Flooring Calculator

After years of quoting flooring jobs, I can tell you the number one mistake people make: measuring the middle of the room and ignoring the tricky bits. Walls aren't always straight, and rooms are rarely perfect rectangles.

For rectangular rooms

Measure the longest point of the length and the widest point of the width. If one wall bows out slightly near a window, include that extra bit. It's better to have a few extra planks than to be short when you reach that section.

Round up to the nearest 0.1 metre. If your room is 4.87m × 3.42m, call it 4.9m × 3.5m. Small rounding adds up to peace of mind.

For L-shaped or irregular rooms

Break the space into smaller rectangles. An open-plan kitchen-dining might become one rectangle for the kitchen and another for the dining area. Measure each section separately, then add them together.

Don't forget these areas

This is where most DIYers come unstuck:

Hallways — measure the full length, including any jogs or widening near doorways.

Walk-in robes and built-in wardrobes — many people skip these, then realise they want continuous flooring throughout.

Doorways — flooring needs to run slightly under door frames (usually about 10-15mm), so your measurements should extend into the threshold.

Alcoves and bay windows — that 600mm bump-out for your bay window still needs flooring.

A real example

Let's say you're doing a typical Queensland three-bedroom home. The main living area measures 6.2m × 4.8m, the hallway is 8m × 1.2m, and the three bedrooms are 3.6m × 3.2m, 3.4m × 3.0m, and 2.8m × 2.8m.