Advanced options
Allow 8% waste for straight rooms (10-15% for diagonal laying or awkward shapes), underlay across the full area, and an expansion gap of 10-12mm at every wall, covered by beading or the skirting.
What The Laminate Flooring Calculator Works Out
- Floor area: length x width plus an 8% waste allowance, which covers straight laying in a rectangular room where the offcut ending one row starts the next.
- Packs to buy: the area including waste divided by the coverage printed on the pack (2.22 m2 is a common figure, but it varies from 1.6 to 2.6), rounded up. A 20 m2 room in 2.22 m2 packs needs ten. Buy it all at once from one batch to avoid shade variation between production runs.
- Extras: underlay across the whole floor, beading (scotia) around the perimeter or refitted skirting to hide the expansion gap, and a threshold bar at every doorway. The 10 to 12mm expansion gap at every wall, pipe and door frame is the rule that separates floors that last from floors that lift.
- Preparation: the subfloor must be flat to about 3mm over a metre, concrete needs a damp-proof membrane, and packs should acclimatise in the room for 48 hours. Laminate floats; it is never glued or nailed down.
- Waste allowance (advanced): raise it to 10% to 15% for diagonal patterns, herringbone-style boards or rooms with alcoves and bays, or drop to 5% for a simple rectangle you have measured carefully.
- Doorways and spare pack (advanced): set the number of threshold bars, and add one spare pack stored flat as the standard insurance against future repairs.
- Flooring cost (advanced): packs x your pack price, with the cost per m2 of actual floor alongside so different pack sizes can be compared fairly. Budget laminate is GBP 8 to GBP 15 per m2, mid-range AC4 boards GBP 15 to GBP 30.
- Underlay and beading (advanced): underlay at your price per m2 (foam GBP 2 to GBP 4, fibreboard or underfloor-heating grades more) plus 2.4m beading lengths for the perimeter.
- Threshold bars and fitting (advanced): bars at your price each (GBP 10 to GBP 25 depending on finish; use a ramp bar where the floor meets carpet), and the area x a fitter's rate, typically GBP 10 to GBP 20 per m2 for laminate excluding subfloor work.
- Total estimate (advanced): everything above added together. AC ratings are the wear currency worth reading on the pack: AC3 serves homes, AC4 busy rooms, and bathrooms want water-resistant grades or LVT instead.