Plan a floor that looks right, before you open a single pack.
Draw your room and see the whole floor laid board by board: which way the boards run, how the joints stagger, where every cut lands and exactly how many packs to buy. Laminate, vinyl or wood.
Works right in your browser, on your phone or at your desk.
Which way should the boards run?
Pick a direction and a laying pattern for this room. Same boards, same walls: turn the planks and the last row goes from a proper board to a skinny strip, switch to herringbone and the room needs 13 packs instead of 6. The planner does this with your room, your measurements and your board sizes.
Mistakes it won’t let you make
These are the four ways a first floor usually goes wrong. The planner checks every one of them before you buy a single pack.
A skinny strip at the far wall
Start with full boards and the last row can end up a few millimetres wide: hard to cut, hard to click in, and the first thing everyone sees. The plan splits the difference between the first and last row before you lay anything.
Last row too thin?Joints that line up
Two end joints in neighbouring rows landing together makes an H joint: a weak spot and an eyesore. Every joint in the plan keeps its distance from the row next door.
Why joints line upStair steps in the stagger
Shifting every row by the same amount draws a diagonal staircase across the floor. The plan varies the offsets so the joints look naturally random instead.
How to stagger properlyRunning out of boards
A flat percentage is a guess, and a wrong guess means bare subfloor, a second trip and a batch that may not match. The plan counts the boards it placed, so the pack count is exact.
Ran out mid-job?No account, no card. Your first checks take a couple of minutes.
Built for real floors, not perfect rectangles
Real rooms are full of awkward corners and obstacles. The planner works with them down to the millimetre.
Any room, any shape
L-shapes, bays, angled walls, or several rooms at once. Everything is drawn to your measurements and filled board by board, and the flooring carries through the doorways between rooms.
Cut around obstacles
Kitchen islands, hearths, pillars, doorways. The boards work around them without the pattern falling apart.
Laminate, vinyl or wood
Works with your own board sizes and pack counts, tongue-and-groove profiles, even the width of your saw blade.
Know exactly what to buy
The pack count comes from the boards the plan actually placed, with offcuts reused, so the waste stays low without the usual “add 10 percent and hope”. You don’t over-order and you don’t run out halfway through the job.
Every classic pattern
Running bond, random stagger, straight lay, strip plank, herringbone (single, double or triple), chevron, basketweave and windmill. Whatever you pick, the layout, cut list and pack count all match it.
See all laying patternsA cut list you can follow
Board-by-board steps in laying order: take them to the saw, play the layout back piece by piece, and export the whole plan as a printable install pack.
Buy your floor's plan once. No subscription needed.
Try the full designer free: draw your room, see your whole layout and your first cuts. One payment covers your room when you're ready.
Free
Design your floor and see what you get.
- The full floor designer
- Your whole layout, waste and board counts
- The first boards of your cut list
- No credit card to start
Your room
One payment for the room you’re laying.
- Full cut list and layout for that room
- Retry patterns, boards and settings as much as you want
- PDF install pack and every export
- Yours to keep. No subscription
Floor Optimizer Pro
Doing more than one room?
- Every room you design, unlocked
- Unlimited optimisations
- Save and revisit every project
- All exports on every project
14-day refund on your first payment. Cancel Pro anytime. See our refund policy.
Questions before you buy? Email me at [email protected]. I read every message.
Questions, answered
Which way should I lay my flooring?+
Usually along the longest wall or towards the main light source, but narrow rooms, hallways and L-shapes change the answer. The reliable way to decide is to look at both: the designer lays your actual room in each direction so you can compare the last row, the number of cuts and the look before you buy anything.
Where do I start laying laminate flooring?+
Usually the longest straight wall, with the boards running towards the main window, though the right answer depends on the room. The designer shows you how the boards fall from any wall you start against, so you can check the last row won't end in a thin sliver before you commit to it.
Is it hard to lay laminate flooring yourself?+
Click-together laminate is one of the more beginner friendly DIY jobs, and vinyl plank is much the same. What usually goes wrong is the planning: direction, stagger, the last row and the quantities. With a board-by-board plan in hand, the laying itself is mostly measuring, clicking and patience.
Do you have to stagger vinyl plank flooring?+
Yes. Vinyl planks follow the same rules as laminate: end joints in neighbouring rows need to keep their distance, or you get weak points, H joints and visible stair-step patterns. The planner staggers every row for you and keeps the joints apart automatically.
How do I work out how many packs of flooring to buy?+
Measure the room in square metres, add a bit extra for waste (around 5% to 8% for a straight lay, 15% to 20% for herringbone), then divide by the coverage printed on the pack. Our free flooring calculator does that for laminate, vinyl and wood in one go. The designer takes it further and lays out every board, so the pack count comes from the real cuts rather than a flat percentage.
