Enter the length and width of your room to get the floor area, add a waste allowance for cuts, and, if you know how much one box covers, see how many boxes to buy. You can add up to three rectangles for L-shaped rooms.
How the flooring calculator works
- Floor area = length × width, summed over each rectangle
- Area to buy = floor area × (1 + waste % ÷ 100)
- Boxes = area to buy ÷ coverage per box, rounded up
Worked example
A 12 × 15 ft living room has 180 sq ft of floor. With 10% waste you should buy 198 sq ft. If a box of laminate covers 20 sq ft, you need 198 ÷ 20 = 9.9, so 10 boxes.
How much extra flooring to buy
- Straight layouts: about 5 to 10%
- Diagonal or herringbone layouts: about 10 to 15%, because angled cuts waste more material
- Small rooms, closets and rooms with many corners tend to need the higher end of the range
Choosing the diagonal pattern in the calculator switches the default to 15%. You can enter your own percentage at any time.
Step by step: measuring and buying flooring
Follow these steps to get the numbers the calculator needs and to order the right amount.
Tips before you order
- Measure closets and include the area under doors and thresholds.
- Buy all boxes from the same production lot so color and texture match.
- Keep one spare box for future repairs.