How many square feet?

Alot folks start the floor buying process without arming themselves with a critical piece of information. What is that piece of information?

How big is the area you plan on covering? (by the way this leads to other good questions like, how many doorways, what is the layout like, how many linear feet of molding do you need, etc… etc…)

So iFLOOR teamed up with a company calling Floor Covering Soft to work on an online tool that allows you to draw your areas and the computer will help you calculate what you need. Due to the online application limitations I will admit that the interface for the tool is basic, but it is remarkably powerful!

I have been led to believe that the application works best in Internet Explorer, but I tested it in Firefox too and it seemed to work fine for me. To use this diagramming tool just be sure you are a registered user at www.ifloor.com and then goto FLOORLINK to make a diagram.

Best of all when you call or come into an iFLOOR location our staff can view your diagram(s) and edit it as needed in the event new information comes to pass. You can also save a JPG version of the diagram to print or say and you can print out a nice summary of your report for your shopping process. (Although I can’t imagine why you would shop anywhere for flooring besides iFLOOR!)

Another great feature is that you can have multiple drawings which can be helpful for multiple projects. This can be a great resource for flooring contractors, architects, designers and general contractors too.

The tool will tell you how many square feet you have and if you “switch” materials you can even lay out carpeting and vinyl including cut lists with ease. I talked to a major builder who used this to compare the carpet quantities to what they were paying their current supplier and they found that they were being overcharged by about 9% for carpet, pad and installation. In the past when they complained about why a 2000 foot house had 230 yards of carpet, they were given a story about waste and cuts and how gravity and the rotation of the earth really justified the excess materials. When the builder took the cut sheet to them using this tool that was that. No room to argue when you have the facts. And yes the tool will calculate a waste ratio even on roll materials. It automatically calculated 10% waste on carton materials.

Anyway – check it out. I think it is a great tool and another online first from iFLOOR and our drawing technology partner Floor Covering Soft!

Here is a quick diagram that combines both carpet and hardwood in 1 drawing:

TWO FINAL TIPS:

1) You must be registered at iFLOOR to use the tool which enables you to save your projects.
2) Click around using both left clicks and right clicks in the diagram itself to see more options and some of the power of this application. It is really awesome!