Flooring & Tile Calculators

Getting floor quantities right

Every floor material is ordered from the same base figure: the room footprint in square feet, plus a cutting allowance. What changes is the unit you buy. Hardwood and laminate come in cartons, ceramic and porcelain by the piece or box, broadloom by the square yard off a fixed-width roll, and grout by the bag. Measure closets and alcoves with the main room, and order everything from a single production lot so color stays consistent.

Which calculator do I need?

• Flooring: hardwood, engineered wood or laminate sold by box coverage.
• Tile: floor or wall tile counted piece by piece, including the grout joint.
• Vinyl plank: LVP or SPC click-lock floors where you also want an approximate plank count.
• Carpet: wall-to-wall carpet where the roll width decides seams and yardage.
• Grout: pounds of sanded or unsanded grout once you know tile size and joint width.
• Baseboard: trim to cover the expansion gap after the new floor goes in.

Before you buy

Check the subfloor before ordering: most floating floors need it flat within about 3/16 in over 10 ft, and tile needs a stiff base. Let wood and laminate acclimate in the room for the time the maker suggests. Open several cartons and mix pieces as you install to blend shade variation. Save one spare box of every product for future repairs, because discontinued lines are hard to match.