This calculator estimates the square footage and material requirements for properties, rooms, and projects including flooring, roofing, landscaping, walls, and pools. For complex shapes, you can break them into simple shapes and add the areas together.
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Square Footage Result
To use the calculator, select your shape, enter your measurements in feet, inches or meters and click Calculate. You can add a cost of materials figure if you wish. Continue scrolling for manual calculation instructions and formulas for different shapes. 👇
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How to calculate square footage
Calculating square footage is straightforward for regular shapes. Knowing a few simple formulas will let you figure things out quickly, whether you're working out flooring, painting a wall, planning a garden, or measuring a roof.
Measure your room or space. For a rectangular area, you'll need to measure two dimensions: the length and the width (note that we discuss irregular shapes lower down further).
Multiply your length and width figures together. Square feet (sq. ft.) = Length (ft.) × Width (ft.).
Example calculation
Let's go through a simple example. For instance, measure 16 feet by 12 feet. We calculation would be 16 multiplied by 12, which is equal to 192 square feet (16 × 12 = 192).
Square Footage of a Rectangle
Length (feet) × width (feet)
Calculations for 'L' shaped rooms or areas
Of course, it's not just rooms that are a simple rectangular shape, and there might be areas you have to calculate that aren't simple shapes. For instance, your room could be an L-shape. In those situations, it's best to break the area down into smaller, simpler shapes that can be calculated easily.
Measure the length and width of each separate area and calculate the area of each rectangle separately.
Add your calculations to give you the total area in square feet.
Example calculation
Square Footage of an 'L' Shape
Section1 width × length + Section2 width × length
Let's suppose you have a rectangular living room with a separate dining area attached. Think of the space as being made up of two main rectangles (try one bit smaller bit larger).
First, measure the length and width of the larger section (labels A in the picture for the smaller section below):
A: 14ft × 10ft = 140 sq.ft
B: 6ft × 5ft = 30 sq.ft
Now, add both values to obtain the square footage of the room:
140 sq.ft + 30 sq.ft = 170 sq.ft
So you'll need 170 sq. ft of flooring materials for this room (before accounting for waste — we'll cover this next).
Adding 10% surplus for materials
Once you've calculated the pure square footage, most home renovation pros recommend you order an extra 10% margin on top of your project. This is so that you have a buffer for accidents, mistakes, off-cuts, and waste percentage that varies based on the type of flooring you're laying.
Different materials have different waste rates depending on how much is consumed and how complicated the project. Adding an extra 10% for waste typically is sufficient for most flooring jobs, but more elaborate cuts may require more.
Waste percentages by material type:
Vinyl/laminate (simple layout): 5–10% extra
Vinyl/laminate (complex rooms): 10–15% extra
Carpet: 10% extra
Ceramic tiles: 10–15% extra
Hardwood flooring: 10% extra
Paint: ~10% extra
Using our example calculation of 170 sq. ft from above, we can apply that calculation including 10% waste might look like this:
170 sq.ft + 17 = 187 sq.ft
Add 10% to allow for waste: ie.170 + 17 = 187 sq.ft
Calculating square footage for walls
Calculating square footage for walls is much the same as for a floor, except that you measure the wall height instead of the depth/width of a room.
Measure the height of the wall from floor to ceiling (you'll need a step ladder or, alternatively, a tape measure).
Measure the length of the wall, excluding any doors and windows.
Multiply your height and length figures together to get your total square footage.
To achieve improved accuracy, you can measure and subtract the windows, doors and other built-in features that won't be covered.
By following this process, you'll have an estimate to help you calculate the result of materials you need for your finished products, and you want to add 10% for waste here too.
Calculating the square footage of a house
You may find yourself in a situation where you need to calculate the square footage of your house. If your house is a perfect rectangle then you can simply calculate the square footage by measuring the width and length of the entire base and multiplying the two figures together. This will give you the square footage for each floor.
If your house is not a perfect rectangle (which is common), or if you would like to only calculate the total square footage of the living space of the house, in this case follow the steps below.
Create a floor plan. Sketch out a rough floor plan of each level of your house.
Measure individual rooms. For each room, measure the length and width, separately. Make sure you measure interior dimensions only.
Multiply length by width. Using your room at a time, multiply the rooms' length by the width to obtain the area in each room. Note these down on your plan.
Add up the room areas. Add together the square feet measurements of all of your rooms to find the total square footage of living space in your house.
For living space calculations, here is a list of what is included for living space and excluded from these calculations:
Include: Common areas (kitchen, bedrooms, closets, stairs)
Exclude: Non-living spaces (garages, unfinished basements, attics, etc), as they are typically excluded and given as part of the total square area.
It's important to note that this is a general approach for calculating square footage, and there may be specific considerations or variations based on local building standards or regulations. If you want an accurate measurement, it's worth looking into professional assistance from an appraiser or architect.
Once you know your property's square footage, our price per square foot calculator can help you evaluate what you're paying per square foot, if you're buying, selling or renting a property.
Triangular and circular shapes
It may be that the area you're looking to calculate is a triangle or circular shape. So, let's quickly cover how to calculate square footage for these.
Square footage of a triangle shape
Here's how to calculate the area of a triangular-shaped area:
Measure the base and the height of the triangle in feet.
Multiply your base and height measurements together.
Divide your total by two to get the square footage of the triangle.
Square Footage of a Triangle
Length (feet) × width (feet) ÷ 2
Square footage of a circular shape
Here's how to calculate the area of a circular-shaped area:
Measure the diameter of your circle in feet.
Divide your diameter by 2 and then square it (multiply it by itself).
Multiply your total by π (3.14159265).
Square Footage of a Circle
π × (diameter/2)²
If you're calculating a square feet measurement for a garden or construction project, it's worth considering our volume tools, such as our cubic yards calculator for bulk materials and our CBM calculator for shipping.
Summary of calculations
Here's a summary of what we've covered:
Sq. ft Calculation (in feet)
Rectangular room/area
Width × Length
L-shaped room/area
Split the area or room into separate rectangles and measure each separately
Wall
Height × Length (then subtract windows, doors and closets)
House
Sketch out a floor plan. Measure each room separately