Customers buying wood flooring for their home often ask us how to work how much flooring they will need. Working out the area of a floor can seem like a daunting task, but is very straightforward if you follow a few simple guidelines. You will need only basic equipment: a pencil, paper, calculator and a metric tape measure. Wood floors are typically sold by the square metre, so a metric tape measure is advisable.

how to measure floors square/rectangular room

If your room is square or rectangular (as above), calculating the floor area is very simple. Measure the width (A) and the length (B) of the room and multiply the two measurements together. For example the room above is 4.25m x 5.25m = 22.31m2. We suggest an allowance for wastage of approximately 10% on your literal room area, so you would need to order 24.5 square metres of flooring.

how to measure an l-shaped floor area

L-shaped rooms (as above) can be a little trickier to work out. Start by roughly sketching out the shape of the floor. Split the sketch into two square/rectangular shapes and measure the width and length of each separate shape - as shown with a dotted line above. Calculate the area of each shape by multiplying the width and length measurements together, then add the two areas together. So, the calculation for the diagram above would be:

4.25m (A) x 5.25m (B) = 22.31m2
1.75m (C) x 4.25m (D) = 7.44m2
22.31m2 + 7.44m2 = 29.75m2

Adding approximately 10% for wastage means that you want to order 32.5 square metres of flooring.

how to measure irregular floor areas

Using the same basic principle of splitting the floor into separate squares or rectangles will enable you to work out the most irregular room shapes. The calculation for the above room would be:

1.1m (A) x 1.75m (B) = 1.93m2
1.0m (C) x 5.0m (D) = 5m2
1.1m (E) x 1.75m (F) = 1.93m2
1.93m2 + 5m2 + 1.93m2 = 8.86m2 plus 10% for wastage = 9.75 square metres of flooring.

When measuring the floor area, remember to make allowances for fireplaces, recesses and alcoves. If you would like more advice about measuring your floor or would like information about our range of wood flooring please contact us >>

Follow the link to download our free Hardwood Floor Fitting and Maintenance Guide.