You don't need to be exact — just careful. Follow these simple steps to get a good square-metre estimate for a rough price over the phone. When you're ready to go ahead, we'll pop out and check-measure properly, free of charge, before any final quote.
Most rooms are basically a rectangle. Measure the length (the longest wall) and the width (the shortest wall), then multiply them together.
Put the longer measurement on the long wall and the shorter one on the short wall — and carry your tape a few centimetres past any doorway. Here: 4.8 m × 3.6 m.
That's your floor area. We'll add a little for wastage later (see Step 4).
Carpet and sheet vinyl come off a roll in one piece at a fixed width, so you can't split an L-shape and join it without waste. Don't break it into pieces — instead measure the full length (the longest wall) and the full width (the widest part), as if the room were one big rectangle that boxes the whole shape in. Carry your tape a few centimetres over each door threshold too.
Measure the whole room as one rectangle — length × width — and carry your tape a few centimetres past any doorway. The small offcut in the corner is normal and unavoidable with roll goods.
These trip people up, so the rule is simple: add the bits that stick out (bays and alcoves, because flooring goes into them), and don't subtract the bits that stick in (chimney breasts), because the flooring is cut around them from the full width.
The bay is part of the floor, so measure into it. The chimney breast sticks in, but don't subtract it — measure the full length straight to the wall beside it. And carry your tape a few centimetres past the doorway.
Flooring comes in fixed widths (often 4 m or 5 m for carpet and vinyl), and there's always some trimming and matching, so the amount actually needed is a bit more than the bare floor area. As a rule of thumb, add about 10% to your total for a realistic estimate.
Patterned floors, planks laid in a certain direction, and rooms wider than the roll can need more — that's one of the things we double-check at the free measure, so you never pay for more than you need.
Want the detail? Our in-depth article has a full wastage table by flooring type and roll-width tips →
Pop them into our quote builder or give us a ring for a rough price. Then we'll arrange a free check-measure and a written supply-and-fit quote — no obligation.
