How much laminate flooring? Counting packs with waste

01How to calculate

You work it out in three steps: the floor area, the waste, and rounding up to whole packs.

number of packs = floor area × (1 + waste) ÷ m² per pack, rounded up

Floor area. Measure the room from wall to wall at floor level. A rectangle is length times width. Split an L-shaped room or a room with an alcove into rectangles and add up their areas. Do not deduct the strip under the skirting boards or the expansion gap along the walls: it is only a few centimetres, and the waste covers it anyway. Do not deduct the space under a built-in wardrobe either, unless you are sure it will stay there for good.

Waste. For a straight pattern in a rectangular room, 5–7% is enough, because the piece cut off the end of one row starts the next row; Baukit counts 7%. You add more in a room smaller than 10 m², for a diagonal pattern and for herringbone. Baukit does not detect alcoves or pillars, so you add the waste for them yourself. Details and examples are in the article laminate flooring waste: 5, 10 or 15%.

Packs. The number of m² in a pack is on the label. 8 mm laminate usually comes in packs of 1.9–2.5 m², thicker 10–12 mm boards in packs of about 1.5–2.0 m². Divide the area you need by that number and round up. Buy all the packs at once, ideally from the same production batch, because the next batch may have a slightly different shade.

Underlay and film. The underlay is laid edge to edge over the whole floor, so you count the room's area plus about 5% for offcuts. On a concrete or anhydrite screed you also need a vapour barrier: 0.2 mm PE film with overlaps of about 20 cm, turned up the walls, which comes to about 15% more than the floor area. Baukit adds this film on every screed. Many underlays have the film built in: in that case you leave the film off your shopping list.

Expansion gap and direction. Leave an expansion gap along the walls, usually 8–10 mm, which the skirting board will later cover. In very long rooms (usually over about 8–10 m) and in doorways the flooring is broken with a threshold strip. Boards are most often laid in the direction of the light from the window or along the longer wall. The direction hardly changes the number of packs, but in a narrow hallway laying the boards across means more short offcuts.

Skirting boards. You count skirting boards from the room's perimeter minus the width of the door, with about 10% extra for offcuts. The article how many skirting boards to buy shows it step by step.

02Waste

This is the waste Baukit adds, by pattern and room size. The waste figures are typical recommendations from flooring manufacturers and DIY shops. Always check the installation instructions for your flooring. Baukit does not detect alcoves, a pillar, a chimney breast or an L shape: with obstacles like these, choose a pattern with more waste or buy an extra pack. Herringbone boards are usually sold as a separate product, in different packs from boards for a straight pattern.

03Example: a 4 × 5 m room

Assumptions: a 4.00 × 5.00 m room, one 0.90 m wide door in the middle of the shorter wall, a concrete screed. 8 mm laminate in packs of 2.22 m², straight pattern. 3 mm underlay in packs of 10 m², 0.2 mm PE film in rolls of 20 m², skirting boards 2.5 m long. The example in Baukit uses the same data.

1. Area. 4.00 × 5.00 = 20.00 m².
2. Waste 7%. 20.00 × 1.07 = 21.40 m².
3. Packs. 21.40 ÷ 2.22 = 9.64, so 10 packs. You buy 22.20 m², and after laying about 0.8 m² is left over beyond the waste, less than half a pack.
4. Herringbone for comparison. 20.00 × 1.15 = 23.00 m², and 23.00 ÷ 2.22 = 10.36, so 11 packs (24.42 m²), provided the herringbone boards come in a similar pack.
5. Underlay. 20.00 × 1.05 = 21.00 m², so 3 packs of 10 m². The surplus will come in handy in the next room.
6. Film. 20.00 × 1.15 = 23.00 m², so 2 rolls of 20 m². Baukit counts the film on every screed; if the underlay has a built-in film, you do not buy this item.
7. Skirting boards. Perimeter 2 × (4.00 + 5.00) = 18.00 m, minus the 0.90 m door = 17.10 m. With 10% waste: 18.81 m ÷ 2.5 m = 7.52, so 8 boards.
8. Skirting accessories. 4 internal corners, 2 end caps at the door frame, 3 connectors (one on each 5 m wall and one on the unbroken 4 m wall).
9. Threshold strip. One in the doorway, about 0.9–1.0 m long, if the next room has a different floor or the room is long and needs an expansion break.

04What it costs

The “Worked example, total” row is the cost of the materials in the example above: 10 packs of 8 mm laminate, 3 packs of underlay, 2 rolls of film and 8 skirting boards, without the skirting accessories and the threshold strip.

The prices in the table are the median of offers from several Polish DIY shops and builders' merchants, including VAT, with the date. The from–to range shows how much the prices of flooring of the same class and thickness differ between shops, so it is worth comparing a few offers before you buy.

You usually buy the corners, end caps and connectors for the skirting, and the threshold strip, from the same range as the skirting boards:

05Calculate it in Baukit

1. Click “Open in Baukit”. A 4 × 5 m room opens with one door and the notebook open.
2. The room is already selected. The notebook shows the laminate, underlay, film, skirting boards and skirting accessories, each with the quantity you need including waste: 21.40 m² of laminate (+7%).
3. In the panel on the right, in the “Appearance” section, choose the flooring in the “Product” field and the pattern in the “Pattern” field. Each pattern shows its waste.
4. Change the pattern to “Herringbone, 15% waste”: the laminate goes up to 23.00 m².
5. Press Esc so that nothing is selected. In the whole-building view, in the “Finishes” group, the laminate line shows the number of packs to buy: 11 for herringbone, 10 for a straight pattern.
6. Add a second door: press G and click a wall, then select the room again. The skirting boards are recounted without the width of the door.
7. You open the notebook with the “Notebook” button in the bottom left corner or with the 4 key.

The product and the pattern belong to the floor finish, so they change in every room with the same finish.

The same drawing of the room also works out the paint for the walls and ceiling, and a drawing of the whole house works out the floors in every room at once.

06Frequently asked questions