Material calculators
Twelve tools, grouped by trade. Each one takes your measurements, applies the waste your layout actually produces, and returns quantities in the units the product is sold in — boxes, bags, gallons, sheets and sticks.
Flooring
The four flooring calculators share one engine. It lays planks row by row in a random stagger, starts each row with the last offcut when that offcut is long enough, and counts what the cutting really costs. The general flooring calculator suits anything sold by the box; the vinyl plank, laminate and hardwood versions open with a typical plank and carton for that product and carry the advice that matters for it.
Tile
The four tile calculators share the tile engine, which adds grout and thinset to the box count. The tile and herringbone calculators work from a room footprint, a rectangle or an L. The backsplash and subway tile calculators work from up to three runs of wall and a tiled height, count two extra cuts for every outlet and take a window out of the area.
Paint
Paint is estimated from wall area, never from floor area. The interior calculator unrolls the four walls, takes off doors and windows at 21 and 15 square feet unless you change those figures, and can add the ceiling and primer. The exterior calculator starts from the footprint and wall height, adds the gable ends, and takes its coverage from the siding you pick.
Walls and trim
Drywall is counted in sheets and baseboard in sticks, and the length you buy decides the finishing work. The drywall calculator adds 10% to the board area and turns it into 8, 10 or 12 foot sheets, with screws, compound and tape. The baseboard calculator takes the perimeter, removes the doorways, adds 10% for mitres and rounds up to 8, 12 or 16 foot stock.
Tile or herringbone?
Both run the same tile engine, and given the same inputs they return the same boxes. The difference is where they start and what the page explains. The tile calculator opens on a 12 by 24 tile in a grid and offers all seven tile patterns, diagonal and basketweave included. The herringbone calculator opens on a 6 by 12 tile in herringbone, and its page deals with what that pattern punishes: the 2:1 tile, double herringbone for longer planks, and laying out from the centre. If your plank is much longer than twice its width, either calculator lays it as a double or triple herringbone and says so under the plan. Tile waste factor by pattern shows what each pattern costs in tile.
Vinyl plank or laminate?
Underneath, they are the same calculator: the same floor engine, stagger and waste rules. Type the same plank, carton coverage and price into both and you get the same order. What differs is the starting values — a 7 by 48 inch plank in 24 square foot cartons for vinyl, 8 by 48 in 20 square foot cartons for laminate — and the advice, because the two products fail in different ways: core types, wear layers and acclimation on the vinyl page; expansion gaps, AC ratings, underlayment and sound on the laminate page. Pick the one for your product, then overwrite the plank size and carton coverage with the numbers on the box. Still choosing? LVP vs laminate goes room by room.
Have these to hand before you start
Every calculator opens with working defaults, so you get a number straight away. It only becomes your number when the inputs are yours.
- Room length and width in feet, measured at floor level in two places each way; for an L-shaped room, the size of the missing corner.
- For walls, the length of each run and the tiled height, or the ceiling height in inches, and a count of the doors, windows and outlets.
- The piece size and the coverage per box, bundle or carton, copied from the label rather than from memory.
- The pattern and the grout joint you actually intend to use.
- Your own prices. The defaults are this site’s estimates, not quotes.
The paint calculators also want the number of coats and, outside, the siding type. The drywall and baseboard calculators want the sheet size or stock length you can get into the room.
Which one do I need?
| If you are | Use |
|---|---|
| Pricing a floor before you have chosen the product | Flooring Calculator |
| Buying click-together planks | Vinyl Plank or Laminate Calculator |
| Tiling a floor in any pattern | Tile Calculator |
| Tiling a kitchen wall | Backsplash or Subway Tile Calculator |
| Painting a room, inside | Paint Calculator |
| Painting a house, outside | Exterior Paint Calculator |
| Boarding out a room | Drywall Calculator |
| Running trim after the floor is down | Baseboard Calculator |