How to Measure Your Room for Flooring

Under-ordering flooring is one of the most avoidable mistakes in any renovation project. Nothing stalls a job faster than running out of material mid-install — especially if the product is a limited run or a discontinued colorway. This guide shows you exactly how to measure, how much extra to order, and why.

What You'll Need

• A tape measure (25 ft is ideal for most rooms)
• A pencil and paper, or your phone's notes app
• Your floor plan if you have one (useful but not required)

Step 1: Measure Length and Width of Each Room

Stand in the doorway and measure wall to wall: first the length (the longer dimension), then the width. Record both numbers in feet and inches — for example, 14'6" × 11'2".

A few things to keep in mind:

• Measure at the widest points — not where furniture is sitting
• Include closets, alcoves, and bay window bump-outs in your measurement
• Don't subtract for a fireplace hearth or kitchen island — include the full floor area

Step 2: Calculate Square Footage

Multiply length by width to get your room's square footage. For the example above: 14.5 ft × 11.17 ft = 161.9 sq ft.

For irregular shapes — L-shapes, T-shapes, rooms with jogs — break the space into rectangles, calculate each one separately, and add them together.

Step 3: Measure Every Room You're Flooring

If you're doing multiple rooms, stairs, or hallways, measure each one separately and add to the calculator above. Stairs are measured differently: count the number of treads and multiply by approximately 2.5 sq ft per tread as a rough estimate. Always confirm stair measurements with your installer.

Step 4: Add the Waste Factor

Raw square footage is never what you order. Every install requires extra material for cuts, waste, and fitting. The right waste factor depends on your floor type and layout:

Step 5: Convert to Boxes

Most flooring products are sold by the box, and each box covers a specific area — you'll find the coverage per box listed on every product page at Abode Warehouse. Divide your total adjusted square footage by the coverage per box, then round up to the nearest whole box. Never round down.

Example: You need 178 sq ft after waste factor. The box covers 22 sq ft. 178 ÷ 22 = 8.09 → order 9 boxes.

Why You Should Always Order Extra

Beyond the waste factor, we recommend ordering an additional 5–10% and keeping those boxes. Flooring products are produced in batches, and the exact dye lot, texture, and shading can vary between production runs. If a board is damaged in 18 months — a heavy item dropped, a water incident, a deep scratch — you'll want a matching replacement. A few extra boxes stored in a closet are cheap insurance.

A Note on Stairs

Stairs require specific stair-nose profiles and careful measurement. If you're flooring stairs, we recommend requesting a stair quote separately rather than estimating from a formula. The material requirements and labor are different enough that a standalone estimate is worth getting.