Professional

Stair runner length calculator for installers

Built for people who measure stairs for a living: fast entry, defensible numbers, a full materials list and a printable quote with the client's name on it.

Save each staircase in your browser so you can price a whole house without re-entering anything.

Your staircase

Start from typical stair sizes where you live

IRC-style stairs: 10 in minimum tread, 7¾ in maximum riser. Runners are usually 27 in or 32 in wide and sold by the linear foot.

Number of stairs

Count every step you will cover.

Tread depth (in)

Front edge to back of the step. Fractions like 10 1/2 work.

Riser height (in)

The vertical face between two treads.

Waste allowance

Custom%

10% is a common starting point; pattern matching and winders need more.

Add a nosing / overhang allowance per step

Needed when the runner wraps around a projecting nose (Hollywood installs and thick pads). Waterfall installs usually don't need it.

Your stair runner length

20 ft 3.1 in

Total runner required for 13 steps, including a 10% waste allowance.

Total runner length in each unit
Inches	243.1 in
Feet	20.26 ft
Feet & inches	20 ft 3.1 in
Yards	6.75 yd
Meters	6.17 m
Centimeters	617.47 cm

Recommended purchase length

21 ft

7 yd · 6.4 m · 252 in

This calculator provides an estimate based on the measurements and installation assumptions you enter. Complex, curved or winder staircases may require professional measurement.

Your measurements, drawn to scale

Side elevation of a staircase. The runner travels across each tread and down each riser, so every step consumes tread depth plus riser height of material.

What speeds up a site visit

Regional presets fill typical dimensions in one tap so you only change what is different. Fractional entry means you can type what you read off the tape. The share link puts the same figures on the office computer before you get back.

The quote

Add labour per step or a fixed fee, accessories, delivery and tax, and print. The print view drops the site navigation and form controls and leaves a clean specification with the project and client fields you entered.

Runner, underlay and accessory lines
Labour and delivery
Tax or VAT
Total and cost per step

Numbers you can defend

Every allowance is explicit — waste percentage, nosing allowance, landing depths — so if a client questions the quantity you can show exactly where it came from.

Questions people ask

Can I save several staircases?: Yes. Save each one with a name; they are stored in your own browser and can be reloaded or deleted at any time.
Can I print a quote for a client?: Yes. Enter a project and client name and print — the output is a clean specification without site navigation or form controls.

Related guides

See all stair runner calculator guides