Tile calculator
Enter the size of a floor or a wall and the size of the tile to see how many tiles you need with extra for cuts, and how many boxes if you know the tiles in a box.
How it works
The area is the length times the width, in feet. One tile covers its width times its length in inches, divided by 144 to give square feet. The calculator divides the area by the area of one tile, rounds up to whole tiles, and then adds the extra for cuts and breakage and rounds up again. If you type the tiles in a box, it divides the tiles to buy by that number and rounds up to whole boxes.
How much extra
Guides give about 10 percent extra for a straight layout and 15 percent or more for a diagonal or complex pattern, because every cut at an edge wastes part of a tile. Some guides suggest more for small rooms and for large tiles. The calculator starts at 10 percent. Your tile maker may say more on the box or in its guide, and that advice comes first.
A worked example
A floor 10 feet by 12 feet is 120 square feet. A tile of 12 by 12 inches covers 1 square foot, so the floor takes 120 tiles. With 10 percent extra you buy 132, which is 12 extra. At ten tiles to a box, 132 divided by 10 is 13.2, so you buy 14 boxes.
With tiles of 18 by 18 inches, each one covers 2.25 square feet. The floor takes 53.3, which rounds up to 54 tiles. With 15 percent extra you buy 62.
What it leaves out
The calculator treats the area as one rectangle, and it counts tiles only. Grout, adhesive and trim pieces are not in it.
Questions
How many tiles do I need for a 10 by 12 foot floor?
A floor of 120 square feet takes 120 tiles of 12 by 12 inches, and 132 with 10 percent extra. At ten tiles to a box that is 14 boxes.
How much extra tile should I buy?
Guides give about 10 percent for a straight layout and 15 percent or more for a diagonal or complex pattern. The calculator starts at 10, and you can set it from 0 to 50.
How do I work out the number of boxes?
Type the number of tiles in a box, as printed on the box. The calculator divides the tiles to buy by that number and rounds up to a whole box.
How do I measure an L-shaped room?
Split it into rectangles, run the calculator once for each one, and add the tiles. The total can be a tile or two over, which helps with the cuts.
Published . Updated .