Vinyl Plank Flooring Calculator

The short answer

Multiply the room’s length by its width, add any closet, then add 10% for cuts: LifeProof, TrafficMaster and NuCore all say to order about 10% more than the floor’s square feet. Divide by the square feet printed on the box and round up. A 120 sq ft room in LifeProof’s 20.06 sq ft boxes takes 7 boxes.

Leave a 1/4 in gap at the walls for click-lock planks (1/8 in for peel-and-stick), and keep the end joints at least 8 in apart from row to row. No maker allows either kind over carpet.

How to use the calculator

1. Pick your plank. The list has four planks with their makers’ box sizes. For another plank, choose the last option and enter its width, the square feet per box and the planks per box, from the box or the product page.
2. Measure the room at floor level. The length is the way the planks will run; some makers suggest running them toward the main window or along the longest wall.
3. Add a closet or nook if it gets the same floor. For an L-shaped room, enter the bigger rectangle as the room and the smaller one as the nook.
4. Keep the 10% for cuts unless your plank’s guide says otherwise.

The result shows the boxes and planks to buy, the rows across the room and the width of the last one, and the gap and stagger for your kind of plank. Use Copy link to keep your numbers for the store.

Boxes by floor size

Boxes for three box sizes the makers print, with 10% added for cuts:

Box sizes vary by product, even within one brand. Use the square feet printed on your box, not the plank size times the count: they can differ slightly.

What the makers say

We read the installation guides of 7 vinyl plank lines. Where they give an order size, it’s 10% more than the floor, and none allows carpet underneath. They differ on the gap, the stagger and when a long floor needs a transition:

Follow the guide that comes with your planks. The calculator uses the most common rules: 1/4 in and 8 in for click-lock planks, 1/8 in and 6 in for peel-and-stick.

How we calculate

1. Area. The room’s length times its width, plus the closet or nook, in square feet.
2. Order. The area plus 10% for cuts and mistakes, the figure LifeProof, TrafficMaster and NuCore give.
3. Boxes. The order divided by the square feet per box, rounded up. The planks are the boxes times the planks per box.
4. Rows. The planks run along the room’s length. The width, less the gap at both walls, divided by the plank width and rounded up, gives the rows. If the last row would be narrower than the makers’ minimum (NuCore’s 2 in for click-lock, TrafficMaster’s 3 in for peel-and-stick), the calculator cuts the first and last rows to the same width instead.
5. Transitions. A click-lock floor longer than 50 ft gets a note, the shortest limit among the guides (Pergo’s).

Worked examples

Example: A 12 × 10 ft bedroom in click-lock planks

What we know

• Room: 12 ft by 10 ft
• LifeProof click plank, 8.66 × 47.64 in (20.06 sq ft box)
• 10% added for cuts

How it works out

1. The floor is 12 ft by 10 ft: 120 sq ft. With 10% for cuts, as the makers advise, order 132 sq ft.
2. At 20.06 sq ft a box, that's 7 boxes (49 planks), with about 20 sq ft to spare.
3. With the planks along the 12 ft length and a 1/4 in gap at both walls, the 10 ft width takes 14 rows of 8.66 in, the last one 6.92 in wide.
4. Leave a 1/4 in gap at the walls and at anything fixed, such as cabinets (some makers ask for 3/8 in), and keep the end joints at least 8 in apart from row to row.

Buy 7 boxes.

Example: A 15 × 11 ft living room with a closet

What we know

• Room: 15 ft by 11 ft, plus 4 ft by 2 ft
• TrafficMaster click plank, 7.13 × 48.03 in (23.77 sq ft box)
• 10% added for cuts

How it works out

1. The floor is 15 ft by 11 ft, plus a 4 ft by 2 ft closet or nook: 173 sq ft. With 10% for cuts, as the makers advise, order 190 sq ft.
2. At 23.77 sq ft a box, that's 9 boxes (90 planks), with about 41 sq ft to spare.
3. With the planks along the 15 ft length and a 1/4 in gap at both walls, the 11 ft width takes 19 rows of 7.13 in, the last one 3.16 in wide.
4. Leave a 1/4 in gap at the walls and at anything fixed, such as cabinets (some makers ask for 3/8 in), and keep the end joints at least 8 in apart from row to row.

Buy 9 boxes.

Example: A 7 ft 6 in × 5 ft 1 in bathroom in peel-and-stick planks

What we know

• Room: 7 ft 6 in by 5 ft 1 in
• TrafficMaster peel-and-stick plank, 6 × 36 in (36 sq ft box)
• 10% added for cuts

How it works out

1. The floor is 7 ft 6 in by 5 ft 1 in: 38 sq ft. With 10% for cuts, as the makers advise, order 42 sq ft.
2. At 36 sq ft a box, that's 2 boxes (48 planks), with about 34 sq ft to spare.
3. With the planks along the 7 ft 6 in length and a 1/8 in gap at both walls, the 5 ft 1 in width takes 11 rows of 6 in, but the last one would be only 0.75 in wide, under the 3 in minimum. Cut the first and last rows to about 3.38 in each instead.
4. Leave a 1/8 in gap at the walls, and keep the end joints at least 6 in apart from row to row.

Buy 2 boxes.

Before you lay a plank in a rental

• Ask first. A new floor over the old one changes the unit. Get your landlord’s OK in writing, including what happens at move-out.
• Choose click-lock if you want to take it up. Floating floors aren’t glued or nailed down; LifeProof’s guide says the floor “must not be glued, nailed, or fastened to the subfloor in any way”, and LifeProof and NuCore describe taking it apart row by row. Peel-and-stick planks are glued to the floor, and TrafficMaster’s guide asks for an embossing leveler over existing vinyl or ceramic first.
• Check what’s underneath. No maker allows carpet. One layer of non-cushioned vinyl, or tile that’s firmly bonded, works for most planks; deep grout lines may need filling.
• Let peel-and-stick planks adjust. TrafficMaster asks for 48 hours in the room at 65°F to 85°F before you start. Click-lock rules vary from none to 48 hours, so check your guide.
• Plan the floor before you cut. The peel and stick tile calculator covers square tiles, and the rug size calculator is the no-install option for a floor you’d rather cover than replace.