Laminate Flooring Calculator

Written byOleh Soloninupdated 25 September 2026

Floor area, m²

Pack coverage, m²

Cutting allowance, %

5% for straight laying, 10–15% for diagonal.

Price per pack

Advanced options

Underlay roll coverage, m²

From the roll label; 0 if you do not need underlay.

Result

With allowance, m²18.73
Packs9
Will cover, m²19.17
Bought beyond the floor area, m²1.67
Costno price given
Underlay rolls2
How it was calculated
17.5 m² × (1 + 7%) = 18.73 m² including waste 18.73 ÷ 2.13 m² per pack = 9 packs, rounded up 9 × 2.13 = 19.17 m², 1.67 m² beyond the floor area

The allowance depends on the laying pattern

Packs of laminate including a cutting allowance, how much you buy beyond the floor area, and how many rolls of underlay.

Laminate is sold in packs, not in square metres: 17.5 m² of floor with a 7% cutting allowance needs 18.73 m² of boards, which is nine packs of 2.13 m². They cover 19.17 m², which is 1.67 m² more than the floor: 1.23 m² of that is the allowance reserved for cutting — how much becomes offcuts depends on the layout — and 0.44 m² is the rounding up to a whole pack. How much survives as whole boards depends on the layout.

The allowance exists because every row starts and ends with a cut piece and not all offcuts can be reused. A room with alcoves, or boards laid diagonally, wastes more, so the allowance is an input rather than a constant baked into the calculator.

How to use

Enter the floor area — length times width for a rectangular room.
Take the coverage of one pack from the label, in square metres, and set the cutting allowance in percent.
Read the number of packs, the area they cover and how much that is beyond the floor area; add the coverage of an underlay roll if you need underlay too.

How many packs a room takes

Every row is a separate run of this calculator with 2.13 m² per pack, except the last one: there the pack is smaller, 1.75 m², and the same room takes more packs.

Every value was produced by the calculator on this page.
Floor area	Allowance	With allowance	Packs	They cover	Beyond the floor
17.5 m²	7%	18.73 m²	9	19.17 m²	1.67 m²
20 m²	7%	21.4 m²	11	23.43 m²	3.43 m²
25 m²	7%	26.75 m²	13	27.69 m²	2.69 m²
30 m²	10%	33 m²	16	34.08 m²	4.08 m²
40 m²	15%	46 m²	22	46.86 m²	6.86 m²
17.5 m², 1.75 m² packs	7%	18.73 m²	11	19.25 m²	1.75 m²

Why you buy more than the allowance

The allowance is a percentage of the area; the purchase is whole packs. A 20 m² room with a 7% allowance needs 21.4 m², but ten packs only cover 21.3 m², so the calculator takes eleven, and you buy 3.43 m² beyond the floor area rather than 1.4 m². The bigger the pack, the coarser that step.

Smaller packs go the other way: the same 17.5 m² in 1.75 m² packs comes to eleven packs and 1.75 m² beyond the floor area — exactly one pack's worth, though 1.23 m² of it goes on cuts. When both formats are on the shelf, compare what the whole purchase for the room costs, not the price per pack.

What this calculator shows

Area including the allowance and the exact pack count
How much you buy beyond the floor area, cutting allowance included
Underlay rolls, and cost if you enter a pack price

What to keep in mind

Pack area is printed on the packaging and depends on the board size and the number of boards per pack.
Underlay defaults to 15 m² rolls; take your roll's coverage from the label and enter it in the field.

FAQs

How many packs of laminate do I need for 20 m²?

With 2.13 m² packs and a 7% allowance, eleven: the area with allowance is 21.4 m² and ten packs only cover 21.3 m². You buy 3.43 m² beyond the floor area, 1.4 m² of which is the cutting allowance.

What cutting allowance should I use?

That is the fitter's call, not a rule: straight rows along a wall waste less, diagonal laying and rooms with alcoves waste more. The calculator takes any percentage; the table above shows 7%, 10% and 15%.

Why keep the leftover boards?

To replace a board that gets soaked or gouged when furniture moves. A batch bought a year later can differ in tone, so the best spare comes from the same batch.

How much does the pack size change the result?

It sets the step of the purchase. For 17.5 m², packs of 2.13 m² give 9 packs and 19.17 m²; packs of 1.75 m² give 11 packs and 19.25 m². Almost the same coverage, a different number of packs.

How many rolls of underlay?

Floor area divided by roll coverage, rounded up: 17.5 m² with 15 m² rolls is two rolls. Roll coverage is printed on the label and varies, so it is an input field.

Can I count laminate in boards instead?

You can, but the number of boards per pack differs between collections while the coverage per pack is always printed. Counting by pack coverage keeps the result independent of the board format.

Worked example

A 17.5 m² room

Input: 17.5 m², 2.13 m² per pack, 7% allowance

Output: 9 packs, 19.17 m², 1.67 m² beyond the floor area

Note: With 15 m² underlay rolls you need two rolls.

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