Cutting & Wastage - How Much Extra Flooring Should I Order?

In general, it’s assumed that the admissible wastage that should be allowed while ordering a wooden floor is somewhere around 8%. If you want to precisely determine how much wood flooring you need to order to allow for wastage, you first need to measure the interior where the floor is to be laid.

What do you need to measure the room properly?

Firstly, a 10m or 20m tape measure
Secondly, a piece of paper
And thirdly, a pencil

You can ask a friend or a relative to give you a helping hand, which will make the job easier. It will also definitely speed up the process and make your calculations more accurate and reliable.

Measuring the room

Usually, wooden floors are sold and priced in square meters. Therefore, it will be the best solution to measure the room in square meters. The flooring prices are calculated based on the cost of a square of wood (one metre by one metre). However, solid or engineered wood flooring can also be sold by the pack – it may or may not be exactly one square metre. In such a case, the wood flooring supplier lists the square metres included in each pack, thus enabling you to precisely calculate everything.

In the case of square or rectangular rooms it’s a child’s play to measure them and thus determine the amount of flooring you need. What you need to do then is simply to measure the length and the width of the given room and multiply one by the other. Having determined the overall surface area of the interior, remember to add 8% which will allow for wastage.

Odd shape rooms

When measuring odd shaped rooms, in turn, you will need to split the room into square or rectangular areas. Then, measure them, adding together at the end and bear in mind the 8% you need to add to allow for wastage.

When getting down to work, don’t forget to add any door frames, cupboards, alcoves, or small recesses – you will need to include them in your final calculations. Leaving them out would mean that you have an insufficient amount of wood to bring the flooring project to an end. Having done all the measurements, added all these areas and the additional 8%, you will know how much wastage you can allow when making a wood flooring order. And finally, make sure to double check all the numbers at the end, as this can spare you unnecessary trouble in the future.

Notwithstanding the exact shape or size of your interior, always include the said 8% for wastage – this will make it possible to complete your project without the need to worry whether or not the amount of flooring you’ve ordered will suffice.