Fence Calculator

What the flooring calculator does

Every flooring job, whether it is hardwood, laminate, or vinyl plank, starts from the same number: the area of the room. Get that right and the rest follows; get it wrong and you are short a carton or stuck with three spare. This works out the area. You give it the room length and width, and it returns the floor area in square feet, square yards, and square meters, with a cost if you add a price per square foot.

It gives you the clean area to build the order on. Below is how it works and how to turn that area into the cartons you actually buy.

How to use it

1. Enter the room length and width, each with its unit, mixed however your measurements come.
2. Add a price per square foot if you want a cost estimate.
3. Press Calculate for the area, or Reset to clear it.

For a room that is not a simple rectangle, measure it in rectangular sections, run each through, and add the areas together.

How the area is worked out

The area is simply the length times the width, in feet:

Area = length × width

From that one figure the calculator also gives the area in square yards, by dividing by nine, and in square meters, so you have whichever unit your flooring is sold in. The cost, if you add one, is the area in square feet times your price.

Three units, and why

Flooring is not always sold in the same unit, which is why the result shows three. Hardwood and laminate are usually priced by the square foot, vinyl and some imported lines turn up in square meters, and carpet, the close cousin of this calculation, is often quoted by the square yard. Showing all three saves you converting in your head at the store.

The numbers are the same floor, just relabelled. Nine square feet make a square yard, and a square meter is a bit under eleven square feet, so the meter figure always looks smaller and the yard figure smaller still. Pick whichever matches the price tag in front of you.

From area to cartons

Flooring is sold by the carton, and each carton covers a set number of square feet printed on the box, so the area here is the starting point rather than the final order. Take the area, add a margin for waste, then divide by the carton's coverage and round up to whole cartons.

The waste matters. Planks get cut to fit at the walls, and the offcuts are not all reusable, so add around 10 percent for a straightforward rectangular room, and nearer 15 percent if the floor runs on a diagonal or the room is full of corners and angles. It is also worth keeping a spare plank or two from the same batch, since flooring runs vary slightly in shade and a later box may not match.

A worked example: a 12 by 15 room

Say the room is 12 feet by 15 feet.

The area is 12 × 15 = 180 square feet, which is also 20 square yards or about 16.7 square meters. Add 10 percent for waste and you are buying for about 198 square feet. If each carton covers 20 square feet, that is 198 ÷ 20, rounded up to 10 cartons.

So the 180 square feet is where you start, and the waste and the carton size turn it into the order.

Questions people ask

How much flooring do I need?

Work out the room area, length times width, then add about 10 percent for waste and divide by your carton's coverage. A 12 by 15 room is 180 square feet, or roughly 10 cartons at 20 square feet each.

How much extra should I add for waste?

Around 10 percent for a plain rectangular room, and nearer 15 percent for a diagonal layout or a room with lots of corners, where more pieces get cut.

Why does it show square yards and square meters?

Because flooring is priced differently depending on the type. Square feet for hardwood and laminate, square meters for some vinyl, square yards for carpet. The three let you match the price tag.

Should I keep spare flooring?

Yes, a plank or two from the same batch. Production runs differ slightly in shade, so a board bought later to fix a scratch may not match.

References

A quick note on the numbers. The area is plain geometry, the length times the width, with nine square feet to a square yard. The waste guidance, around 10 percent for a straight layout and more for diagonal runs, follows the installation recommendations of the National Wood Flooring Association. The unit conversions follow the US National Institute of Standards and Technology guide.

1. National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), installation and waste-allowance guidance. https://www.nwfa.org
2. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Special Publication 811, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI). https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811