Hardwood Flooring Calculator
Solid and engineered hardwood is sold by the square foot in bundles of about 20 ft². Waste runs higher than laminate — 10% for select grades, 15% for rustic or character grades where you cull boards. Order it two weeks early to acclimate.
Order 13 cartons — check the carton size on your product and divide the square footage to buy by it.
- Area
- 224 ft²
- Waste / cuts 15%
- + 34 ft²
- Coverage to buy
- 258 ft²
- Metric
- 20.8 m²
- Cartons (≈ 20 ft²)
- 13
- Square feet to buy
- 258
- Underlayment, 100 ft² roll
- 3 rolls
- Materials + delivery$2–$6 / ft² · Sep 2026
- $448 – $1,344
- Installed (with labor)typ. $1,568
- $896 – $2,688
- Laminate flooring, carton13 cartons
- Vinyl plank flooring, carton13 cartons
- Underlayment, 100 ft² roll3 rolls
- Flooring installation kit
Quantities follow the ticket. Links may earn us a commission at no cost to you; they never change a number.
What will this flooring job cost?
See the installed price range for these quantities and get up to 3 quotes from local contractors. Free, no obligation.
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 hardwood flooring do I need?
Room area plus 10–15%: a 14 × 16 room (224 ft²) needs about 258 ft² at 15%, which is 13 bundles of 20 ft². Character grades with knots and short boards can need 20% because of culls.
How many nails for hardwood flooring?
For ¾″ solid strip flooring, a cleat every 8–10″ along each board: roughly 1,000 cleats (2 lb) per 100 ft² of 2¼″ strip, half that for 5″ plank. A 5,000-count box does most rooms.
How long should hardwood acclimate?
Open the bundles and stack them in the room for 7–14 days at normal living temperature and humidity, with the HVAC running. Skip it and the floor gaps in winter or cups in summer.