Floors
Work out how many boxes of flooring or tile to buy, with the right overage for your layout, plus underlayment, thinset, and grout.
- Flooring Calculator Boxes of laminate, vinyl plank, or hardwood for several rooms, with layout overage, underlayment, and baseboard.
- Tile Calculator Tiles and boxes for floors, walls, or a shower, with layout overage, thinset bags by trowel, and grout.
Measure the floor, then add for cuts
Floor materials are sold by the box, and every box covers a fixed number of square feet. Measure each room wall to wall at the floor, including closets you plan to cover. For an L-shaped room, split it into two rectangles and add them. Don’t subtract for cabinets or a fixed island unless the flooring won’t run under them.
Then add an overage for cuts and mistakes. How much depends on the layout more than the material. Straight runs of planks or large-format tile waste the least. Diagonal and herringbone patterns waste the most, because every row ends in an angled cut. Small rooms with many corners also waste more than one big open area.
Keep a spare box
Buy all your flooring or tile from the same lot so the color matches, and keep one unopened box after the job. If a plank or tile cracks years later, a matching replacement may be hard to find. Most stores take back unopened boxes, so it costs little to round up.
Last updated .