Free tool · Takeoff
Flooring Calculator
Enter each room, choose the kind of flooring, and the calculator gives the floor area and what to buy. For laminate, vinyl plank, hardwood or engineered flooring it counts boxes. For tile it counts tiles from the tile size and the grout joint. For carpet and sheet goods it gives square yards and a rough roll length.
The numbers stay in your browser: we do not store or receive them.
Rooms
Enter the length and width, or the area if you already know it. Use “leave out” for cabinets, a hearth or anything not floored.
The product
Floor area
180 sq ft
198 sq ft with 10.0% waste
Boxes to buy
10
20.0 sq ft per box
You will have
200 sq ft
20.0 sq ft left over
| Room | Area (sq ft) | Left out | Net (sq ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living room | 180.0 | — | 180.0 |
How the area is figured
Room area = length × width, or the area you enter. Use the leave out box for cabinets, a hearth or anything else that will not be floored. The net areas of all the rooms are added up.
Waste is added on top for cuts, pattern and mistakes: need = net area × (1 + waste). About 10 percent is a common allowance for a straight layout, and diagonal or patterned layouts, small rooms with many cuts and large format tile usually take more. The box is yours to change.
Boxed flooring, tile and carpet
Boxed flooring. Boxes = need ÷ the square feet one box covers, rounded up, because boxes are not sold in pieces. The result also shows how much you will have left over.
Tile. Each tile takes up its own size plus one grout joint on two sides, so tiles = area × 144 ÷ ((tile width + joint) × (tile length + joint)), rounded up. A 12 in tile with a 1/8 in joint covers about 147 sq in on the floor. Add the tiles per box and it gives the boxes.
Carpet and sheet goods. Square yards = area ÷ 9. The roll length is the area divided by the roll width, which ignores seams and pattern match, so it is only a guide. Have the supplier lay out the roll for your rooms.
A worked example
A 12 ft by 15 ft room is 180 sq ft, or 198 sq ft with 10 percent waste. In flooring that comes 20 sq ft to a box, that is 9.9 boxes, so 10 boxes, which leaves 20 sq ft of spare.
In 12 in tile with a 1/8 in grout joint the same room takes 25,920 × 1.1 ÷ 147.0 = 193.9, so 194 tiles. In carpet it is 198 ÷ 9 = 22 square yards.
What this does not do
It does not figure underlayment, adhesive, thinset, grout, trim, transitions, stairs or subfloor preparation. It does not plan a layout, so the waste is an allowance and not a cutting plan. Buy a little extra from the same lot in case a repair is needed later, since colors can differ between production runs. Check the coverage on the box you buy.
FAQ
How much flooring do I need?
Measure each room, add the areas, and add about 10 percent for waste. Divide by the square feet in one box and round up to whole boxes. The calculator does it from the room sizes and the box coverage.
How much waste should I add for flooring?
About 10 percent is a common allowance for a straight layout. Diagonal and herringbone layouts, small rooms with many cuts and large tiles usually need more, up to 15 to 20 percent or so.
How do I figure how many tiles I need?
Divide the area in square inches by the area of one tile plus its grout joint, then add waste and round up. The calculator takes the tile size and the joint width and does the arithmetic.
How many square feet is a square yard?
One square yard is 9 square feet, so 180 sq ft of carpet is 20 square yards.
Should I measure around cabinets?
Flooring is usually run under the edge of cabinets and appliances that will not be moved, but not under built-in cabinets. Enter the area under fixed cabinets in the leave out box if you will not floor it.
Is anything I type saved?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is stored or sent to us.
Pricing the whole interior? PoPs Estimating measures floors, walls and ceilings from your plans and keeps the quantities tied to the bid.
Questions?
Ask us anything about PoPs Suite, pricing, or running a construction company. A real person answers, usually within a business day.