How to measure a room for flooring

To measure a room for flooring, measure the length and width at their longest points in metres, including into doorways and alcoves, and multiply them to get the area in square metres. Add a waste allowance, often around 10% for laminate or LVT, then round up. Treat the result as a planning figure until an on-site measure confirms it.

Getting the measurement right matters whether you are ordering flooring yourself or sending figures for an indicative estimate. Rooms are rarely perfectly square, and a few centimetres across a room can change how many packs or how much carpet you need.

What you will need

• A tape measure (a 5 m or 8 m tape is ideal) or a laser measure
• A pen and paper, or the notes app on your phone
• A rough sketch of each room, showing doors, windows and any alcoves or bays
• A second person helps with long measurements

Step by step

1. Sketch the room. Draw the outline, including doorways, alcoves, chimney breasts, bay windows and fitted units.
2. Measure the length at its longest point, wall to wall, in metres. Measure at skirting level, as that is where the floor finishes.
3. Measure the width at its widest point in the same way.
4. Measure twice in different places. Walls are rarely parallel, so take the larger figure.
5. Round up each measurement, for example to the next 10 cm.
6. Include doorways. Measure into the doorway to where the new floor will finish, usually under the closed door, so the threshold can be fitted there.
7. Multiply length by width to get the area in square metres (m²). Write the dimensions on your sketch, not just the total.
8. Add a waste allowance for cuts and pattern matching; see how much extra flooring to allow.

Our floor area calculator does the maths, including the waste allowance and a pack estimate.

Awkward room shapes

For an L-shaped or irregular room, split it into rectangles, measure each one and add the areas together. Add bays and alcoves as separate small rectangles. Do not subtract the area under things like a fitted bath or kitchen island unless you are certain the floor will not run under them, and check with your fitter if you are unsure.

For a chimney breast or a fitted wardrobe that the floor will stop at, measuring the full room and treating the difference as part of your allowance is usually the safer approach.

Measuring for carpet

Carpet is different from planks and tiles, because it comes off rolls in fixed widths, commonly 4 m and 5 m. You buy a rectangle off the roll, so what matters is the room’s longest length and widest width and how they fit the roll, not just the area.

• Note which way you would like the pile to run, usually towards the main window or along the length of the room.
• A room wider than the roll will need a seam, and where it falls should be planned away from doorways and busy routes.
• Many fitters add a small margin to each dimension for trimming at the walls.

Stairs and landings are measured differently again; see measuring carpet for stairs and landings.

Measuring for laminate, LVT and tiles

For laminate and LVT, the area in square metres plus waste is what you need, rounded up to whole packs. It is also worth noting:

• which way the room’s main light comes from, as planks usually look best running towards it
• any radiator pipes coming through the floor
• the height of the existing floor at doorways, which affects thresholds and door clearance
• what the subfloor is, if you know (concrete, floorboards or chipboard)

Measuring for sheet vinyl

Sheet vinyl is also sold off rolls, commonly in widths such as 2 m, 3 m and 4 m depending on the range, and ideally fitted in one piece without seams. In bathrooms and kitchens with lots of fittings, a template is often more reliable than a tape measure.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Measuring in feet and inches and converting wrongly. Stick to metres.
• Measuring only one wall and assuming the opposite one is the same.
• Forgetting doorways, bays and the area under radiators.
• Ordering the exact area with no allowance for cuts.
• Working out the area but not recording the dimensions, which carpet quantities depend on.

Common questions

Do you measure to the skirting or the wall?

Measure to the skirting board at floor level. That is where the floor finishes, with an expansion gap for laminate and LVT covered by the skirting or by scotia.

Should I measure under kitchen units?

Usually no. Flooring normally finishes up to the plinths of fitted kitchen units. Freestanding appliance spaces, such as for a fridge freezer, usually are floored.

Is a professional measure worth it?

For a single simple room, your own measurement is a good starting point. For carpet, patterned floors, stairs, several rooms or anything you are about to order, an on-site measure is more reliable, and it also checks the subfloor.

Next step

Use the floor area calculator to turn your measurements into an area and pack estimate, then send the figures for an indicative estimate or request a home measure so the real quantities can be confirmed. Our article on what to send for a flooring estimate lists the details that help most.