Laminate Flooring Calculator — Packs, Underlay & Beading

Measure your room length × width to get the floor area in m², then divide by the pack coverage (typically 2.0–2.5 m² per pack). Always add 10% for wastage - you will lose material on cuts at walls, around doorframes and at the start/end of rows. For L-shaped rooms, use the Add section button to enter each rectangle separately. Considering vinyl instead? Try our Vinyl Flooring Calculator.

Split the room into rectangles and enter each one as its own section using the Add section button; the calculator adds the areas together for you. Packs and underlay rolls are rounded up for every section before being added, which covers the extra cutting where rows stop and restart at the junction between sections and can never under-order. The beading estimate uses each section's full perimeter, which slightly over-counts at the join, so treat it as a safe upper figure. Use three sections for a T or U shaped room.

A 4m x 5m room is 20 m². With 10% wastage that is 22 m². Using standard 2.2 m² packs, you need 10 packs. Using 2.0 m² packs, you need 11 packs. This laminate flooring pack calculator always rounds up to the next whole pack — you cannot buy part packs.

Yes, underlay is essential for laminate and engineered wood flooring. It smooths minor subfloor imperfections, provides sound insulation, and creates a moisture barrier. Standard underlay rolls cover 15 m² and are 2–3mm thick. Some laminate comes with underlay pre-attached — check before buying separate underlay. For concrete subfloors, use underlay with a built-in DPM (damp-proof membrane). If the subfloor is uneven, level it first — see our Floor Levelling Calculator.

Beading (also called scotia moulding) is a small trim that covers the expansion gap between the laminate flooring and the skirting boards. Laminate flooring needs an expansion gap around all walls — typically 8–15mm depending on the product, so always follow the manufacturer’s installation guide — and beading neatly hides this gap. It is sold in 2.4m lengths and comes in matching colours, so divide your perimeter by 2.4 (rounding up) to get the number of lengths. Alternative: remove and refit skirting boards to cover the gap — use our Skirting Board Calculator for quantities.

Leave an expansion gap around all walls, door frames, pipes and fixed objects — typically 8–15mm depending on the product (for example Quick-Step specify 8–10mm), so always check the manufacturer’s installation guide for your floor. Laminate flooring is a floating floor that expands and contracts with temperature and humidity changes. Without adequate gaps, the flooring can buckle. Use spacers during installation to maintain consistent gaps. This gap is then covered by skirting boards or beading. For carpet as an alternative, see our Carpet Calculator.

Yes for the basic pack maths. Engineered wood is sold the same way as laminate, in packs covering a fixed number of square metres, so entering your room area and the pack’s m² coverage here gives an accurate pack count. For extras specific to engineered wood, such as expansion gap perimeter and transition strip counts per doorway, use the dedicated Engineered Wood Flooring Calculator instead.

This calculator is for laminate (and basic engineered wood) packs. For other floor coverings, use the Carpet Calculator for wall-to-wall carpet, underlay and gripper rod, the Vinyl Flooring Calculator for sheet vinyl rolls or LVT click tiles and planks, the LVT Flooring Calculator for a dedicated luxury vinyl tile or plank tool with adhesive type and perimeter trim, the Solid Wood Floor Calculator for solid tongue and groove boards, the Parquet/Herringbone Calculator for pattern-waste block counts, the Floor Tile Calculator for ceramic or porcelain tiles, and the Stair Carpet Calculator for stairs. See the Flooring category page for the full list.

No, this is an independent calculator and is not affiliated with B&Q or any other retailer. It uses the same basic maths that any laminate flooring calculator uses (room area plus wastage, divided by pack coverage), so you can use it to check a retailer's estimate or to plan before you have picked a brand. Enter the pack size shown on the product page you are looking at (B&Q, Wickes, Homebase and other retailers all state the m² per pack) to get a quantity specific to that product.

For a typical 20 m² room (22 m² including waste), mid-range laminate flooring costs roughly £260-440 supply-only, plus £50-90 for underlay, £30-50 for beading/scotia and £200-350 for a day of fitting labour if you are not fitting it yourself, giving a total of about £540-930. Per m², that works out at roughly £8-30 supply-only or £18-45 installed, depending on the AC rating and finish. Enter your product’s price into the Price Per Pack field above for a cost estimate on your own room, or see our Laminate vs Vinyl Flooring comparison for the full breakdown against LVT.