It is on the pack. It differs by board length and width, so check the one you are actually buying.
Five per cent in a plain rectangular room, ten or more where the room is awkward or the boards run diagonally.
Thresholds, bay windows and the bit that runs into the hall.
How this calculation works
Why waste is not the same in every room
It is decided by the number of cuts, not by the size of the floor. A big open rectangle wastes very little; a hallway with four doorways wastes a great deal, because every offcut ends up too short to start the next row with.
Order the whole floor at once
Batch differences in colour and gloss are real, and they are most visible in daylight across a large floor. Buying the last pack a week later is how you get a stripe.
Leave the expansion gap
Not part of this calculation, but it is where the callbacks come from. A floor laid tight to the wall lifts, and the customer will not remember that you warned them unless it is on the job sheet.
Frequently asked questions
Does this include underlay?
No. Underlay is sold by the roll in square metres, so take the room area from this calculation and work from that.
Can I use it for vinyl or engineered board?
Yes, as long as it is sold by the pack in square metres. Sheet vinyl works differently, because you are buying a width off a roll.
How much waste for a herringbone?
More than a plank layout — the offcuts are less reusable. Take ten to fifteen per cent and buy the spare pack.
Tools that follow on
Want tools like these on your own website?
With Quandron you put calculators and quote modules on your site that turn visitors into enquiries — and every enquiry lands in your CRM as a lead.
Start your free 14-day trialNo credit card · ends by itself