Measure it once

Square footage, without the guesswork

Most rooms are not rectangles, and most calculators only take one. This one adds up as many sections as you need and gives you the answer in square feet, square metres and square yards at the same time.

Enter each rectangular section of the space. L-shaped room? That is two rectangles. Bay window? Three. Add them up and get the total.

Works in metric and US imperial — you choose at the start and can switch at any time. Every figure this calculator uses is published with its source, and the result comes with a printable order sheet. No account, no email, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

All calculators · How to use them · The standards behind our figures

How the sum works

Every section is a rectangle: length × width. The calculator adds as many sections as you give it and returns the total in square feet, square metres and square yards at the same time, because materials are quoted in all three and converting on a phone in a shop aisle is where mistakes happen.

A worked example

A 12 × 10 ft room is 120 sq ft — which is 11.15 m², or 13.3 sq yd. If the same room has a 3 × 2 ft chimney breast, measure the two alcoves either side as their own small rectangles and add them, rather than subtracting the breast from the whole: same answer, fewer ways to slip.

Measure like the trade does

Measure at the widest point, and measure twice. Walls are rarely parallel — if a room is 3.4 m at one end and 3.5 m at the other, use 3.5, because every material calculator on this site rounds up and the extra costs far less than a second delivery. Keep the section list written down: it is what a supplier will ask for if the quantity is ever queried, and it saves measuring the room again next time.

Questions people actually ask

How do I work out the square footage of an L-shaped room?

Split it into rectangles and add them up — an L-shape is two rectangles, a bay window is three. It is exact, not approximate, and it is what the trade does. Measure alcoves as separate sections rather than subtracting, which is easier to get right.

How many square feet are in a square yard?

Nine, not three. A yard is three feet, so a square yard is 3 × 3 = 9 square feet. It catches people constantly — carpet quoted per square yard is about nine times the per-square-foot price, which looks alarming until you do the arithmetic.

How do I calculate the area of a circle or triangle?

Circles: multiply the radius by itself, then by 3.14. A 3 m diameter circle has a 1.5 m radius, so 1.5 × 1.5 × 3.14 = 7.07 m². Triangles: base × height ÷ 2.

Can I use floor area to work out paint for the walls?

No. Painting needs wall area — perimeter × height, minus doors and windows — which is usually two to three times the floor area. Roofs are the same trap in the other direction: a pitched roof has more surface than the footprint under it.