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| How
to Measure for flooring and decking. |
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:: How to
Measure ::
Calculating flooring or decking is
quite straightforward and if you remember to measure
twice then you shouldn't have problems. Below is how
we would measure a couple of room types and then
calculate flooring required. A calculator is
provided for your use.
There are many configurations of
room size and shape, however most rooms breakdown
into two shapes, the rest are in between. For this
you can use your ingenuity. |
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The most common room is the
rectangle, usually with one door and perhaps 1 or 2
windows. This shape accounts for nearly all rooms in
one way or another. The two basic dimensions are the
width, usually the shorter of the walls, and the
length. When measuring it is easy to make a mistake,
and when calculating an area this mistake is
compounded. So always remember Measure Twice. We use
metric measurements when measuring and it really is
simple. Measure both walls, the width and the
length.
Jot down the measurements : i.e.: width = 3.15
metres or 315 cm and the length 4.85 metres or 485
cms. To calculate the area just multiply width x
length
Area = 3.15 x 4.85 = 15.3 sq.metres < rounded up > |
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When
calculating flooring, just divide the pack size , ie
Uniclic 800 which comes in 1.6 square metre
packs by the room area For example: 7m x 4m
room = 28sqm / 1.6 = 17.5 packs. Now flooring comes
in whole packs so just round upto 18 and add a pack
on for good measure, 19 packs
Now to price the floor 19 x 1.6 = 30.4 square metres
and Uniclic 800 is currently £13.51 / square metre
:- so the cost is £410.71 inc free delivery |
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The next room
type is the L-shaped room, which accounts for lots
of room styles, including hall-ways, lounge and
kitchens etc. Measuring this room is just as easy.
All you do is split the L into two rectangles.
Always draw a little plan of your room, to help when
jotting down measurements:
For example: the top rectangle = 4.5 metres x 1.2
metres and the bottom rectangle = 1.8 metres by 1.2
metres
Therefore the total area for this room becomes 5.4
square metres + 2.2 square metres, giving us a total
of 7.6 square metres.
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Room
Practiser. Use the calculator to Workout
Figures !
| Room |
Enter length x width |
Enter Area in sqm |
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When measuring for wood floors always
allow approximately 10 % for waste, and if you are really
sensible, add an extra pack. This is due to the fact that
flooring like, wallpaper, is batched and flooring from two
different batches may not fit together. They should, but
due to the re-sharpening of the machine tools involved
with making the complex joints, you can never be sure.
When measuring very awkward rooms, like an hexagonal
conservatory, just treat the measurement as if it were a
rectangle, the measures taken at the longest walls. Don't
try and cheat, you'll come unstuck, there's nothing worse
than being half a plank short, to complete the job !
When calculating the perimeter trim, its easy. Just add 2
x length + 2 x width for example a room 5m x 3m will need
approx, 16 linear metres of trim.
Underlay, generally comes in 15 square metre rolls right
up to 250 square metre rolls.
When fitting floating floors to a concrete subfloor always
include a separate damp proof membrane, basically a
plastic sheet below the underlay, this will prevent
moisture rising up through the underlay and possibly
damaging your new wood-floor. If you are concerned about
your subfloor
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