How much flooring do I need?
Laminate, vinyl, engineered wood or tiles — work out the floor area, add a sensible bit for cutting waste, and get the number of packs to buy. Order short and the next batch may not match; order big and you've packs spare. Free, no sign-up.
A guide, not a guarantee. Measure the widest points and add the extra-area box for alcoves and doorways. Wastage allows for cuts and the odd damaged board — keep a spare pack for future repairs, as ranges get discontinued. Underlay, trims, beading and adhesive are extra. Carpet is usually sold by the square metre off a fixed-width roll, so leave pack coverage blank and use the "to buy" area. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Area, wastage, and whole packs.
Start with the area. Length times width gives the floor area in square metres. For an L-shaped room, split it into rectangles or use the extra-area box. Then we add a wastage percentage for the offcuts you can't avoid — the bits trimmed at the edges, around pipes and in doorways.
Why 10%, and when to go higher. Ten percent suits a straightforward rectangular room laid straight. Go to 15% for a diagonal or herringbone lay, lots of cuts around a bay or a chimney breast, or long thin planks where offcuts are harder to reuse. Tilers often work to similar margins.
Round up to whole packs. Flooring is sold by the pack, so we divide by the pack's coverage and round up. Buying a spare pack on top is worth it: dye lots and ranges change, so matching a board in a year's time can be impossible.
What this leaves out. Underlay, threshold strips, scotia/beading, adhesive or click-fit accessories and skirting are all separate. If you're paying a fitter, get their measurements too — they carry the risk of ordering short.
Keep every room's details in one place.
Stead remembers your rooms and their sizes, the flooring and finishes you chose, and when each job was done — so the next project starts with the numbers already to hand.