When purchasing materials for a hardwood floor installation project, it's important that you get the right amount of lumber. When measuring a room to see how much flooring you'll need, always round up. It's better to have leftover materials opposed to not enough. These extra hardwood planks will come in hand later when you need to make repairs.
When calculating how much hardwood material you'll need for a particular installation area, measure from baseboard to baseboard (or drywall). Always measure from the longest point in either direction. If you feel uncertain about your calculations, you may need to have a flooring professional do the measurements for you.
The type of installation you choose will also determine how much flooring material you'll need. Straight lay hardwood installations often have a 5% waste factor. This means that at the end of the installation process, 5% of the hardwood goes back into the waste stream. If you can keep the waste factor below 10%, you're in good shape. The less floor waste you send to the landfill, the better it is for the environment.
Make your hardwood floor installation eco-friendly by using FindAnyFloor.com's Quick Click Floor Estimator. This estimator tool factors in all room angles and moldings and can help you figure out how much flooring material you need. It even takes into account diagonal installations. Note that this installation method can increase the waste factor up to 15%.
