# BuildBatch

> Free UK tools that turn one room's measurements into a complete, checkable buying list for paint, wallpaper, tiles and flooring, in real tin, roll, box and pack sizes, with the working shown. Rooms of any shape with straight walls can be drawn to scale. No account is needed and everything is worked out in the browser.

Facts BuildBatch uses and states: an estimate is arithmetic on the measurements and product figures the user enters; the product's own instructions decide coverage, coats and preparation; generic example figures are labelled as examples (paint: 2 coats, 10 m² per litre per coat, 10% extra; wallpaper: rolls 53 cm × 10.05 m, free match; flooring: 10% extra for cuts; skirting in 2.4 m and architrave in 2.1 m lengths; wall tiles: a 1 m² box, 10% extra). Wallpaper is counted in whole drops: height plus 10 cm, rounded up to the pattern repeat, with doors and windows not taken off. Skirting and architrave are counted in whole lengths from a cutting plan: one piece per wall, two legs and a head per door. Tiled walls are the perimeter times the tiled height, less the doors; windows come off only when tiled to the ceiling. BuildBatch does not survey rooms, compare live prices, or call any product the cheapest.

## Tools

- [Plan a room refresh](https://buildbatch.co.uk/room-refresh/): measure once; paint, wallpaper, tiles, flooring or a mix, and new skirting and architrave; every line the job needs in real packs, marked Need, Check first, Already have or Not needed.
- [Room planner](https://buildbatch.co.uk/room-planner/): draw a room to scale (L-shapes, alcoves, chimney breasts, angled walls); floor area, perimeter and a dimensioned drawing to print at 1:50 or 1:100.
- [Wallpaper calculator](https://buildbatch.co.uk/wallpaper-calculator/): Rolls of wallpaper for a room, from the roll's own width, length and pattern repeat.
- [Tile calculator](https://buildbatch.co.uk/tile-calculator/): Boxes of wall tiles for a room, to any height. Floor tiles are one step away, under Flooring.
- [Skirting board calculator](https://buildbatch.co.uk/skirting-board-calculator/): Whole lengths of skirting board for a room, from a cutting plan for each wall.
- [Paint calculator](https://buildbatch.co.uk/painting/): litres and whole tins for walls and ceilings.

