As you begin renovating your kitchen or remodeling your living room, you may wonder how much flooring you should order.
Believe it or not, ordering more flooring than you technically need is a common practice during flooring projects—but how much more should you get? We’ll discuss general recommendations here, and your contractor can help you determine what you need.
Follow the Rule of 10 Percent
The recommendation among industry experts is to order 10% more than the square footage of the room you’re redoing. If you’re laying the floor in a herringbone or other complicated pattern, order 20% more than the square footage.
For these reasons, we recommend communicating with your designer or contractor about your plans for the room, so they can help you determine the best way to lay your flooring and how much to order.
Product Wastage: Why Your Contractor May Be Ordering a Lot of Extra Flooring
Wastage is expected during any construction project, which refers to unusable product due to errors or defects. Product defects are much more likely with natural materials, like natural hardwood, than they are with luxury vinyl tile & plank (LVT/LVP), engineered hardwood, and laminate flooring.
Human error, like cutting or measuring mistakes, is a much more likely cause of wastage during any project. Also, remember that the product probably won’t fit the room perfectly. Obstructions, like vents, cabinets, or pillars, that need to be worked around can lead to unusable product.
Order Extra Flooring as Attic Stock
Attic stock refers to purchasing additional flooring that you store in a controlled environment, like your attic or storage area. There are a couple of reasons why ordering extra flooring as attic stock is a good idea:
Attic stock ages with your existing floor
Even if you take impeccable care of it, your flooring won’t be new forever. Over time, it’ll age and may fade or become visually altered in some way. When you store a little extra product away as attic stock, you ensure it ages alongside the flooring you installed.
If you need to repair or replace a board or tile down the road, your replacement product is more likely to match the rest of your flooring.
Protect against product discontinuation
It’s common for manufacturers to sometimes discontinue a specific color or collection for many reasons, including market changes and material availability. If the flooring you installed ends up on the chopping block for your manufacturer, you may be short on options if you need to replace a board or tile.
With attic stock, you can easily make that simple replacement with matching product. Otherwise, you risk showing an area patched with a slightly different dye lot or look.
Order Flooring for Your Next Project Today
When deciding how much flooring you should order, don’t guess—ask your contractor for their professional advice. In general, ordering 10-20% more than the square footage of the room is a safe bet.
Your local retailer can help you order premium flooring products from Landmark Interiors that’ll take your remodel to the next level. Find your nearest retailer and order today!