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How to Calculate the Square Footage of a Room

1 min read

Questions:

How Do I Calculate Sq Footage?

How much flooring should I order for my project?

Sizing up your project doesn't have to be as daunting as it seems. Follow these simple steps to ensure you get the right amount of flooring for the room you're working on.

In our example, we'll be measuring a bedroom that's 12 feet x 10 feet. Pretty standard.

  1. Measure the room's Length x Width.  (In our example, that's 12'x10' = 120' sq ft area)
  2. Add waste percentage* (rounding up to the nearest total box) to allow for cutting and board selection. (Ex. 120' sq ft area x 10% waste = an additional 12 sq ft, for a total of 132 sq ft.)

* Waste Percentage expected would be 5% for Laminates, 8% for Cork and Northern hardwoods, 10% to 15% for selected Exotics.

Don't worry though, we'll give you the option to automatically add this to your order when you add a product to your cart. Just look for the checkbox on a product detail page to automatically include the recommended amount of overage for your floor to take the guessing out of it.                  

NOTE: When installing hardwood diagonally or custom applications add an additional 15%

There are apps like RoomScan Pro that can help you measure dimensions with your smart phone if you don't have a tape measure.

image of a house layout with room dimensions
Make as many 'areas' as you need, then once each is measured, add all the areas together.

Learn about new flooring on our Flooring Basics page.

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Or reach out to a flooring expert to describe your project: https://www.llflooring.com/support/customer-care/

a girl sits on a sofa in a living room with new solid hardwood flooring
Featured Floor: Bellawood Artisan 'Pepperell Hickory' Solid Hardwood Flooring