Jim Kups, North America Technical Manager for Novalis, shares his thoughts and advice on estimating how much new flooring you’ll need.
(Editor’s note: This is a continuation of Jim’s conversation with his friends introduced in his previous blog post “I want a new floor … where do I go?”)
After helping my friends Mr. and Mrs. S decide on what flooring to buy, where to buy it and who was going to install it, I helped them figure out how much flooring they would need so when someone asked them, they would be able to give a reasonable estimate.
Flooring requirements are based on square footage (length multiplied by the width) of a given area. So a space that measures 10 ft. long by 12 ft. wide will be 120 sq. ft. Since most of us don’t do this everyday, we’ll need to think back to our math lessons in elementary school on how it’s done!
Calculating the square feet of flooring you’ll need is a simple geometry problem. All you’ll need is a tape measure, pencil, paper, and a calculator. First you want to measure the room’s length and width. Of course, most rooms aren’t a nice, neat square or rectangle. They’ll have alcoves, adjoining closets, jut-outs and the like. In this example, we have an L-shaped room, so you would divide the room into separate areas and measure each one individually.
Multiply the length by the width to get the square footage area of each sub-divided section; then add the different sections up for the total area of the room. Measurements should be taken from wall-to-wall and above any baseboards or moldings. Now that you have the total area, multiply that number by 1.20 (about 20% more) to account for some waste and extra flooring for cuts, etc. you’ll need to purchase. For example, if my total square feet is 120 sq. ft., then I would multiply that by 1.20 to equal 144 sq. ft. of flooring needed to adequately cover my desired space. For any NovaFloor LVT flooring, the amount of coverage area (or total square footage) that the flooring in the package will handle is stated clearly on the carton. And remember, the coverage area will vary depending on the style and type of flooring you choose.
Noting the position of doors, windows, sliding doors, etc. will help the store you go to in visualizing your space. They will also send someone out to get exact measurements and provide a better idea to prepare the quote. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, be sure to go over your layout with the customer service person at the store where you make your purchase to get their advice.
And for the name and location of the nearest NovaFloor retailer to you, just check out our dealer locator at https://novafloor.us/dealer-locator/.
Armed with their room diagram and ideas of what to look for, Mr. & Mrs. S are on their way to a beautiful new floor!
Happy trails!