What you need
A tape measure of at least 5 m (or a laser measure), a pencil and paper. A helper makes long walls easier.
Step by step
- Sketch the room. Draw the outline roughly, including alcoves, chimney breasts and the doorways. Letter the corners A, B, C and so on, going clockwise.
- Measure every wall at floor level. Measure from wall to wall, not from skirting to skirting if the skirting will come off. Write each length on the sketch.
- Measure in more than one place. For a rectangular room, measure the width at both ends and in the middle. If they differ, the walls are not parallel; use the largest figure for buying and note the difference for your first row.
- Check the corners are square. Measure both diagonals. If they are equal, the room is square. If not, the planner can handle it: use Draw mode and enter the real wall lengths.
- Add alcoves and doorways. Floor that continues into a doorway up to the middle of the door counts too.
- Enter the sizes in the planner. Use the Rectangle or L-shape form, or draw the outline and type each wall length.
Quick square check: measure 3 m along one wall and 4 m along the other from the same corner. The distance between the two marks should be exactly 5 m.
Common mistakes
- Measuring at waist height: walls lean. Measure on the floor.
- Forgetting the cupboard or the space under a radiator.
- Rounding down. Always round up to the nearest centimetre.