Trim and baseboard calculator
Enter a room's wall perimeter and how much of it is doorway. This works out the linear footage of trim you need, with a waste allowance for miters and mistakes, and how many pieces of stock that comes to.
Total length of wall the trim runs along
Openings the trim doesn't cross
Advanced settings10% waste · 12' stock
How long one piece comes in
Buy
412' pieces
Net run
34 ft
With waste
37 ft 4 13/16 in
The shopping list
- Pieces
- 4 × 12 ft
- Total bought
- 48 ft
- Leftover after cutting
- 14 ft
Where to buy this
- 4 × 12' piecesHome DepotLowe's
Buy the whole room in one trip: profiles vary between mills, and two that nearly match never do at a joint.
Plain search links, nothing sponsored. Prices and stock are the shop's, and a local lumberyard will usually beat both on solid stock.
Worked example: a 40 ft room
A room with 40 ft of wall and 6 ft of doorways needs 34 ft of baseboard, or 37 ft 4 13/16 in with 10% waste.
In 12 ft lengths that is 4 pieces, 48 ft in all, with 14 ft left over after cutting.
- Pieces
- 4 × 12 ft
- Net run
- 34 ft
- With waste
- 37 ft 4 13/16 in
- Leftover after cutting
- 14 ft
These are the figures the calculator above opens on. Change any field and it works the same problem for your numbers.
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About buying baseboard
- How much baseboard do I need for a room?
- Total wall length, minus the width of any doorway the trim doesn't cross, plus a waste allowance for miters and mistakes — typically 10%. A 40' room with two 36" doors and 10% waste needs about 449" of trim, which rounds up to four 12' boards.
- Why buy more than the exact length?
- Every outside and inside corner eats a bit of length to the miter, and the first cut on a board is rarely perfect. Ten percent covers ordinary mistakes on a room with a normal number of corners; add more for a room with a lot of jogs and closets.
- Do I need to subtract windows too?
- No — baseboard runs under a window the same as under a blank wall, since it sits below the sill. Only openings the trim doesn't cross at all, mainly doorways, come out of the total.
You might also need
- Miter angle calculatorThe miter for baseboard, casing or chair rail at any corner angle — flat trim, so there's no bevel to set.
- Paint and finish coverageGallons from an area and a coat count, with the cans to buy for brush, roller or spray.
- Drop ceiling grid and tilesTiles, main tees, cross tees, wall angle and hanger wires for a suspended ceiling, with the border tiles balanced on every wall.
- Door and window casingEvery head, leg and apron cut to its long point from the opening and the reveal, packed into the sticks you buy.
- Caulk and sealantTubes of caulk for a run of joints, from the bead size, with the feet one tube actually lays.