Square Footage Calculator

How this is calculated

Area = length × width, converted to a common unit (feet) first if the input is in inches, meters, or yards.

Why square footage matters

Square footage is the standard measurement for pricing flooring, paint, carpet, tile, and other materials that are sold by area rather than by length or volume.

Formula

Example: a 12 ft × 10 ft room has an area of 12 × 10 = 120 square feet.

Quick reference table

Room size	Square feet	Square meters
10 ft × 10 ft	100	9.29
12 ft × 15 ft	180	16.72
20 ft × 20 ft	400	37.16

Common pitfalls

• Mixing units — make sure length and width are entered in the same unit before calculating.
• Forgetting alcoves or closets — for whole-room estimates, measure and add irregular sections separately.
• Not accounting for waste — flooring and tile projects typically need 5–10% extra material for cuts and mistakes.

Tips

• For an L-shaped room, split it into two rectangles, calculate each area, and add them together.
• Round measurements to the nearest quarter-inch for materials where small errors add up, like tile or flooring.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use a square footage calculator for flooring? Measure the length and width of each room in feet, enter them above to get total square footage, then add 5–10% extra to your flooring order to cover cuts and waste.

How do I calculate square footage of a room? Multiply the room's length by its width, in feet, to get the area in square feet.

How do I convert square feet to square meters? Multiply the square-foot value by 0.092903 to convert it to square meters.

How do I calculate square footage for an irregularly shaped room? Split the room into rectangles, calculate the area of each separately, and add them together for the total square footage.

How much flooring or paint do I need based on square footage? Most material calculators use square footage directly, but it's common to add 10% extra to account for cuts, waste, and pattern matching.

Can I use this calculator for square yards? Yes — the result includes square yards alongside square feet and square meters, which is useful for carpet and turf that are often priced per square yard.

From square footage to a materials order

A worked example

A room measures 12 ft by 15 ft, so its area is 12 × 15 = 180 sq ft. If you are buying flooring and allow roughly 10% for cuts and mistakes, order 180 × 1.10 = 198 sq ft. In metric terms, 180 sq ft is about 16.7 square metres, and in square yards it is 180 ÷ 9 = 20 sq yd.

Handy conversions

From	To	Multiply by
Square feet	Square metres	0.0929
Square metres	Square feet	10.764
Square feet	Square yards	0.1111 (divide by 9)
Square yards	Square feet	9

Measuring tips

• Measure to the nearest inch or centimetre at the widest points.
• Split an L-shaped or irregular room into rectangles, calculate each, then add them together.
• Subtract large fixed items only if the material will not go underneath them, such as a kitchen island on tile.
• Write down both the exact area and the area with waste so you can compare quotes fairly.

More questions

How much waste should I allow? Around 5–10% is common for simple layouts, and 15% or more for diagonal patterns or rooms with many corners.

Should I include closets in the room area? Include them if the same flooring or paint will cover them. Otherwise calculate them separately.