Do I need to create an account to try it?+
No. You can open the designer, draw your room and pick your flooring without signing up. Signing in is free and saves your project; unlocking a room's full cut list is a separate one-time payment when you're ready.
Do I need a credit card to sign up?+
No. Signing in takes no card at all. You only enter payment details if you decide to unlock your room's full plan or upgrade to Floor Optimizer Pro.
What does "free" include?+
You get the full designer at no cost: draw your room, pick your flooring and pattern, and see your whole layout with its waste and board counts, plus the first boards of the cut list. One payment unlocks the complete cut list and exports for that room, and Floor Optimizer Pro covers every room you design.
Will it work for odd-shaped rooms and transitions between rooms?+
Yes. You can draw L-shapes, bays, angled walls and multiple rooms at once, plan the transition between rooms and through doorways, and cut around obstacles like islands, pillars and hearths.
Which laying patterns can I use?+
Straight lay, running bond with any stagger, a natural random stagger, strip plank, herringbone (single, double or triple), chevron (the Hungarian point), basketweave and windmill. Each pattern has its own settings, like the chevron point angle or boards per block, and the cut list accounts for every mitre and module.
Is it just a laminate layout planner?+
No. It started as a laminate layout planner and that is still the most common use, but the planner works from the board dimensions you enter, so vinyl plank, engineered wood, solid wood and other rigid boards laid in rows all plan the same way. Tile-format boards work too if they lay in staggered rows.
How big an expansion gap does laminate flooring need?+
8 to 12 mm at every wall and fixed object, with 10 mm the common recommendation, and runs over about 8 m need an expansion joint partway across. The designer takes the gap off your measurements automatically, and our expansion gap guide covers where the gaps go and how skirting hides them.
How accurate is the cut list?+
The optimiser plans to the millimetre from the measurements you enter, so the plan is only as accurate as your room measurements. Always measure on site and double-check before cutting, because the cut list is a plan, not a substitute for measuring twice.
Can I cancel my subscription?+
Anytime, from your settings. You keep Pro access until the end of your billing period. See our refund and cancellation policy for details.
Planning a floor? Start with the answers
Straightforward guides on which way to lay, where to start, staggering properly and buying the right amount. No signup needed.
Laying laminate flooring for beginners: the whole job, in order
Yes, you can lay laminate yourself: click boards are built for first-timers. The full sequence from measuring to the last row, the four numbers that matter, and where beginners actually go wrong.
Which direction should you lay flooring? Light, room shape and joists
The rule of thumb (boards along the longest wall, towards the main light) and the exceptions that override it: narrow rooms, hallways, joists and doorways.
How to stagger laminate flooring: minimum offsets and stagger patterns that work
Keep end joints at least 200 to 300 mm apart in neighbouring rows. The stagger patterns that satisfy the rule, the H joints and staircases to avoid, and how to hit the offsets consistently.
Last row of laminate too thin? How to fix it, and the rule that prevents it
Facing a 30 mm sliver at the final wall? Your options mid-job, why thin rips fail, and the first-row arithmetic that prevents the problem entirely.
Laminate flooring: pattern or random? How to choose your stagger
Whether to lay laminate in a fixed pattern or a random stagger is a look and workflow choice, not a cost one. Measured: half, third and random staggers land within 0.2 waste points.
How much laminate flooring do I need? m², packs and the full shopping list
Multiply room length by width, add 5% to 20% waste for your pattern, divide by pack coverage and round up. The worked answer, plus the underlay, trims and spares most lists forget.
10 common mistakes when laying laminate flooring (and how to avoid them)
The ten mistakes behind most failed laminate floors, from missing expansion gaps to bad stagger, with the fix for each and the checks that prevent them.
How much expansion gap for laminate flooring? 8 to 12 mm, and where it goes
Laminate needs an 8 to 12 mm expansion gap at every wall, pipe and doorway, and an expansion joint on runs over about 8 m. What happens if you skip it, and how skirting and trims hide the gap.
Underlay for laminate flooring: 2 to 3 mm, matched to your subfloor
The right laminate underlay is 2 to 3 mm and chosen by your subfloor: vapour barrier on concrete, foam on timber, low tog over underfloor heating. Plus the thick-roll mistake to avoid.
See your floor before you lay it.
Draw your room and you'll see the whole floor laid out in a few minutes: the direction, the stagger, the cuts and the packs. It's free to try, and we don't ask for an account or a card.
Design your floor free