Flooring Calculator
Compute square footage, waste factor, and total boxes needed for any room layout.
About This Tool
When to Use This Calculator
Use the Flooring Calculator before purchasing hardwood, laminate, engineered wood, or any flooring product sold by the square foot or in boxes. Getting the quantity right avoids costly over-ordering and eliminates the frustration of coming up short mid-install, which can also cause color-lot mismatches if the store has to pull from a different production batch.
How It Works
Enter your room dimensions — including closets, alcoves, and irregular shapes — and the calculator computes total square footage. It then applies an industry-standard waste factor (typically 5–10%) to cover cuts along walls, pattern matching, and defective pieces. Finally, it converts the adjusted total into the number of boxes or cartons you need based on the coverage listed on the product packaging.
Tips for Best Results
- Increase the waste factor to 10–15% for diagonal installations or rooms with many corners and offsets where more cuts are required.
- If you are installing the same flooring in multiple rooms, enter them all together — offcuts from one room can start rows in the next, reducing total waste.
- Always round up on boxes. Most retailers allow returns of unopened boxes, so buying one extra is cheap insurance against running short.
- Measure the longest and widest points of each area, including any bump-outs, to avoid underestimating irregular room shapes.