How Many Linear Feet of Baseboard in 1000/2000 sq-ft House? Let’s Count

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While an experienced handyperson may easily estimate how many linear feet of baseboards he needs for a 1000/2000 sq-ft house, a DIYer may find that difficult. This is because DIYers rarely have a wealth of experience as a handyperson.

But as a DIYer with a baseboard installation project at hand, you may wonder, “How many linear feet of baseboard will do for a 1000/2000 sq-ft house?”

Here’s an article that explains the nitty-gritty details of how to count. It also offers tips from experienced handypersons to help you complete the project like a professional.

Check it out!

Understanding Linear Feet

Understanding the concept of linear feet is important, especially to install baseboards in your house. This is because baseboards are sold in packs of 10, each 12 linear feet long.

A linear foot is different from a square foot. A linear foot is a straight line of 12 inches. So for every baseboard you buy, you have 12 linear feet in it.

If your measuring tape does not have markings to measure inches, you will need to convert the measurement unit to inches at the end of the measuring exercise.

But many measuring tapes have markings that indicate inches. Hence, for every 12 inches you cover, that’s a linear foot.

This is very handy to avoid buying more than is required for a project.

How Many Linear Feet of Baseboard in 1000/2000 sq-ft House? Let’s Count

There is no straight answer to the question of how many linear feet of baseboard will be enough for a 1000 or a 2000 sq-ft house.

The reason is that many factors make it difficult for you to reach a precise estimate. These factors include differences in room sizes and the need for additional baseboards for cuts and trims that will be needed for a perfect job.

This is important because trims and cuts usually add additional measurements to the calculated lengths.

Sometimes also, the complexity of the building design can affect how many linear feet of baseboards you need for the house.

A 1000 sq-ft house with a simple design may use fewer baseboards than another 1000 sqft house with a more complex one.

So giving a fixed figure based on the sqft of the house is not advisable.

Many DIYers strongly believe that the best way to get an accurate measurement is to measure from one room to the other with tape. Although taking the measurement in each room may be time-consuming, measuring one room to the other would be best.

Measuring the perimeter of each room and subtracting the total width for each door post will help you know how many linear feet of baseboard a 1000 or 2000 sq-ft house will require.

However, here is a great way to accurately measure how many baseboards you need for a 1000 or 2000 sq-ft house.

How To Properly Count How Many Linear Feet of Baseboard You Need in a 1000 or 2000 Sq Ft House

Accuracy is very important. Hence, unless the rooms are uniform, you want to measure the linear feet of baseboard for each room, one by one.

It is highly unlikely that each room will be of the same size. So, measuring room by room will be best.

Here are some practical steps you can take to get an accurate count.

Create an Organized Chart to Keep Track of Each Measurement for Each Room

For this step, you’ll need a jotter. You want to use a chart to keep an organized record of the measurement of each room as you measure how many baseboards will be required.

Make a list of the rooms on the left of the chart. List the rooms you want to measure, such as the bedrooms, study, living and dining areas, etc.

But ensure to make some space on the right for the corresponding measurements.

Take the Measurement for Each Room

Measure each room in inches. Pick a starting point and use a tape to find the linear footage of each room. You want to take trims and cuts into account.

It is best to start from a door post or a room corner. You also want to measure even the really small spaces.

Rounding Off the Measurements

You must take the measurements to the nearest 116th of an inch.

For inside corners where the baseboard is going to fit between the walls, you want to round down to the nearest 1/16th of an inch.

But for the outside corners where it is going to wrap around the walls, you want to round up the measurement to the nearest 1/16th of an inch.

Each measurement should have three values when you want to write it down. You want to write down the length of the baseboard, the left cut spec, and the right cut spec.

So, for example, the figure for a wall could be thus:

27 1/8th of an inch for the length, L45, and R45. This means that you will make an inward cut at a 45-degree angle on the left corner baseboard for the left side.

You will also make an outward cut at a 45 degrees angle for the right corner baseboard. This is for when measuring for an inside corner.

Find The Linear Measurements

First, find the room’s perimeter by multiplying the length by the width of the room by 2, respectively.

After that, divide the figure by 12 to find the linear square feet for every room. Do this for all the rooms where you intend to install baseboards.

After calculating for each room, sum up all the numbers to determine the linear square feet for your 1000 or 2000 sq-ft house.

NOTE:

It would be best to buy an extra 10%. This is important to accommodate cutting mistakes that may lead to waste.

But remember to subtract the length of door spaces from the linear measurements.

Illustrating How to Count the Linear Feet for a Room

Assuming you have a room that is 14 X 18 feet, with two 3ft doors on each side, calculating the linear feet of baseboards for the room will go thus:

Two lengths of 14 feet + two lengths of 18 feet – the two widths of the door, which is 6.

The linear length would be 14 X 2 + 18 X 2 – 6. The final answer would be 58.

You’ll need 58 linear feet of baseboard for the room. But this is not where it ends. You’ll have to divide that figure by 12 since baseboards are sold as 12 feet long.

Hence, the total linear feet of baseboard needed for the project will be divided by 12 to determine how many baseboards you need.

If you divide 58 by 12, you will realize that you’ll need 5 12 ft-long baseboards.

Ideally, you should buy 4 12ft long baseboards and a 10 ft long baseboard for the remainder. Since it is not up to a baseboard section which is 12ft long, you’ll need a whole 12 ft long baseboard to finish the job.

NOTE:

This is because baseboards come in packs of 10, usually 12 linear feet long.

Tips For Ensuring Accuracy With Your Measurements

A quick way to save time and get more accurate measurements when measuring outside corners and inside corners is to consider that the baseboard is going to be longer than the wall.

It would be wise to get some scrap pieces to get the exact measurement so you can only make one measurement and get only one cut.

Put one on one end and the other on the other end of the wall. Then, you can pull your tape to measure accurately.

Using the coping style for the perfect inner corner joints would be best. This means that one of the baseboards will be cut 45 degrees inward while the other will be cut 45 degrees outward.

To do this, you want to take one of the baseboards that will join the other and make a perfect 45 degrees outward cut on the joining end.

Cut the second baseboard 45 degrees inward with a miter saw. If you do not have a miter saw, you can do this with a coping saw. But you’ll need a pencil to ensure that the cut is guided.

Join both pieces at the corner to get the perfect corner.

This is important because pre-cutting the baseboard at 45 degrees would make a 90-degree joint which may not sync with the inside corners of the rooms since they are hardly ever square. You will end up with an ugly split between the joining pieces.

Bottom Line

There is no straightforward answer to the question of how many linear feet of baseboard will suffice for a 1000/2000 sq-ft house. The answer will depend on how complex the building design is, how many doors and the respective sizes of each room in the house.

But with these tips above, calculating how many linear feet of baseboard you need for a 1000 or 2000 sq ft house will be easy.

Start measuring for yours now to know how many linear feet of baseboard you need!

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