Area & Measurement
Square footage, room size
Area is the number every other estimate hangs on. Before you can price flooring, order paint, or lay pavers, you have to know how many square feet - or square metres - you're covering. It sounds trivial, yet most people either eyeball it or measure one long wall and multiply, which quietly overshoots on any room that isn't a clean rectangle.
These tools nail down that first number. Measure the floor, not the walls: length times width for each rectangular section, added together. For an L-shaped or alcoved room, split it into rectangles, work each one out, and sum them. If your material is sold in the other unit, convert - one square metre is 10.76 square feet - then carry that figure straight into the flooring, paint, or tile calculators.
Frequently asked questions
How do I measure the area of an irregular room?
Break it into rectangles. Sketch the room from above, divide it at the corners into simple rectangles and squares, measure the length and width of each, multiply to get its area, then add them all together. A closet or bay window is just one more rectangle to add; a cut-out corner is one to subtract. That's far more accurate than measuring the longest wall and squaring the whole room off.
How do I convert square feet to square metres and back?
Multiply square feet by 0.0929 to get square metres, and multiply square metres by 10.76 to go back. So a 200 sq ft room is about 18.6 m², and a 20 m² room is roughly 215 sq ft. The converter does it instantly - handy when your space is measured in one unit but the flooring or paint you want is sold in the other.
How big is an acre or a hectare?
For land and large yards the units change, but the logic doesn't. One acre is 43,560 square feet, about 4,047 square metres. One hectare is 10,000 square metres - roughly 2.47 acres, or 107,600 square feet. To turn a lot into something you can plan around, convert it down to square feet or square metres first, then measure and split it like any other space.
Why does area matter so much?
Area is the input to almost every other calculator here. Flooring, tile, paint, concrete, gravel and their cost estimates all begin with how much surface you're covering. Get the area wrong and every number after it is wrong too - you under-order and stall the job, or over-order and pay for returns. It's the one measurement worth taking twice before you buy once.