Flooring calculator
Count the packs of laminate, vinyl or engineered flooring for a room, with the usual allowance for the layout, plus underlay and skirting boards. The pack area comes from the label, so the result is what you put in the cart.
You need
10 packs
21.40 m² with allowance
- Underlay
- 21.50 m²
- Skirting board
- 8 lengths of 2.4 m
- Corners and caps
- 4 corners · 2 end caps
- Floor area5.00 × 4.00 = 20.00 m²
- With 7 % allowance20.00 × 1.07 = 21.40 m²
- Packs of 2.22 m²21.40 ÷ 2.22 → 10 packs
- Underlay, sold by 0.5 m²21.40 → 21.50 m²
- Skirting: walls without doors + 5 %17.20 × 1.05 ÷ 2.40 → 8 lengths of 2.4 m
- Inner corners and end caps at doors4 corners · 2 end caps
The calculator gives an estimate by the usual norms. Consumption depends on the product and the surface: check the manufacturer’s data before you buy.
How it’s calculated
- 1
Floor area = length × width of the room, or the area you know.
- 2
Add the allowance for cutting: 7 % for a straight layout, 15 % for diagonal, 20 % for herringbone.
- 3
Packs = area with allowance ÷ square metres in one pack, rounded up.
- 4
Underlay is sold by the square metre in its own steps and is rounded up to them.
- 5
Skirting = perimeter minus doors, with a small reserve, divided by the length of one skirting board.
Worked example
A 5 × 4 m room, laminate in packs, straight layout, with underlay and skirting boards, one door:
The input
- Length, m
- 5
- Width, m
- 4
- Doors
- 1
- Pack
- Laminate 8 mm, pack 2.22 m²
- Layout
- Straight
- Allowance for cutting, %
- 7
- Underlay
- ✓
- Skirting board
- ✓
The result
10 packs
21.40 m² with allowance
- Underlay: 21.50 m²
- Skirting board: 8 lengths of 2.4 m
- Corners and caps: 4 corners · 2 end caps
The calculation
- Floor area5.00 × 4.00 = 20.00 m²
- With 7 % allowance20.00 × 1.07 = 21.40 m²
- Packs of 2.22 m²21.40 ÷ 2.22 → 10 packs
- Underlay, sold by 0.5 m²21.40 → 21.50 m²
- Skirting: walls without doors + 5 %17.20 × 1.05 ÷ 2.40 → 8 lengths of 2.4 m
- Inner corners and end caps at doors4 corners · 2 end caps
How many packs of laminate for 20 m²?
With a straight layout 20 m² becomes 21.4 m² with the 7 % allowance; diagonal makes it 23 m² and herringbone 24 m². With packs of 2.131 m² that is 11, 11 and 12 packs — check the square metres in a pack on its label.
Why does the layout change the waste?
In a straight layout the offcut of one row starts the next, so little is lost. Diagonal and herringbone layouts are cut at an angle at every wall, and those pieces rarely fit elsewhere — hence the bigger allowance.
Questions
Do I need underlay under laminate?
Yes, unless the boards have one attached: it evens out small bumps and dampens sound. It is counted for the same area as the flooring, with the allowance.
How is the skirting board counted?
Along the walls minus the door openings, with a small reserve, in whole boards. Inner corners and end caps at the doors are counted too.
Does this work for vinyl and engineered wood?
Yes — anything sold in packs of a known area. Choose your pack or type its square metres.
The same calculator in the Kvadrino app
Kvadrino for Android works offline: enter the room once and get tiles, paint, flooring and an estimate for the client. The app is in closed testing — write to us and we will add you as a tester.
Coming soon to Google Play