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MyFloorPlanMaker

Skirting Calculator

Enter the room’s inside size or each wall, and the width of the doorways. The skirting calculator takes the doorways off the perimeter, adds a wastage allowance and counts the lengths of board to buy, or the floor tiles to cut into skirting strips, with the joins on walls longer than one piece.

Draw a room from scratch

Skirting calculator

Quantities are estimates. Buy from one batch and keep a few spare pieces for repairs.

Start from:

Bare numbers are meters; 190 mm works too.

 

Add up the width of every doorway. Leave blank for none.

Typical value. Check your product’s data sheet or box label.

Your price, any currency. Leave blank to skip.

Assumptions

Change any value to match your product or local rules.

 

Basis: Example allowance for cuts and breakage. Your installer’s figure wins; the Tile Layout Planner counts the cuts for one room.

Skirting run
14.70 m
48′ 3″
Run with wastage
16.17 m
53′ 1″
To buy
7 lengths of 2.40 m
Joins on long walls
4
Cost (your currency)
Add a price to see the cost

7 lengths of 2.40 m cover 14.70 m (48′ 3″) of skirting with 10.0% added.

Floor Planner

  • “Design this room” opens a room whose inside is 4.20 m (13′ 9″) × 3.60 m (11′ 10″).
How this was calculated
  • Run = 2 × (width + length) (or Σ wall length × count) − doorways
  • Lengths = run × (1 + wastage) ÷ board length, rounded up
  • Tile skirting: strips per tile = (tile width + kerf) ÷ (height + kerf), rounded down; tiles = run × (1 + wastage) ÷ (strips × tile length), rounded up
  • Joins = Σ over walls of (wall length ÷ piece length, rounded up − 1)
  1. Perimeter = 2 × (4.20 m + 3.60 m) = 15.60 m
  2. Run = 15.60 m − 0.90 m of doorways = 14.70 m
  3. With wastage = 14.70 m × (1 + 10.0%) = 16.17 m
  4. Lengths = 16.17 m ÷ 2.40 m, rounded up = 7
  5. Joins = 1 × (4.20 m ÷ 2.40 m → 2 − 1) + 1 × (3.60 m ÷ 2.40 m → 2 − 1) + 1 × (4.20 m ÷ 2.40 m → 2 − 1) + 1 × (3.60 m ÷ 2.40 m → 2 − 1) = 4
Design this room

How it works

  1. Measure the room

    Width and length inside the walls, or each wall one by one for other shapes.

  2. Take off the doorways

    Add up the width of every doorway. Leave the field blank if there are none.

  3. Pick boards or tiles

    The length one board comes in, or your tile size and the skirting height for strips cut from floor tiles.

  4. Read what to buy

    Lengths or tiles with your wastage allowance, and the joins on walls longer than one piece.

Worked example

A 4.2 × 3.6 m room with one 0.9 m doorway: 2 × (4.2 + 3.6) = 15.6 m, less 0.9 m = 14.7 m of skirting. With 10% added that is 16.17 m, so seven 2.4 m lengths. Each wall is longer than one length, so there are 4 joins.

From 600 × 600 mm floor tiles at 100 mm high with a 3 mm saw cut, one tile gives (600 + 3) ÷ (100 + 3) = 5 strips, 3.0 m of skirting. 16.17 m ÷ 3.0 m rounds up to 6 tiles.

In feet: a 14 × 12 ft room with a 3 ft doorway has 49 ft of skirting, 53.9 ft with 10% added: seven 8 ft lengths, or six 24 × 24 in tiles cut into 4 in strips.

Measuring the run

Skirting runs round the walls at floor level, so start from the perimeter measured inside the room. Take off each doorway, since the skirting stops at the frame. Add back the returns into a deep window bay or a chimney breast by listing those walls one by one.

Joins and long walls

A wall longer than one board needs a join. The calculator counts them wall by wall: a 4.2 m wall with 2.4 m boards takes two pieces and one join. Buying longer lengths cuts the joins; the wastage allowance covers the offcuts left at the ends of each wall.

Tile skirting from floor tiles

Cutting skirting from the floor tiles gives a matching edge. Each tile is ripped into strips as tall as the skirting, along the tile’s length, and every cut loses a saw blade’s width. The calculator rounds the strips per tile down, so a part strip is never counted. Check the kerf of your cutter and change the assumption to match.

Corners

Outside corners are mitred and inside corners are mitred or scribed. Each mitre uses a little length, which the wastage allowance covers in a room with a few corners. A room with many short walls and corners may need a bigger allowance: raise it in the assumptions.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate how much skirting I need?

Measure the perimeter inside the room, take off the doorways and add a wastage allowance. Divide by the length one board comes in and round up. A 4.2 × 3.6 m room with a 0.9 m doorway needs 14.7 m, or 16.17 m with 10% added: seven 2.4 m lengths.

Do I subtract door openings?

Yes. The skirting stops at the door frame, so take off the width of each doorway. The calculator takes a total width of all doorways.

How many skirting tiles can I cut from one tile?

Divide the tile width plus one saw cut by the skirting height plus one saw cut, and round down. A 600 mm tile cut into 100 mm strips with a 3 mm cut gives 5 strips.

How do I handle corners?

Mitre outside corners and mitre or scribe inside ones. The wastage allowance covers the length lost to the cuts; raise it for a room with many corners.

Is skirting the same as baseboard?

Yes. Skirting and skirting board are the names in the UK, India and Australia; baseboard is the US name. The calculator works for any of them.

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Draw a room from scratch