How to calculate flooring costs
A flooring price has three parts: the material, the underlay beneath it, and the time it takes to fit. This flooring calculator works out the area to order including wastage, prices it for six materials — laminate, LVT, sheet vinyl, carpet, engineered and solid wood — and adds fitting at a day rate, so you can compare materials on the total rather than the price per square metre alone.
Step 1: measure and add wastage
Multiply the room’s length by its width. For an L-shaped room, split it into rectangles and add them. Then add wastage for cuts: 10% for a simple room, 15% for lots of corners or diagonal laying. A 5m × 4m room is 20 m², so order 22 m².
Step 2: materials, underlay and fitting
Material and underlay are priced over the order area. Fitting is charged by the day, and speed depends on the material: a fitter lays about 25 m² of click laminate a day, but solid wood takes much longer. That is why a small room costs nearly as much to fit as a larger one.
Flooring cost per m²: six materials compared
For a 20 m² room, ordering 22 m² with 10% wastage.
| Material | Price per m² | Material for 22 m² | Laid per day | Fitting days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet vinyl | £11.90 | £261.80 | 30 m² | Under 1 |
| Laminate | £14.00 | £308.00 | 25 m² | Under 1 |
| Carpet | £18.20 | £400.40 | 32.5 m² | Under 1 |
| LVT (luxury vinyl tile) | £25.90 | £569.80 | 20 m² | About 1 |
| Engineered wood | £28.00 | £616.00 | 21 m² | About 1 |
| Solid wood | £52.00 | £1,144.00 | 15 m² | About 1⅓ |
Add underlay at about £6/m² (£132 for 22 m²) where needed, and fitting at £220 a day. Every price is editable above.
Choosing a material
Laminate and LVT
Laminate is the cheapest hard floor and quick to click together. LVT costs more but is fully waterproof, warmer and quieter underfoot, which makes it the better choice for kitchens and bathrooms. Both need a flat subfloor.
Carpet
Carpet in the UK is usually sold from 4m or 5m wide rolls, so a room wider than the roll needs a seam, and wastage can be higher than 10%. Price a good underlay with it — it affects comfort and how long the carpet lasts more than people expect.
Engineered and solid wood
Engineered wood has a real timber top layer on a stable core, so it copes with underfloor heating better than solid wood. Solid wood can be sanded many times, but it is the slowest to fit and the most expensive, at £1,144 in materials for this room.
What else goes into a flooring quote
Removing the old floor
Lifting old carpet or tiles, taking it away and cleaning the subfloor takes time and often a skip. Switch it on in the calculator if it applies — quotes that seem cheap sometimes leave it out.
Subfloor preparation
Uneven floors need levelling compound or new boards before a hard floor goes down. Doors may need trimming and new threshold strips. These are small jobs individually but add up across a house.
Packs, rolls and quantities
How much laminate flooring do I need?
Laminate and LVT come in packs that state their coverage. Divide the order area by that figure and round up. For 22 m² in packs covering 2.13 m², that is 10.3 packs — buy 11, which covers 23.43 m². Keep an unopened pack if the retailer allows returns.
Carpet widths and seams
Carpet is cut from a roll, so the room width decides the waste. A 4.5m × 5m room laid from a 5m roll needs a 5m × 4.5m piece: 22.5 m², about £409.50 at £18.20 a m². Laid from a 4m roll, it would need a seam, which is best kept out of walkways.
Underfloor heating
Check the maximum thermal resistance the heating system allows, and choose flooring and underlay rated for it. Engineered wood and LVT generally suit underfloor heating better than solid wood or thick carpet with a heavy underlay.
Next steps
For a detailed look at materials, read UK flooring costs per m². If you are tiling the floor instead, the tile calculator adds adhesive and grout. Redecorating the whole room? The room renovation cost calculator combines flooring with paint, and budgeting a renovation helps keep the total on track.
These are estimates to plan with and compare quotes against — not a quote.