How to Calculate Laminate Flooring Material

Measure the length and the width of the room if it is a square or rectangular shape. If the room has alcoves or other areas, first measure the main portion of the room then measure the smaller areas.

Draw a picture of the room on a piece of grid paper to keep it to scale, especially if the room has different areas beyond the basic rectangle. Write in the measurements of each portion of the floor to keep as a record.

Calculate the square footage of the main rectangular area by multiplying the length and the width of the room. Calculate the square footage of any smaller alcoves or other areas in the room separately. Add all of the areas together to get the total square footage for the room.

Add 10 percent to the square footage you calculated to account for mistakes in the installation process. For example, if the room is 12 feet by 12 feet, the square footage is 144 feet. The extra 10 percent is 14.4 feet, so the total number to use when calculating materials is 158.4 feet. Round up to the next whole number for easier calculations.

Read the vapor barrier packaging to determine how many square feet it covers. Calculate how many packages you need by dividing the total square footage of the room by the square footage covered by the package. Repeat the same calculation method for the underlayment material that provides cushioning for the laminate.

Read the laminate flooring package to determine the square footage covered by each package as you did with the vapor barrier and underlayment. Divide your total square footage by that number to calculate how many packages of laminate flooring needed. For example, if your calculated area was 180 square feet and one box covers 18 square feet, you would divide 180 by 18 to get 10 packages of flooring.