Avoid These Common Mistakes When Measuring a Room for Flooring

When measuring a room for new flooring it is essential to get it right. Accuracy will eliminate issues further along the line, such as a shortfall in the amount of flooring ordered or overspending on your budget.

Here’s our summary of the common pitfalls to avoid when measuring and purchasing flooring:

Rough estimation

Floors need to be measured accurately, relying on an ‘eyeball measurement’ could lead to issues with wasted materials or not enough flooring. Not only can this cause delays in installation  it will end up costing you more.

In addition, no two rooms are the same and many come with walls that are not straight or obstacles such as fireplaces, bathroom appliances or kitchen cupboards.  So don’t rely on re-ordering the same as you have already laid in a similar room.

Not re-measuring the space

This is a common mistake that can end in some costly and time consuming issues further down the line. Always double or even triple-check your measurements to ensure absolute accuracy.

Not following professional advice

Most reputable click vinyl flooring manufacturers will be able to provide guides on how to measure your floor space. If you’re not sure what instructions available online mean, phone them.  Don’t be afraid to ask, they will have heard every question before. They will also prefer that you get it right first time.

Irregular shaped rooms

Failure to take into account any irregular shapes or obstacles that cannot be moved will likely mean you under or over estimating the amount of flooring needed.  In addition, recesses, alcoves or fireplaces may require additional cutting, affecting the amount of materials you will need

Doorways and fitted cupboards

It’s easy to miss the small characteristics of  a room.  Forgetting to measure where there are doorways, built-in cupboards and bay windows and adding this to your total square footage will leave you with a shortfall in flooring materials.

Accounting for waste

As discussed previously, cutting planks to fit around obstacles can mean you can’t use every piece of the flooring. Plus, sometimes planks get damaged, giving you wasted materials.   We recommend adding at least 10% extra to your order to allow for offcuts. 

Luxury vinyl flooring is easy to cut in order to fit around obstacles and if you choose a product like Pro-Tek™ which has a built-in underlay, you will be reducing the amount of different materials needing to be accurately cut and reduce waste at the same time.

Planning installation layouts

Most flooring materials require an expansion gap to accommodate natural expansion and contraction.  Without this gap, the planks will buckle and can also potentially overlap.  Before you order, check the manufacturer’s recommendation for accommodating the expansion gap.

Also, if you are using a patterned flooring or shaped fitting such as herringbone you will need to calculate for more material than you would for a straight fit. There is likely to be a higher amount of waste to allow for pattern continuity, design and angled cuts.

There are many guides and resources available to help with how to measure a room for flooring.  Accuracy in your measurements is essential to avoid extra costs and time being added to your project.  Getting this right will help to ensure the flooring looks professionally fitted and prevent installation issues.

As a rule of thumb, it’s better to have too much material than not enough.  If you are unsure, always ask a flooring expert for help and advice.