Before buying hardwood flooring, you must measure your room in order to know the total square feet required. Everybody will tell you that measuring your floor is pretty easy to do, you just have to multiply the length by the width. However this option only works for a room which is rectangular or square shaped. In reality we have rooms in L shapes, without a 90 degree angle, with circles, etc.

The following steps will teach you how to measure your room, so you can buy the correct amount of hardwood flooring. Look at the designs below and select one similar to your room, read the instructions, and follow the directions.

Instruments required:

• 1.Measuring tape
• 2.Pen
• 3.Paper
• 4.Calculator

RECTANGLE SHAPE

Our first design is the most basic but often not the most common.

Side A 13 feet

Side B 8 feet

Multiply Side A by Side B

13 x 8 = 104 square feet

L SHAPED ROOM

Step one - When measuring a room that it is not a rectangular or square shape you must measure all the sides.

Step two – now you can divide the room in smaller rectangles

Step three – multiply each rectangle separately, and then add the two totals to obtain the total square footage.

Section A

8 x 8 = 64

Section B

21 x 5 = 105

Section A plus Section B

64 + 105 = 169 square feet

ROOM WITHOUT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE

Step one - Measure the sides with a 90 degree angle

Step two:

The room has to get divided into two rectangles

The section without a 90 degree angle must get adjusted to make a rectangle.

Section A

8 x 5 = 40

Section B

3 x 8 = 24

Now we must eliminate the area that we added to create a rectangle, in this case the pink area. The pink area is one half of the total rectangle.

24 / 2 = 12

Section B = 12

Section A plus Section B

40 + 12 = 52 square feet

ROOMS WITH CURVES OR CIRCLES

Step one - Measure the sides with a 90 degree angle

Section A

34 x 21 = 714

Step two –Measure the radius of the circle by measuring from the center of the circle to the edge.

r = 7.8

Step three –calculate the area of the circle by using the following formula

p x radius x radius

p = 3.14159265

3.14159265 x 7.8 x 7.8 = 191.13 square feet.

Step four - Now we have to keep in mind that we only need three quarters of the circle

We have to divided the total area of the circle in four equal parts

191.13 / 4 = 47.78

Then the result we multiply by the amount of parts that we need, in this case we need three parts

47.78 x 3 = 143.35

Section B = 143.35 square feet

Section A plus Section B

714 + 143.35 = 857.35 square feet

TIPS:

• If you have to measure more than one room, make sure to measure them individually. Add the total square feet of each room to have a total.
• Add 10% to the result of the multiplication, this 10% will be necessary for cutting and fitting. If you do not buy this 10% extra, you may not have enough hardwood flooring to complete the installation. If you wish to install the hardwood flooring with a design pattern, for example diagonal, then we recommend you to add 15% to your total square feet. Hardwood flooring installation with designs requires a larger amount of product due to all the angled pieces that you have to cut off. It is important to buy all the required hardwood flooring in one single purchase, to avoid discrepancies in color or size.
• Use the pen and paper to draw and write down the room measurements. Your drawing does not have to be perfect but it must be accurate.
• When you are going to install hardwood flooring in your bedroom, always remember to measure your closet or walk-in closet.
• Before you start measuring, move the furniture to the center of the room, this will allow you to measure without any obstruction.