-shaped lounge is two rectangles; a room with a square bay is the main room plus the bay. Measure into alcoves and through doorways to where the floor will finish, because the flooring has to reach those points too.
Should I round up to whole packs?: Yes, and the calculator does it for you. Flooring is sold by the pack, not cut to the metre, so the figure you order is always the next whole pack above what you need. The spare shown in the results is the leftover from that rounding, which is exactly what you want for future repairs.
Why does it matter that all the packs come from one batch?: Wood and vinyl are both manufactured in batches, and shade varies slightly between them. If you run short and order a single extra pack weeks later, there is a real chance it will not match the floor already down. Ordering the whole quantity at once avoids that, which is the main reason to get the measurement right first time.
Do I need underlay as well, and is that the same area?: Most floating floors need underlay, and you need the same area as the floor itself, though underlay is normally sold in rolls rather than packs so the coverage per roll is different. Glued and nailed floors do not use underlay but may need adhesive, damp-proof membrane or levelling compound instead. Tell us what your subfloor is and we will tell you what goes with it.
Is this the same as a quote?: No. It is an estimate of quantity to help you plan. A quote depends on the subfloor, the preparation needed, doorways, thresholds, skirting and how the rooms join together. Our measure is free and it removes the guesswork, so it is worth booking before you order anything.