Welcome to our comprehensive suite of home improvement calculators. Whether you're planning to install new tiles, lay down laminate flooring, or optimize your room's lighting, our free tools will help you calculate exactly what you need. Get precise measurements, material estimates, and cost calculations to make your DIY renovation project a success.
First, measure the floor/wall area (length × width) to get the total square footage (or square meters). Divide that by the area of one tile (in square feet or square meters) to get the number of tiles needed. It's wise to add about 10% extra to account for cutting and breakage. This ensures you don't run short due to wastage or future repairs.
Most experts recommend buying at least 10% more tiles than the calculated coverage area. This overage covers tiles that crack during installation or cuts for edges. For complex layouts (e.g. diagonal patterns or lots of corners), you might increase the waste factor to ~15% to be safe. Unused tiles can often be kept for future fixes.
Measure the length and width of the room (in feet or meters) and multiply to get the total square footage (or square meters). This is the base amount of flooring needed. Then add an extra 5–10% to that total to account for cutting pieces and waste. For example, if your room is 200 sq ft (18.6 sq m), plan for about 210–220 sq ft (19.5-20.4 sq m) of laminate. It's better to have a bit too much flooring than to run out mid-project.
Lighting needs are calculated based on room size and purpose. First, find the room's area (square feet or square meters). Multiply the area by the recommended lumens per sq ft (or sq m) for that room type (this is also called foot-candles). For instance, living areas often need ~10–20 lumens per sq ft (108-215 lumens per sq m), so a 150 sq ft (13.9 sq m) living room would require roughly 1,500–3,000 lumens in total. A lighting calculator will sum up the lumens from all your bulbs to see if you meet this target.
Kitchens and bathrooms typically need brighter lighting than living rooms or bedrooms. As a rule of thumb, aim for about 70–80 lumens per square foot (753-861 lumens per square meter) in task-intensive areas. For example, a 100 sq ft (9.3 sq m) kitchen (or bathroom) might require on the order of 7,000–8,000 lumens for adequate brightness. This is significantly higher than the ~1,000–2,000 lumens recommended for a 100 sq ft (9.3 sq m) bedroom or living room.
Lumens measure the brightness of a light – essentially how much light output a bulb or fixture gives off. Watts, on the other hand, measure energy usage (electricity consumed), not brightness. In the past, people gauged bulb brightness by watts (because old incandescent bulbs had a direct watt-to-brightness relation), but with efficient LEDs this is no longer accurate. For lighting calculations, use lumens to compare brightness, since a low-watt LED can produce the same lumens as a high-watt incandescent.