Baseboard Calculator
Baseboard lineal and stick counts for rooms.
What it does
Baseboard wraps rooms minus openings: perimeter less doors, plus cutting waste, turned into stock sticks. This page runs that chain in feet with 8 ft sticks or meters with 2.4 m sticks.
The default is a 12 by 15 ft room with two 3 ft doors. Net run is 48 ft, waste lifts it to 52.8 ft, and 8 ft sticks mean 7 to buy. Metric converts the room to 3.66 by 4.57 m and gives 16.1 m with the same 7 sticks.
Doors are the common miss. Each cased opening removes a full door width, while closets with base inside keep theirs. Measure every break rather than guessing two.
Waste is joinery, not spare. Miters eat length, copes correct it, and one bad cut per room is normal, which is why 10% is a floor for simple rectangles.
How to use
- Pick imperial or metric first.
- Enter room length and width.
- Enter doors and door width.
- Read lineal first, then sticks.
- Cut long walls from full sticks.
Formula
- L
- Room length in the active units.
- W
- Room width in the active units.
- doors
- Door openings without base.
Doors break the run where casing takes over; closets and cased openings subtract the same way. Ten percent covers miters, copes, and bad cuts on straight runs. Sticks assumed 8 ft (2.4 m); random lengths need the count scaled.
Worked example
Example: 12 by 15 ft room
12 by 15 ft room, 2 doors at 3 ft (metric 3.66 by 4.57 m, 0.9 m).
- Perimeter: 2 x (12 + 15) = 54 ft.
- Minus doors: 54 - 2 x 3 = 48 ft.
- With 10%: 48 x 1.1 = 52.8 ft.
- Sticks: 52.8 / 8 = 6.6, up to 7 sticks.
- Metric: 3.66 by 4.57 m gives 16.1 m, 7 sticks.
- Tool shows 52.8 ft and 7 sticks imperial.
Reference table
| Net ft | With waste | Sticks |
|---|---|---|
| 32 | 35.2 | 5 |
| 40 | 44 | 6 |
| 48 | 52.8 | 7 |
| 56 | 61.6 | 8 |
| 64 | 70.4 | 9 |
Limits
- Rectangles only. Bays and jogs need adding.
- One door width per pass. Mixed widths split.
- 10% fits simple runs. Tall trim needs more.
- Shoe and finish excluded.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting doors in lineal.
- Mixing feet with inches mid chain.
- Rounding sticks down.
- Cutting short walls first.
- Skipping waste on miters.
Try it yourself
Quick checks. Answers sit tucked under each question.
10 by 12 ft room, 1 door at 4 ft?
44 ft ((2 x (10 + 12) - 4) x 1.1), 6 sticks (44 / 8 = 5.5, up to 6).
15 by 15 ft room, no doors?
66 ft ((2 x (15 + 15) - 0) x 1.1), 9 sticks.
Questions
How much baseboard?
Perimeter minus doors, times 1.1. Here 52.8 ft.
How many sticks?
Lineal over 8 ft, rounded up. Here 7 sticks.
What is that in metric?
16.1 m with 7 sticks (2.4 m).
Doors subtracted?
Subtract door widths with no trim underneath.
Waste included?
Yes for planning. Tall profiles waste more at miters.
Shoe molding included?
No. Shoe, caulk, and paint sit outside lineal math.