Calculator · Flooring
Flooring Calculator: How Many Boxes of Flooring Do I Need?
Add your rooms, pick vinyl plank, laminate or hardwood and the layout, and get how many boxes to buy with the waste factor the manufacturers ask for, plus underlayment, quarter round and what it all costs. The drawing shows the expansion gap your floor needs at the walls.
Materials ticket · Flooring
Enter your rooms or the area and your shopping list prints here.
How to calculate how much flooring you need
- Measure each room. Length × width, wall to wall. Split an L-shaped room into two rectangles and add closets that get the same floor.
- Add the waste. 10% for a straight layout, 15% for a diagonal one, as LifeProof and Pergo recommend. The offcuts at the walls and a few spare planks come out of it.
- Divide by the square feet in a box and round up. Flooring is sold by the box, so you always buy whole boxes.
Example: a 12 × 12 ft bedroom in vinyl plank is 144 ft². Plus 10% that is 158.4 ft², and at 22.38 ft² per box you need 7.08, so 8 boxes (179 ft²). With one doorway it also takes 45 linear feet of quarter round (6 pieces of 94.5 in) and, if the planks have no pad, 2 rolls of underlayment.
Boxes of flooring for common room sizes
Straight layout with 10% waste. Box sizes from the example products: vinyl plank 22.38 ft², laminate 19.63 ft², engineered wood 27.41 ft² and solid hardwood 22 ft². If your box holds a different amount, use the calculator.
| Area | Vinyl plank | Laminate | Engineered | Solid hardwood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft room (100 ft²) | 5 boxes | 6 boxes | 5 boxes | 5 boxes |
| 10 × 12 ft room (120 ft²) | 6 boxes | 7 boxes | 5 boxes | 6 boxes |
| 12 × 12 ft room (144 ft²) | 8 boxes | 9 boxes | 6 boxes | 8 boxes |
| 12 × 14 ft room (168 ft²) | 9 boxes | 10 boxes | 7 boxes | 9 boxes |
| 14 × 16 ft room (224 ft²) | 12 boxes | 13 boxes | 9 boxes | 12 boxes |
| 16 × 20 ft room (320 ft²) | 16 boxes | 18 boxes | 13 boxes | 16 boxes |
| 500 ft² | 25 boxes | 29 boxes | 21 boxes | 25 boxes |
| 1,000 ft² | 50 boxes | 57 boxes | 41 boxes | 50 boxes |
Waste, expansion gap and acclimation by floor type
From the installation guide of one well-known product of each type. Your floor's own instructions come first.
| Floor (guide) | Waste, straight | Waste, diagonal | Expansion gap | Acclimation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinyl plank (LifeProof) | 10% | 15% | 1/4" | Not in the guide |
| Laminate (Pergo) | 10% | 15% | 3/8" | 48 hours, unopened boxes lying flat |
| Engineered wood (Mohawk) | 5% | 15% | Plank thickness | 72 hours |
| 3/4 in solid hardwood (Shaw) | 5–10% | Higher | 3/4" | 72 hours |
Pergo also asks for a T-molding in any doorway narrower than 4 ft and across any run longer than 40 ft, so the floor can move. That is why the calculator counts one transition strip per doorway.
What flooring costs
HomeGuide's national ranges (February 2026), per square foot. The calculator uses the middle of the material range by default; enter your store's price to get your own total.
| Floor | Material per ft² | Installed per ft² | 12 × 12 room, installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luxury vinyl plank | $2.00–$10.00 | $4–$16 | $576–$2,304 |
| Laminate | $1.00–$6.00 | $4–$14 | $576–$2,016 |
| Engineered hardwood | $2.00–$9.00 | $7–$20 | $1,008–$2,880 |
| Solid hardwood | $4.00–$15.00 | $11–$25 | $1,584–$3,600 |
On top of the floor itself: underlayment costs $0.50–$3.50 per ft² installed when your planks need it, and HomeGuide notes that removing the old floor, moving furniture and repairing the subfloor are billed apart.
Underlayment, quarter round and transitions
- Underlayment: many vinyl and laminate planks come with a pad attached; the ones used for our defaults do. If yours do not, buy foam underlayment in 100 ft² rolls. It goes edge to edge, so you only need the floor area.
