How Much Wood Flooring Do I Need?

Measure the length and width of each room at its widest points, in metres, and multiply them to get the area in m². Split L-shaped rooms and open-plan spaces into rectangles and add them together.

Include alcoves, bay windows, the space under radiators and the floor through each doorway up to the threshold. Ask your fitter whether the floor will run under kitchen units — most floors stop at the plinth line.

Every floor loses some boards to cuts at walls, doorways and pipes. We allow 10% extra for plank floors and 15% for herringbone and chevron, where every block at the edge of the room is cut to the pattern.

Small or awkward rooms can need a little more; large, simple rooms a little less. Always round up to whole packs, and keep a few spare boards from the same batch — colour varies between batches, so they are the best match for any future repair.