Tutorial: How to measure your floor or surface in 5 minutes (2 easy methods)

Ready to find out how much surface area your Kraftile order will need to cover?

Here are 2 easy methods to measure your floor or other surface. Method 1 is great if you're confident about your maths, or use method 2 if you prefer a visual method.

Method 1: For the mathematically talented (mathematical method)

You'll need:

Tape measure with metric measurements
Calculator
Pen and paper to write down the measurements

Rectangular or square floor or surface shapes

These room shapes are the easiest to measure as there are no awkward spaces to account for. Simply multiply the length and the breadth of the space and add on a 10% wastage allowance on top of the result, which acts as a buffer for cuts, human error and accidental damage.

Complex floor or surface shapes

Most spaces will not be as easy to measure as a rectangular or square floor or surface. Follow these steps for complex floor shapes or surfaces:

Step 1: Draw a bird's eye view sketch of the floor or surface.

Step 2: Divide your sketch into multiple rectangle shapes, making sure you don't miss out any areas. Some areas might only fill part of a rectangle but that's ok, count them anyway as part of your area measurement as the sheets covering this area will need to be cut to shape. Number each rectangle.

Step 3: Using your measuring tape, measure and calculate the area (multiply length x breadth) of each of the rectangular areas first. Write them down on your diagram. Then, add them together to get the total area in square metres.

Step 4: To the surface area you have found, add on an additional 10% and then round the number up to the closest 0.5m², as our grouted sheets are sold in increments of 0.5m².

This 10% wastage allowance acts as a buffer for cuts, human error or accidental damage.

As your maths teacher used to say: don't forget to check your work! Any questions? We're here to help at hello@kraftile.com.

Method 2: For the mathematically challenged (visual method)

You'll need:

A number of A4 sheets of paper, preferably used scrap/rough paper if available
A coloured marker or pen

Step 1: Lay the A4 sheets of paper on your floor or surface, with the sides touching as closely as possible. (If the surface you are measuring is vertical, use blu tack to stick the sheets to the surface.)

Step 2: Along the edges, where only a partial A4 sheet is needed to fill the space, fold the sheet over so it sits roughly flat on the surface. Even though only part of the sheet is needed to fill the space, it is still counted as 1 sheet as the grouted sheet filling that area will need to be cut to shape.

Step 3: Using the coloured marker, number the sheets on the floor or surface from 1, 2, 3... all the way up to however many sheets you have used. Include the partial folded over sheets as a full sheet, rather than a fraction, as they will need to be cut to shape.

Step 4: Take the total number of sheets you require, and add 10% on top of that number. This 10% wastage allowance acts as a buffer for cuts, human error or accidental damage.

Step 5: Take the number of sheets, and multiply it by 0.062m², the surface area of an A4 sheet of paper. This will give you your surface area in m².

Why this method works:

Laying the A4 sheets on your floor or surface will give you an easy and quick way to determine how much surface area you need visually, without pulling out a calculator.

Any questions? We're here to help!

We hope this guide has been helpful and welcome any feedback. Whichever method you decide to use, we're here for you on hello@kraftile.com if you need any help!