## Guides

- [How to measure a room for paint](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-to-measure-a-room-for-paint/): How to take the three measurements a paint estimate needs, note the doors and windows, and cope with chimney breasts and awkward rooms.
- [Doors and windows: what to take off, and what they add](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/doors-and-windows-what-to-take-off/): What comes off the wall area for each door and window, what stays on the ceiling and floor, and what a doorway adds: shorter skirting and a door bar.
- [Drawing an L-shaped room and other awkward shapes](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/drawing-an-l-shaped-room/): Walk the walls in turn, split the floor into rectangles for the area, and add every wall for the perimeter. A worked example for an L-shaped room.
- [Floor area of an L-shaped room: two ways to work it out](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/floor-area-of-an-l-shaped-room/): Split the L into two rectangles, or take the missing corner off the whole rectangle. A worked example both ways, and what it means for flooring packs.
- [Measuring a room with a bay window, alcoves or a chimney breast](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/measuring-a-room-with-a-bay-or-chimney-breast/): Walk the walls, then add a rectangle for a bay or take one off for a chimney breast. A worked example, and why the returns lengthen the perimeter.
- [Square metres and square feet for rooms: converting both ways](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/square-metres-and-square-feet-for-rooms/): 1 m² is 10.764 ft². How to convert room sizes both ways, turn feet and inches into metres, and why you convert the lengths before multiplying.
- [How much paint do I need?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-much-paint-do-i-need/): Area times coats, divided by coverage, plus a little for waste, then rounded up to real tins. A full worked example for one room, walls and ceiling.
- [Paint coverage explained: m² per litre, per coat](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/paint-coverage-explained/): Coverage is how far one litre goes in one coat. It changes a paint estimate more than anything else, and it comes from the tin, not from a calculator.
- [What you need to paint a room: the complete checklist](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/what-you-need-to-paint-a-room/): Everything on the list for painting a room: paint, preparation, tools and safety kit, which items every room needs and which depend on the walls.
- [Painting a ceiling: how much paint and what else to buy](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-to-paint-a-ceiling-what-to-buy/): A flat ceiling has the same area as the floor. How much ceiling paint to buy, a worked example in whole tins, and the tools a ceiling adds.
- [Preparing walls before painting](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/preparing-walls-before-painting/): Paint holds on a clean, sound, dry wall. What the basic preparation list is, and how bare plaster, stains, damp, flaking paint and gloss each change it.
- [Painting new plaster: mist coat, primer and how many coats](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/mist-coat-and-primer-for-new-plaster/): Bare plaster soaks up paint, so it needs a mist coat or a primer-sealer first. When to start, how many coats, and how it changes what you buy.
- [How many rolls of wallpaper do I need?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-many-rolls-of-wallpaper-do-i-need/): Count drops, not square metres: drops per wall from the roll width, drops per roll from the length and pattern repeat, then whole rolls.
- [How many tiles do I need for a floor or a wall?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-many-tiles-do-i-need/): The area to tile, plus an allowance for cuts, over what one box covers, rounded up. Worked examples for a floor, a wall to 1.2 m and a wall to the ceiling.
- [Measuring for laminate flooring](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/measuring-for-laminate-flooring/): Measure the floor, add an allowance for cuts, divide by the pack's coverage and round up. A worked example, and why the pack size decides the count.
- [How many packs of flooring do I need?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-many-packs-of-flooring-do-i-need/): Floor area, plus an allowance for cuts, divided by the coverage on the pack and rounded up. A worked example, a quick table, and two pack sizes.
- [Wastage allowance explained: why 10%, and when to allow more](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/wastage-allowance-explained/): The extra you buy for cuts and touch-ups: where the 10% starting figure comes from, when to allow more, and why whole packs usually matter more.
- [Underlay and damp-proof membranes: what to check first](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/underlay-and-damp-proof-membranes/): Whether you need underlay, and a moisture barrier under it, depends on the flooring and the subfloor. What to look for on the pack before you buy.
- [How to measure for skirting board, beading and scotia](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-to-measure-skirting-and-beading/): Skirting, beading and scotia run round the room less the doorways. How to measure the run, turn it into lengths, and allow for joints and corners.
- [How much skirting and architrave do I need?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/how-much-skirting-and-architrave-do-i-need/): One piece of skirting per wall and two legs and a head per door, cut from whole lengths. Why the perimeter alone comes up one length short.
- [Matt emulsion compared: what the tins say about coverage and coats](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/matt-emulsion-what-the-tins-say/): Ten matt emulsions side by side: the coverage, coats, tin sizes, drying times and cleaning claims their makers publish, and the litres one room needs.
- [2.5 litre or 5 litre tin: which costs less?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/paint-2-5-litre-or-5-litre-tin-which-costs-less/): How the pack optimiser chooses between one 5 litre tin and two 2.5 litre tins, and why the litres you will use matter more than the price per litre.
- [Wallpaper paste: how many rolls does a packet hang?](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/wallpaper-paste-how-many-rolls-does-a-packet-hang/): What four makers say a packet of paste hangs, paper type by paper type, and how many packets the wallpaper calculator's example room needs.
- [Laminate, vinyl or engineered wood: what changes on your list](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/laminate-vinyl-or-engineered-wood-what-changes-on-your-list/): What six makers say in their installation guides and pages about underlay, a moisture layer, the expansion gap and waste for laminate, vinyl and wood.
- [Painting and a new floor in the same room: which to do first](https://buildbatch.co.uk/guides/order-of-work-painting-and-new-flooring/): The usual order is to prepare and paint first and lay the new floor last. Where the skirting fits in, and what the flooring's instructions decide.

## About

- [How the estimates are worked out](https://buildbatch.co.uk/how-estimates-work/)
- [How we compare products](https://buildbatch.co.uk/how-we-compare-products/): what "worked out", "worked example" and "tested" mean on a comparison page.
- [Questions and answers](https://buildbatch.co.uk/faq/)
- [About BuildBatch](https://buildbatch.co.uk/about/)
- [How BuildBatch is paid](https://buildbatch.co.uk/how-buildbatch-is-paid/)
- [Privacy](https://buildbatch.co.uk/privacy/)

## Optional

- [Full text of every guide](https://buildbatch.co.uk/llms-full.txt)