Flooring Plank Layout Calculator

Plan your flooring layout

Balance narrow edge rows

Divide the laying width by the plank width. If the final row is narrower than your chosen minimum, share one full plank width plus that final strip between the first and last rows. The diagram shows the adjusted widths. An exact multiple of the plank width ends with a full row, not a zero-width strip.

Worked example: balancing a 10 mm strip

A 5,000 × 4,020 mm room with 10 mm gaps leaves 4,980 × 4,000 mm. With 1,200 × 190 mm planks, 21 full widths leave a 10 mm strip. For a 50 mm minimum edge width, use 22 rows: the first and last are 100 mm wide, with 20 full rows between them. A 300 mm minimum stagger gives a four-row sequence of 1,200, 300, 600 and 900 mm starters.

End pieces can invalidate an otherwise correct stagger

In the example, the first row ends with 180 mm. If your product requires a 300 mm minimum end piece, the calculator flags this: revise the starting pattern before cutting. A valid distance between joints alone does not make a complete installation plan. Regular repeating patterns may also be unsuitable for your chosen product.

How the ordering estimate works

Each drawn piece is counted as one new plank; offcuts are not reused between rows or across ripped rows. The example has 110 pieces, or 121 planks with 10% extra: 16 boxes of eight, containing 128 planks. This deliberately conservative estimate can exceed an area-based allowance. An actual cutting plan may reduce it; damaged boards, product restrictions and room details may increase it.

Use the instructions for your exact flooring

Gap, stagger and minimum widths vary with the flooring system. Quick-Step’s laminate installation guide, for example, recommends at least 30 cm between adjacent end joints and a last row at least 5 cm wide. Confirm the current instructions for your specific product, including substrate, moisture, expansion and pattern requirements. The input defaults are examples.

Scope and units

This tool models straight planks of one size in a rectangular room. It does not plan doorways, islands, diagonal laying, locking-edge reuse or saw kerf. All length inputs follow the mm/inch selector; output floor areas remain in m². Very dense layouts use a simplified outline to keep the page responsive.