Flooring Calculator
Square feet and cartons for a room. Cartons vary by product — 18–24 ft² for laminate and LVP, 20 ft² for hardwood bundles — so the ticket shows both square footage to buy and cartons at 20 ft². Add 10% for cuts, 15% for diagonal or herringbone layouts.
Order 10 cartons — check the carton size on your product and divide the square footage to buy by it.
- Area
- 168 ft²
- Waste / cuts 10%
- + 17 ft²
- Coverage to buy
- 185 ft²
- Metric
- 15.6 m²
- Cartons (≈ 20 ft²)
- 10
- Square feet to buy
- 185
- Underlayment, 100 ft² roll
- 2 rolls
- Materials + delivery$2–$6 / ft² · Sep 2026
- $336 – $1,008
- Installed (with labor)typ. $1,176
- $672 – $2,016
- Laminate flooring, carton10 cartons
- Vinyl plank flooring, carton10 cartons
- Underlayment, 100 ft² roll2 rolls
- Flooring installation kit
Quantities follow the ticket. Links may earn us a commission at no cost to you; they never change a number.
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See the installed price range for these quantities and get up to 3 quotes from local contractors. Free, no obligation.
Common room sizes, answered
- How Much Flooring for a 8×10 Room?80 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 10×10 Room?100 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 10×12 Room?120 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 11×13 Room?143 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 12×12 Room?144 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 12×14 Room?168 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 12×16 Room?192 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 14×16 Room?224 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 15×15 Room?225 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 16×20 Room?320 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 20×20 Room?400 ft²
- How Much Flooring for a 24×24 Room?576 ft²
How to calculate flooring by hand
Square feet to buy = Length × Width × (1 + waste) · Cartons = ft² ÷ carton coverage
Worked example
- Area: 12 ft × 14 ft = 168 ft².
- Waste 10%: 168 × 1.10 = 185 ft² to buy.
- Cartons at 20 ft²: 185 ÷ 20 = 9.2 → 10 cartons (check your product’s carton size).
- Underlayment: 2 rolls of 100 ft² if the flooring does not have it attached.
- Laminate carton
- 18–24 ft²
- LVP carton
- 20–24 ft²
- Hardwood bundle
- ≈ 20 ft²
- Waste: straight · diagonal · herringbone
- 10% · 15% · 20%
Questions crews ask
How much flooring do I need?
Room length × width in feet, plus 10% for cuts: a 12 × 14 room is 168 ft², buy 185. Divide by the carton size on the box (usually 18–24 ft²) and round up. For L-shaped rooms, split into rectangles and add.
How much extra flooring should I order?
10% for a straight layout in a rectangular room, 15% for diagonal, rooms with many jogs, or wide planks that cannot be end-matched as easily, and 20% for herringbone. Keep a carton for future repairs.
How many boxes of laminate for a 12x12 room?
144 ft² plus 10% is 159 ft². At 20 ft² per carton that is 8 boxes; at 24 ft² it is 7. Always round up, and check the carton coverage on the specific product.
Do I need underlayment under vinyl plank?
Not if the plank has an attached pad, which most LVP over 5 mm does. Bare LVP and laminate need a foam or cork underlayment; over concrete add a vapour barrier or use an underlayment with one built in.
Which direction should flooring run?
Parallel to the longest wall or the main light source, and perpendicular to floor joists if the subfloor is weak. Running planks the long way makes a room look bigger and cuts fewer pieces.