How to use the Square Footage Calculator
- Create a room and draw rectangular sections on the plan, or enter exact rectangle, triangle or circle measurements.
- Draw or place cutouts, add doors and adjust their wall positions. Choose the room material and extra allowance.
- Enter actual pack coverage and prices in the material library. Compare separate room rounding with pooling, and add repair spare packs separately.
- Review the grouped shopping list. Save the project or use the adjacent arrow to export PDF, CSV, an editable project file or print.
Sketch a room with cutouts and doors
Use Draw section to extend the floor, then Draw cutout to mark a stair opening, chimney breast or area you will not cover. Drag shapes on the grid, or select one and enter its exact size and left/top position. Overlapping floor sections count once. Cutouts exclude only their intersection with the floor, so moving one outside the room restores that area.
Add a door to a rectangular section and choose its wall, opening width, offset, hinge and swing. Offsets run from the left of horizontal walls or the top of vertical walls. Doors show access without removing floor area. Each room has its own plan; rooms are not assembled into a whole-building drawing. PDF and printed projects include the composed room plans. Saved estimates without positions keep their original arithmetic until you choose Arrange existing shapes and review their layout.
From room measurements to a material order
Measure each room, then subtract openings or spaces you will not cover. Extra allowance is applied to the net area. Enter the square feet or square metres covered by one pack to round up to whole packs; the estimate shows any coverage left beyond your allowance. Pack and area-rate costs are alternative quotes, not amounts to add together. Save a named project to reuse these measurements for a new quote.
How to calculate square footage
For a rectangle, multiply length by width: a 12 ft × 15 ft room is 180 square feet. For other shapes:
- Circle: π × radius² (radius = half the diameter).
- Triangle: base × height ÷ 2.
- L-shaped or irregular rooms: split the space into rectangles, calculate each, and add them together — use “Add room section” within that room.
Measuring in feet and inches
Convert inches to decimal feet before multiplying: 12 ft 6 in is 12.5 ft. Or switch the unit to inches and divide the result by 144 (there are 144 square inches in a square foot) — the calculator does this for you.
How many flooring boxes do multiple rooms need?
For each room, subtract cutouts, then multiply the net area by 1 + allowance ÷ 100. Divide by pack coverage and round up. By default, each room is rounded separately. Pooling first adds the areas assigned to the same product, then rounds once. For two rooms needing 188.1 and 52.8 sq ft, 25 sq ft packs require 8 + 3 = 11 packs separately, or 10 pooled packs. Repair spare packs are added afterwards.
Pooling is an area comparison, not a cutting plan. It does not prove offcuts can be reused. Check product-specific allowances and installation direction with your installer. Keep repair spares separate from cutting allowance; manufacturer guidance such as this Mullican installation guide discusses retaining flooring for future repairs.
Save measurements for the next quote
Save room dimensions, product assignments and pack details together. Change a product quote later without measuring again. The PDF and printed project include all room sketches; an editable project file moves the complete estimate to another browser. Pack cost and area-rate quotes are alternatives. Neither includes tax, delivery or installation unless you entered those in the quote.