How To Measure for Hardwood Flooring or Laminate Flooring
by Jeff Hosking – Hosking Hardwood Flooring
© 2004 - 2012, Copyright protected. All Rights Reserved
Since most flooring is sold by the square foot, measuring your floor area is pretty easy to do. To determine how many square feet you need, measure the room(s) length by its width. Example: if you have a room that is 10' long by 10' wide, you would multiply those numbers together. The total amount of square footage = 100 sq. ft.
Now, it's recommended with wood flooring to add a 5% waste factor for cutting and fitting waste. This waste factor also covers boards that you may not want to use due to heavy character or color variation. Using the example above, 5% added to your order would be 5 sq. ft., making the total needed 105 sq. ft.
When measuring for more than one room: measure all the rooms individually and then add the square footage totals together. Once you have the total square footage of all rooms, then add your 5% waste factor.
The recommended waste factor percentage can go higher, depending on the grade of wood flooring you purchase. If you purchase a lower grade of wood flooring or if you’re extremely fussy about using certain boards, then a higher 10-15% waste factor may be needed. If you do not add a waste factor, you may not have enough flooring to fill the rooms you measured. If you're installing the flooring on a diagonal, it is recommended that you add 15% to your waste factor because of the larger angled waste pieces you cut off the boards at the walls.
With man-made laminate flooring, there are no real natural defects in the planks to worry about cutting out; it is really only cutting and fitting waste, so 5% waste factor should be sufficient unless you're installing the flooring on a diagonal where you would add 10-15% waste factor (as explained above).
It is better to over order than to run short during the installation and have to go re-order more flooring. It is also highly recommended to keep a carton or two of the flooring for future repairs if needed.
I have included more measuring tips for you in our drawing layout below.
After you've got your measurements down, find the perfect hardwood floor for your home with the help of our Flooring Finder!
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How to Measure a Room for Flooring
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Jeff Hosking
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By: Rev Robert Brown
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June 15, 2021
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By: Aaron
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May 28, 2021
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Vary detaled way of exsplaning how to get your square footage I understood what I was reading vary good ! ??????
By: Mike
Date:
March 21, 2021
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Hi, looking to get quotes from Pro installers and thinking about the waste factor. Should waste factor % be added to the actual sqft measurement then multiplied by the cost per sqft (material and labor)?
Reply by HoskingHardwood : We take the actual square foot measurement and add 5-10% for a waste factor.
By: Sandie Lee
Date:
May 11, 2020
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Im reading this page! And its very well written! So I have my rooms measured and I will add for waste. I would have never of thought of ordering extra for future repairs if needed!
By: Sandye Dagenais
Date:
June 1, 2019
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Good and concise article. I knew about square footage but I did not know about adding the waste factor. Thank you for the help!
By: DAve
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March 19, 2019
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Good
By: Becky Ditty
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December 28, 2018
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Thank you for your help.
By: C Travers
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November 9, 2018
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Informative and to the point - just what I needed.
By: Dana
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March 10, 2018
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OK
By: Sterling
Date:
January 11, 2018
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Awesome!
lol...
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