How much flooring should I buy for my room?
Start with the area — length times width — then add waste. For a straightforward rectangular room with straight-lay planks, 5 to 10% extra covers offcuts. For diagonal or herringbone patterns, budget 15 to 20%, because every plank meeting a wall at an angle produces an unusable offcut. Rooms with alcoves, bay windows or many doorways sit at the higher end regardless of pattern.
Why does the waste allowance matter so much?
Because running short is far worse than over-buying. Flooring is manufactured in batches, and dye lots vary — a box bought three weeks later may be visibly different in shade or grain. Retailers also discontinue lines. Ordering the full quantity including waste in one purchase, from one batch, is the single most useful piece of practical advice in a flooring project.
How do I calculate for an irregular room?
Break it into rectangles, calculate each separately, and add them. An L-shaped room is two rectangles; a room with a chimney breast is a rectangle minus a smaller one. Measure at the widest points and do not deduct for small obstacles such as pipe boxing — you will need the material to cut around them anyway. For genuinely curved walls, take the largest enclosing rectangle.
Should I subtract areas I am not covering?
Only for substantial permanent features — a kitchen island footprint, a built-in wardrobe, a stairwell opening. Do not deduct for doorways, appliances or furniture. Doorways need material for thresholds, and appliances move. Under-ordering because a fridge occupies a square metre is a false economy that surfaces at the worst moment.
How many boxes do I need, and can I mix batches?
Divide your total area including waste by the coverage stated per box, then round up — you cannot buy part of a box. Keep every box from the same batch or lot number, printed on the packaging. If you must mix batches, open several boxes at once and shuffle planks as you lay them, so any shade variation is distributed rather than forming a visible band across the floor.
What else does the project need beyond the flooring itself?
Underlay, sized to the same area; a moisture barrier if laying over concrete; expansion-gap spacers; transition strips and thresholds at doorways; and skirting or beading to cover the expansion gap. Floating floors also need an expansion gap of roughly 10 to 15 mm around the perimeter — omitting it is the most common cause of buckling a few months later.