Free tool
Flooring Calculator
Square footage with honest waste, box counts, and underlayment from your floor area — with the math shown, not hidden.
Field measurements
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Printed from build-your-house.com/calculators/flooring — estimate only.
Methodology
How this takeoff is figured
SHEET TO-06
Waste. Click-together planks — LVP, laminate, engineered hardwood — get 8% cut waste on a straight lay. Solid hardwood, tile, and carpet get 10%. A diagonal or herringbone layout adds 5 points on top of either — the classic reason DIY orders come up short.
Boxes. Order square footage divided by typical retail box coverage, rounded up: 23 sq ft per box for LVP, 20 for laminate, 22 for engineered and solid hardwood, 15 for tile. Coverage varies by product line, so check the carton you are buying before you place the order.
Carpet. Sold by the square yard from 12-ft rolls, so the sheet converts your with-waste footage to square yards (÷ 9) and rounds up. The waste factor covers seams and roll-width loss — plan seam locations before ordering.
Underlayment. Floating plank floors get foam or felt rolls at 100 sq ft each — floor area ÷ 100, rounded up. Skipped when your planks have an attached pad, and never added for tile or carpet.
Tile setting. One 50-lb bag of thinset per ~50 sq ft with a 1/4" × 3/8" trowel. Grout, backer board, and leveler are separate line items sized from your tile and substrate.
What's not here. Transitions, stair nosing, and baseboard. Keep one unopened box for future repairs — flooring is made in dye lots, and a match ordered later is a gamble. Wood and laminate need 48–72 hours acclimating on site before install. The paint calculator covers the walls above this floor.
Assumptions
Waste, coverage, and rolls
ADJUST ABOVE
- Waste — LVP, laminate, engineered8%
- Waste — hardwood, tile, carpet10%
- Diagonal / herringbone+5 points
- Box coverage — LVP23 sq ft
- Box coverage — laminate20 sq ft
- Box coverage — hardwood22 sq ft
- Box coverage — tile15 sq ft
- Carpet12-ft roll, sold by sq yd
- Underlayment roll100 sq ft
- Thinset1 bag per ~50 sq ft
- PricesNational range, Aug 2026
Questions
Owner-builders ask
FAQ
How much extra flooring should I order?
For a straight lay, order 8% extra for click-together planks — LVP, laminate, engineered hardwood — and 10% extra for solid hardwood, tile, and carpet. A diagonal or herringbone layout adds 5 points on top, so plan on 13–15%. Ordering short costs more than the waste does: flooring is made in dye lots, and a box bought three weeks later often does not quite match the floor already down.
How many boxes of flooring do I need for 1,000 sq ft?
For LVP: 1,000 sq ft plus 8% waste is 1,080 sq ft to order. At the typical 23 sq ft per box, 1,080 ÷ 23 rounds up to 47 boxes. Laminate boxes run about 20 sq ft (54 boxes for the same floor), engineered and solid hardwood about 22, and tile about 15. Always divide your with-waste square footage by the coverage printed on the carton you are actually buying, then round up.
Do I need underlayment under LVP?
Floating floors — click-lock LVP, laminate, and engineered hardwood — get a foam or felt underlayment for sound and moisture control, sold in 100 sq ft rolls. But many LVP lines now ship with an attached pad, and doubling up under those voids most warranties, so skip the rolls. Tile never uses this kind of underlayment (it sets in thinset over a proper substrate), and carpet cushion is the separate pad already counted in the carpet + pad line.
How is carpet sold?
Carpet comes off 12-ft-wide rolls and is priced by the square yard — 9 sq ft. This calculator converts your with-waste square footage to square yards and rounds up. The 10% waste factor covers seam and roll-width loss: a 13-ft-wide room still consumes a full 12-ft width plus a seamed strip. Have the installer map seams away from traffic lanes and windows before you place the order.
What does flooring cost per square foot?
Materials only, August 2026 national ranges: laminate $1.50–$4, LVP $2–$5, ceramic tile $2–$6, carpet with pad $3–$7, engineered hardwood $4–$8, and solid hardwood $5–$10 per sq ft. Installed prices you see advertised bundle labor on top of that, and labor varies widely by market and subfloor condition — this calculator prices the material order only, so get install quotes separately.