How to Measure a Room for Flooring: A Step-by-Step Guide
Knowing exactly how to measure a room is crucial when purchasing new flooring to ensure a professional result. The new flooring should completely cover the relevant surface area without any visible joins for the most attractive finish.
Unfortunately, not all rooms are perfectly symmetrical or have lovely straight walls without interruptions. Features such as pillars, bay windows, and fireplaces can make calculating how much flooring you need seem complicated.
If you are wondering how to measure a room, just follow these simple steps to get the key measurements. Always use a tape measure and a calculator to achieve the most accurate results.
Top Tip: You should always purchase 10–15% extra to allow for off-cuts and to achieve the best layout of planks for your space, so remember to add this to your final calculation.
Basic Room Measurements
Products are always quoted in square metres (m2), so ensure you only measure in metres.
The area of a room or space is calculated by simply multiplying the length by the width. For example, if a room is 5m long by 4m wide, the total area is 20m2.
For a completely symmetrical room with no deviations from straight walls, this will be the simplest and only measurement you need. The number of packs required will be calculated when you select a product—you can then check to see if this provides enough surplus for your project.
Measuring Indentations and Recesses
Bay windows, fireplaces, wall supports, and other indentations or recesses can distort the shape of the room, meaning the flooring will need to be carefully cut to fit around them.
For straight recesses: Measure the length of the straight parts of the walls, then measure the length of the indentation or recess. Add them together for the total length.
Measuring a Round Recess
For a round recess or curved end to a room: You will need to calculate the surface area of a semi-circle.
- Measure the length and width through the middle of the recess.
- Divide the length in half and multiply that number by the width.
- Multiply that total by 3.14 to give you the complete area of the circle, and then divide by 2.
- Add this figure to the other area totals for the room.
How to Measure Staircases
Stairs require a specific approach to ensure you have enough material for both the top and front of each step.
- For straight staircases (where the size of the steps are identical):
- Measure the length and width of the tread (the top of the step) and multiply to get the area.
- Measure the length and depth of the riser (the front of the step) and multiply to get the area.
- Add these two figures together to get the total area per step.
- Multiply the area per step by the total number of steps. Note: Exclude the very top step, as this will be covered by the landing flooring.
- For winding staircases (or steps with uneven sizes): Measure the widest and longest parts of each individual stair to ensure you have enough coverage.
Measuring Landings
Landings can be awkward shapes for measuring. The easiest way to tackle a landing is to split it down into a couple of different rectangular spaces. Calculate the areas of each of these different sections individually, and then add them together to find the total area.
Bring Your Measurements to Our Croydon Showroom
When you have your measurements, please visit us at our flooring outlet in Croydon. We can help you find the best flooring for your project, from cheap carpet rolls to hardwearing, waterproof click vinyl flooring.
Remember, if you need any support or are unsure about how to measure a room correctly, bring your measurements and floor plan sketches with you to our showroom, and our friendly team will do our very best to help!