Measuring Flooring

Proper floor measuring helps ensure that you will have enough flooring product to cover your floor, with minimum waste but enough material to finish the job without having to return to the retailer for more.

Depending on the flooring material there are also different methods to determine the precise amount of flooring required. This is especially true when installing carpet, as the grain of the carpet must match at any seams and therefore floor measuring must take this into account.

How to Measure Your Floor:

For all floor measuring it is best to start with a diagram of the floor itself. You don’t need to be an artist, but simply use a ruler and pencil and create a diagram that shows the floor, any recesses or areas of the floor that do not require flooring and any areas such as foyers that will require flooring. This makes it much easier to picture the area and to help you when you order your flooring from the retailer.

Remember to take into account:
• Closets
• Hallways
• Under cabinets
• Entranceways
• Stair landings
• Trim pieces

It’s also important to note that most hard flooring is measured in square feet while soft flooring such as carpet is measured in square yards/meters.

Hardwood Flooring
When measuring for hardwood flooring the best method is to use squares and rectangles to determine the square footage. This means breaking your room into separate shapes and measuring each of these separately.

Measure the width and length of the room, always to the widest and longest dimensions. Always round up to the next number. For instance, if the room measures 13’5”w x 16’3”l round your measurement up to 14’w x 17’l. This would result in 238 square feet.

When ordering your hardwood flooring be sure to account for an extra 10% waste, and also order any replacement pieces that you may wish to have on hand for future repairs. Flooring is often discontinued and you may not be able to find more in the future when needed.

So you will need to multiply 238sqft x 10% and add this amount to your total flooring measurement.

The formula looks like this:
Length X Width = Sq/Ft
14’ Length x 17’ Width = 238sqft area
Now account for waste:
238sqft area x 10% = 23.8sqft (for waste)
Area + waste = total flooring required
238sqft area + 23.8sqft (waste) = 261.8sqft rounded up to 262sqft.
You will need 262sqft of flooring product to complete the flooring project, but remember to consider buying extra to account for future repairs.

Other types of flooring that use this same method of measuring in square feet (length x width in square feet) for measurement include:
• Tiles (ceramic or other tile types)
• Laminate
• Engineered wood flooring

Measuring for soft flooring is not any more complicated. There are 9 square feet in one square yard.
Complete the measuring process as demonstrated above and simply divide the total by 9 to determine square yards.
For instance: 262sqft divided by 9 = 29.11 square yards. (10.76 sqft in a meter)
Again, round this number up to 30 square yards. (30 syds x by 0.836 = 25 m2)

Soft flooring that will use this type of measurement includes:
• Linoleum
• Vinyl
• Carpet

Floor measuring is a vital step in the flooring installation process. For spaces that are extremely difficult to measure or include decorative borders around the flooring edge, or intricate patterns in tile flooring, these measurements will change, and costs will be somewhat higher. In these cases you may wish to consult a floor measuring professional.

Please remember the above is just a guide and you should seek professional advice.