# Flooring Calc

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The Flooring Calculator has several useful functions to compute the area, material amounts and costs for flooring.  The materials include hardwood, hardwood laminate, ceramic tile, linoleum tile, linoleum sheets (vinyl), carpet tile, and wall to wall carpet.   The functions are listed in the instructions below, and the price comparison tool estimates the cost between a large variety of flooring options from fine hardwood to common vinyl (linoleum) at several  price points and using recent pricing surveyed from Lowe's or HomeDepot.  VIDEO INSTRUCTION to use the calculator.

INSTRUCTIONS: The Flooring calculator provides very useful calculations and data for estimating and planning a flooring project.  The equations include the following:

• Area Calculator: a simple area calculation that lets the user enter the length and width of the area to provide the area calculation needed for any estimate.
• Tile Count Estimator: this is a useful calculation that takes the total area (calculated) and divides it by the unit size of a rectangular tile.  vCalc provides a twenty five (25) different tile sizes in the pull down menu ranging from 1 inch by 1 inch (1x1) to twenty for inches by twenty four inches (24x24) and many in between.
• Tile Price Comparison: this formula lets you enter the specifications for two different boxes of tiles including the dimensions of the tiles, the number of tiles in each box, and the price of the box.  It then tells you which box is the better bargain.  For example, it will tell you that a box of 10-12x18 tiles costing $56.10 is 68% cheaper by the area than a box of 8-6x8 tiles costing$16.80.
• Cost with MY Pricing: this formula lets you enter the total area and your unit pricing (e.g. $2.56 per ft2), and it will tell you the total cost. This is valuable since it bargains may exist at the local level (sales and liquidations) that are much better than the nationally advertised pricing used in the Material Cost Estimation tool (next). • Material Cost Estimation: This computes the total flooring material based on the area of flooring and a unit price per square foot. • Hardwood Refinishing Cost Estimator: this calculator computes the estimated cost of refinishing hardwood in a room based on the rooms dimensions and a price range. The low price range is$1.50 per square foot, mid price range is $2.75 per square foot and the high range is$4.00 per square foot which should be expected in high cost labor markets with premium materials.
• Subfloor Count:  This computes the number of 4x8 sheets needed to put a subfloor on top of your joists, below the final flooring.
• Subfloor Cost*:  This computes the cost of subflooring needed.
• Floor Joist Count: This computes the number of floor joists needed for the area.
• Floor Joist Cost: This computes the total cost of the floor joist boards.
• Unit Pricing: This is a simple utility to see the pricing data used in the price estimates including the date of the latest observation, the store and the price points (economy, low, mid, high and premium).  All pricing is in dollars per square foot (ft2).    DECK BOARDS SUBFLOORING BOARDS  FLOOR JOISTS

### Price Survey Data

One  should use the pricing for flooring materials that can be bought locally.  However, the following prices are for different flooring materials and price points in the United States:

 Flooring Pricing Survey Data Type Store Date Premium High Mid Low Economy Ceramic Tile Home Depot 2/9/18 $5.93$3.97 $1.89$0.79 $0.49 Hardwood Home Depot 2/9/18$8.57 $6.29$5.79 $4.09$2.99 Hardwood Laminate Home Depot 2/9/18 $6.49$4.79 $3.11$2.73 $1.99 Carpet Lowes 2/9/18 0.56 1.49 2.18 5.48 8.68 Carpet Tile Lowes 2/9/18 1.19 1.55 2.39 3.39 3.7 Carpet Padding Lowe's 2/1/16$1.12 $1.04$0.84 $0.68$0.55 Linoleum Lowe's 2/1/16 $3.99$3.49 $2.49$0.89 $0.49 Linoleum Tile Lowe's 2/1/16$4.79 $4.29$1.25 $0.68$0.38

Note:  Local pricing can often be the best due to sales and liquidations.  In this case use Cost with MY Pricing formula.

### Disclaimer

These equations are for estimation purposes only, and the user may realized significantly different realized costs based on local pricing, application and numerous other factors.

• The pricing information above does note include installation.  This can be a significant cost if a contractor is hired.
• There are often finishing materials (trimmings) in jobs that are not included above.
• There are sub materials (e.g. tack boards for carpets).  The only underlay material with cost data included is carpet padding.

Furthermore, vCalc does not endorse or recommend any product or service provider.  All references herein are for information only.

flooring area

• What's the square footage of my flooring area?
• How much flooring material do I need?
• Which tile is cheaper?
• What is the price estimate for my flooring?
• What's the price difference between carpet, carpet tile, linoleum, ceramic tile, hardwood, hardwood laminate flooring?

If you are a "do it yourself" (DIY) kind of person and willing to do the installation of the different flooring types, the main cost is the materials.  This calculator helps with calculating the materials needed, and in providing an estimate of the cost of the materials based on recent pricing and your area specifications.  Use this calculator to see if you can afford a higher quality or longer living flooring material.  Enter your dimensions and then click through the material options to see how much the material costs would be for the area you've defined.