Baseboard Calculator

How to use the Baseboard Calculator

1. 1Enter the room size, the doorways, the waste and the piece length.
2. 2Pick the units or options from the menus if the baseboard tool offers them.
3. 3Read the baseboard in the large result box.
4. 4Look at the extra rows for related figures.
5. 5Press Copy result to keep the answer.

When you need the baseboard

Home owners use it to price a trim job and avoid buying too much. Decorators use it to quote, and builders use it to compare standard lengths. Longer pieces mean fewer joints but are harder to carry.

Inside corners are usually cut as coped or mitred joints and outside corners as mitres, and each uses a little extra length. A waste allowance of 10 percent covers them in most rooms; use 15 percent for rooms with many corners.

How the baseboard is worked out

Length needed = 2 × (length + width) − doorways × doorway width. With waste = length needed × (1 + waste). Pieces = that length ÷ piece length, rounded up. A room 13 feet by 10 feet has a perimeter of 46 feet. With two 3 foot doorways the length needed is 40 feet, 44 feet with 10 percent waste. In 8 foot pieces that is 6 pieces.

Every answer on this page comes from that one rule, so you can check any result by hand with a calculator. The figures shown underneath, such as other units, are conversions of the same answer.

• Feet or metres
• Doorways subtracted
• Pieces to buy

Mistakes to avoid with baseboard

For a room that is not a simple rectangle, measure each wall and add them yourself to get the perimeter, then use the length-based approach by splitting into rectangles. The tool assumes a rectangle. Do not forget built-in cupboards and fireplaces, which may not need trim.

On phone and computer

On a phone, type into the boxes one after another and read the baseboard underneath; Copy result puts it on the clipboard for a message or a note. On a computer the inputs sit on the left and the answer on the right, so you can change one figure and watch the baseboard move. The baseboard calculator works the same on both. Plan the rest of the room with Flooring Calculator, Paint Calculator, Drywall Calculator and Tile Calculator, so the materials fit together.

Features

• Add 10 to 15 percent
• Rectangular rooms
• Check piece lengths locally
• Clear messages when the baseboard inputs make no sense
• Copy the result with one tap
• Private: nothing is uploaded

Frequently asked questions