How to measure for fitted wardrobes, for a guide price
For a guide price you need two measurements: the width of the wall the wardrobe will fill, in millimetres, and roughly how high the ceiling is. A tape measure is all it takes, and a figure to the nearest 100 mm is close enough. The fitter measures everything again properly at the survey. Below are the usual wall and the awkward ones: an open end, a corner, alcoves, a media wall.
What do you need to measure for a guide price?
The width and the ceiling height. The calculator asks for the width in millimetres and the ceiling as one of three answers: up to 2,400 mm, 2,400 to 2,700 mm, or sloped or angled. Nothing else needs a tape measure. The depth, the skirting and anything in the way are for the survey.
How do you measure the width?
Measure along the wall the wardrobe will cover, at skirting-board height, from one side wall to the other. Keep the tape level and pull it tight.
Walls are rarely perfectly straight. If you have a minute, measure again near the ceiling. If the two figures differ, put the larger one in the calculator, so the guide price leans to the high side, and tell the fitter both. Don't take anything off for the skirting board or coving: the fitter decides how to work round them.
Type the width in millimetres: 2.4 m is 2,400. If your tape is in feet and inches, 8 feet is about 2,440 mm, and each inch is about 25 mm.
Does it matter if you're a bit out?
Not much. On our example rates, each 100 mm moves the guide price for a hinged wardrobe in MFC by about a hundred pounds at each end of the range.
| Width | Hinged, MFC |
|---|---|
| 2,300 mm | £1,950 – £2,450 |
| 2,400 mm | £2,050 – £2,550 |
| 2,500 mm | £2,150 – £2,650 |
The range is already wider than a small measuring slip, because nobody has seen the room yet. Close is good enough.
What if there isn't a wall at each end?
The calculator asks whether there's a wall at each end. With a wall at one end, measure from that wall to where you'd like the wardrobe to stop. With no wall at either end, give the width you'd like, end to end. An open end needs a finished end panel, so it adds a little to the price.
What if the wardrobe goes round a corner?
Choose "Round a corner" in the calculator. It then asks for the longer wall and the shorter wall. Measure each one into the corner at skirting-board height, in full. Don't take anything off for the corner: the calculator allows for it.
How do you measure the ceiling height?
Measure from the floor to the ceiling at each end of the wall and in the middle, then choose the answer your figures fall in. If any of them is over 2,400 mm, choose 2,400 to 2,700 mm. A taller ceiling means taller doors and side panels, so it costs more. On our example rates, a 2.4 m wide hinged wardrobe in MFC is £2,050 – £2,550 under a ceiling up to 2,400 mm and £2,300 – £2,850 under one between 2,400 and 2,700 mm.
If the ceiling slopes, choose "Sloped or angled ceiling". The guide to fitted wardrobes under a sloped ceiling covers the two extra heights worth measuring before the survey.
How do you measure alcoves or a media wall?
For alcove units, measure from the side wall to the chimney breast at the widest point. If your two alcoves are different widths, give the wider one. The alcove unit cost calculator asks whether you want one alcove or both. A wardrobe in alcoves is measured the same way: choose "In alcoves" in the calculator.
For a media wall, measure the whole wall, wall to wall at skirting-board height, and check the size of your TV. The media wall cost calculator uses both to show which layouts fit.
What should you note for the fitter?
None of this changes the guide price, but it saves questions at the survey. Note anything on or near the wall:
- sockets, light switches and radiators
- a window or door close to where the wardrobe will end
- a loft hatch, a bulkhead over the stairs or a boxed-in pipe
- coving, deep skirting or a floor that isn't level
If the room is tight, measure from the wall to the end of the bed. Hinged doors need room to swing open and sliding doors don't. The sliding wardrobe cost calculator prices the same wall with sliding doors.
Take a photo of the whole wall from the doorway, and a close-up of anything awkward. Two photos answer a lot of questions before anyone visits.
Try your measurements
Example rates, not any firm's prices. It shows a price and asks for nothing: no name, no email. It starts on hinged wardrobes; choose sliding doors, alcove units or a media wall at the top.
Questions
Is this a quote?
No. It is a guide price from example rates, so you know roughly what to expect. Only a fitter who has seen the room can give you a quote.
Do I need to measure the depth?
Not for a guide price. The fitter measures it at the survey, along with the skirting, the ceiling and anything in the way.
Millimetres, centimetres or inches?
The calculator takes millimetres. 240 cm is 2,400 mm, and 8 feet is about 2,440 mm.
What happens at the survey?
The fitter measures everything again, checks how straight the walls, floor and ceiling are, and talks through the doors, the finish and the inside layout with you. Then they quote.
Are you a fitter?
Put this calculator on your own website, with your own rates. Homeowners put in their width and ceiling and see a guide price from your numbers, and you get the enquiry with their width, ceiling, finish and postcode already on it. Free for your first three leads a month.
See how GuidePrice works