- Quarter round: it hides the expansion gap along the baseboards. Measure the perimeter of each room and take off the doorways. Pergo's pieces are 94.5 in long.
- Transitions: a T-molding, reducer or threshold wherever the new floor meets another floor or stops at a doorway.
The waste, gap and acclimation figures come from the LifeProof, Pergo, Mohawk and Shaw installation guides linked below. They do not replace the instructions that come in your box.
Frequently asked questions
How many boxes of flooring do I need for a 12 × 12 room?
A 12 × 12 ft room is 144 ft². With 10% for waste that is 158.4 ft², which takes 8 boxes of a vinyl plank that comes 22.38 ft² to the box, or 9 boxes of a laminate with 19.63 ft² per box. Always check the square feet printed on your box: it changes from one product to another.
How much extra flooring should I buy?
10% on a straight layout and 15% on a diagonal. That is what LifeProof (vinyl plank) and Pergo (laminate) write in their installation guides. Mohawk asks for at least 5% for its engineered wood plus 10% more on a diagonal, and Shaw asks for 5–10% for solid hardwood depending on the layout, more for diagonal, herringbone or bordered floors.
How many square feet are in a box of flooring?
It depends on the product. Some examples from the makers' product pages: 19.63 ft² for Pergo Outlast+ laminate (7.48 × 47.24 in planks), 22.38 ft² for Pergo Extreme vinyl plank (9 × 60 in), 22 ft² for Bruce Dundee 3/4 in solid oak and 27.41 ft² for Mohawk TecWood Select engineered wood. Type the number from your box into the calculator.
Do I need underlayment under vinyl plank or laminate?
Not if the planks have a pad attached, as the Pergo and LifeProof planks used for our defaults do. Pergo says to use its foam underlayment only for products without an attached one, and on some subfloors it also asks for a 6-mil polyethylene film as a moisture barrier. A roll of Pergo GOLD underlayment covers 100 ft².
How big should the expansion gap be?
Whatever your floor's instructions say. The ones we checked: 1/4" for LifeProof vinyl plank, 3/8" for Pergo laminate, the thickness of the plank for Mohawk engineered wood and 3/4" for Shaw 3/4 in solid hardwood. The baseboard and the quarter round cover it.
How much does it cost to install new flooring?
HomeGuide puts installed flooring at $4–$16 per ft² for vinyl plank, $4–$14 for laminate, $7–$20 for engineered wood and $11–$25 for solid hardwood, materials and labor included. Labor alone runs $2–$8 per ft².
Sources
- LifeProof Vinyl Plank installation instructions (Jan 1, 2020): add 10% for standard installs, 15% for diagonal; 1/4" expansion spaceimages.thdstatic.com
- Pergo Installation Essentials Guide for laminate: add 10% (15% diagonal), 3/8" expansion space, 48-hour acclimationpergo-cdn.azureedge.net
- Mohawk Engineered Wood installation instructions (ply construction): 5% for cuts plus 10% more on a diagonal; 72-hour acclimationimages.thdstatic.com
- Shaw Hardwoods installation instructions, 3/4" solid plank or strip: 5–10% waste by layout, 72-hour acclimation, 3/4" expansion spacemmllc-images.s3.amazonaws.com
- Pergo Extreme Wood Originals, Caffeine Boost: rigid vinyl plank 9" × 60", attached underlayment, 22.38 sq. ft. per cartonpergoflooring.com
- Pergo Outlast+ laminate, Pure Black Oak: 7.48" × 47.24", 10 mm + 2 mm attached pad, 19.63 sq. ft. per cartonpergoflooring.com
- Mohawk TecWood Select, Harbor Estates: engineered wood 1/2" × 7.5", 27.41 sq. ft. per cartonmohawkflooring.com
- Bruce Dundee Natural, 3/4" × 3-1/4" solid oak: 22 sq. ft. per boxbruce.com
- Pergo GOLD Premium 3 mm underlayment: 100 sq. ft. roll, 4 ft × 25 ft (Lowe's listing)lowes.com
- Pergo laminate quarter round molding, 0.62" × 0.75" × 94.5" (Home Depot listing)homedepot.com
- HomeGuide: How much does flooring installation cost? (Feb 5, 2026)homeguide.com