1. Draw

With pad and paper in hand, walk around and draw a top-view of the rooms (do not measure yet). In this example, there are two rooms connected by a hallway.

2.Take Cross Dimensions

With sketch in hand and a steel tape measure, take and write down cross dimensions, one-by-one.

3. Measure Everything Else

Measure all the walls, label the regions with letters as shown, and mark areas that require a transition molding other than wall molding

4. Calculate

Sit down and do the calculations. Start with the flooring. Conversion of inches to feet:

• 1 INCH=.08
• 2 INCH=.17
• 3 INCH=.25
• 4 INCH=.33
• 5 INCH=.42
• 6 INCH=.50
• 7 INCH=.58
• 8 INCH=.67
• 9 INCH=.75
• 10 INCH=.83
• 11 INCH=.92

Calculate flooring and underlay:

• [A] 19.58 X 12.67 = 248.08 SF 
• [B] 13.75 X 14.83 = 203.91 SF
• [C] 3.33 X 14.92 = 49.68 SF

Total SF flooring and underlay required : [A] 248.08 + [B] 203.91 + [C] 49.68 = 501.67 SF

Add between 5%-10% to this number for waste. Rooms with curves and angles will result in more unusable scrap pieces and will require more waste. A simple configuration like the one shown above will require less waste, so we will add 5%: 501.67 X 1.05 = 526.75 SF

Calculate wall moldings:

Add all of the wall dimensions. In the example above, we will start from the north-west corner of A and move counter clockwise:

19.58 + 12.67 + 3.08 + 14.92 + 11.33 + 11.33 + 13.75 + 14.83 + 13.50 + 13.50 + 12.67 = 141.16 linear feet (1694 linear inches) Moldings are sold by the piece, and the size of the piece varies by brand. In this example, we will assume the wall molding is sold in 94-INCH pieces. So we divide 94 into 1694 = 18.02 pieces. There will be waste with the moldings too, so 19 pieces should do the trick.

Calculate all other moldings:

We have already marked these on the sketch.

T-Molding : 3FT + 3.50FT = 6.50 linear feet (78 linear inches). Assuming this molding is also sold by 94-INCH pieces, we need 1 T-Molding

Sq.Nose / EndCap : 3.33FT (40 linear inches). We need 1 Sq.Nose.

Don't forget to check our molding page for types and intended uses.