Wood Flooring Calculator: Area, Cost, Moisture & Refinish vs Replace

Area, Cost, Moisture & Refinish Planning

Enter your room dimensions or total area, choose waste, and estimate product, labor, and accessory costs. The calculator will estimate bales and costs Then check site fit, moisture readiness, and refinishing vs replacing.

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Area & Cost Inputs

Estimate total square footage, waste, boxes, and installed cost.

Area input

Total sq ft

Length × Width

Total area (sq ft)

Tip: include closets if you’re flooring them.

Waste factor

Product (per sq ft)

Box coverage (sq ft/box)

Labor (per sq ft)

Underlayment (per sq ft)

Trim/baseboard (linear ft)

Trim cost (per linear ft)

Install method

Estimated totals

Area (sq ft)

—

With waste

—

Boxes needed

—

Cost / sq ft

—

Materials (product + underlayment + trim)

$—

Installed estimate (materials + labor)

$—

Notes

Waste factor depends heavily on layout and cuts.
Glue-down and floating often require additional underlayment or adhesives.
Always confirm box coverage from the product spec sheet.

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Solid vs Engineered

Answer a few site questions. We’ll recommend the safest fit.

Where are you installing?

Radiant heat?

Humidity swings

Pets / kids (wear)

Refinish priority

Recommendation

Best fit

—

Suggested install method

—

Risk watch-outs

—

Tip

If you’re on slab or below grade, engineered is usually the safer call due to moisture and movement.

Moisture & Acclimation Checker

Use your meter/test results to estimate install readiness.

Subfloor type

Wood MC (%)

Subfloor MC (%)

For concrete, use an equivalent estimate or select “Concrete slab” and enter RH.

Indoor RH (%)

Temp (°F)

Acclimation days

Install readiness

Status

—

Wood vs subfloor delta

—

Next best step

—

Reminder checklist

HVAC running and space conditioned.
Use vapor barrier/retarder per spec (especially on slab/crawlspace).
Leave expansion gaps and follow manufacturer limits.

Refinish vs Replace

Compare total cost and “years extended” from refinishing.

Project area (sq ft)

Refinish ($/sq ft)

Replace installed ($/sq ft)

Extra lifespan from refinishing

Engineered wear layer (optional)

Comparison

Refinish total

$—

Replace total

$—

Difference

—

Years extended

—

Wear layer note

—

Sustainability bonus

Refinishing generally avoids manufacturing/shipping a full replacement floor—often a meaningful embodied-carbon savings.

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Wood Flooring Calculator

Area, Cost, Moisture & Refinish Planning

Area & Cost Inputs

Estimated totals

Solid vs Engineered

Recommendation

Moisture & Acclimation Checker

Install readiness

Refinish vs Replace

Comparison

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