Tile Calculator
How many tiles and boxes you need for a floor or wall from the area, tile size and grout gap, with a waste factor for cuts and the work shown step by step.
Tile Calculator: with the default inputs, tiles to buy is 44.
For a wall, use its height.
1/16 in for rectified tile, 1/8 in typical, 3/16–1/4 in for handmade or large-format.
10% for a straight or brick layout, 15% diagonal, 20% herringbone or lots of cuts.
Printed on the carton. Set to 1 if buying loose tiles.
Includes waste, rounded up.
- Tiles before waste
- 40
- Boxes
- 6
- Area to tile
- 80 ft²
- Area of one tile
- 2 ft²
- Tiles per square foot
- 0.49Including the grout joint.
- Tile cost
- $0.00
Assumptions
- Tiles are laid in a grid; pattern-specific waste is captured only by the waste percentage.
- Boxes are whole cartons.
| Tile | Per ft² | Per 100 ft² (+10%) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 × 6 subway | 7.52 | 828 |
| 4 × 4 | 8.46 | 931 |
| 6 × 6 | 3.84 | 423 |
| 12 × 12 | 0.98 | 108 |
| 12 × 24 | 0.49 | 55 |
| 18 × 18 | 0.44 | 49 |
| 24 × 24 | 0.25 | 28 |
| 6 × 36 plank | 0.65 | 72 |
How this is worked out
The formula
Tile footprint = (tile width + grout gap) × (tile length + grout gap) Tiles needed = area ÷ tile footprint Tiles to buy = tiles needed × (1 + waste %), rounded up Boxes = tiles to buy ÷ tiles per box, rounded up
Open How it’s calculated above to see this worked through with your own numbers.
What you enter
- Area length
- A number.in ft, in, m, cm · 0 or more · defaults to 10
- Area width
- For a wall, use its height.in ft, in, m, cm · 0 or more · defaults to 8
- Tile width
- A number.in in, cm, mm · 0.1 or more · defaults to 12
- Tile length
- A number.in in, cm, mm · 0.1 or more · defaults to 24
- Grout gap
- 1/16 in for rectified tile, 1/8 in typical, 3/16–1/4 in for handmade or large-format.in in, mm, cm · from 0 to 2 · defaults to 0.125
- Waste factor
- 10% for a straight or brick layout, 15% diagonal, 20% herringbone or lots of cuts.a percentage · from 0 to 50 · defaults to 10
- Tiles per box
- Printed on the carton. Set to 1 if buying loose tiles.from 1 to 1000 · whole numbers only · defaults to 8
- Price per box(under More options)
- Leave 0 to skip cost.in dollars · 0 or more · defaults to 0
What you get back
- Tiles to buymain answer
- Includes waste, rounded up.
- Tiles before waste
- Boxes
- Area to tile
- Area of one tile
- Tiles per square foot
- Including the grout joint.
- Tile cost
What this assumes
- Tiles are laid in a grid; pattern-specific waste is captured only by the waste percentage.
- Boxes are whole cartons.
About this calculator
Tile is the one flooring material where the grout joint changes the count. A 12 × 12 tile with a ⅛-in joint actually occupies 12⅛ × 12⅛ in, so 100 sq ft takes 98 tiles, not 100 — and a 3 × 6 subway tile with a 1/16-in joint is closer to 7.7 per square foot than 8. This calculator uses the real footprint, then adds waste for cuts and rounds to whole tiles and boxes.
Measuring the area
Measure the length and width of the floor or the width and height of the wall. For a shower, do each wall and the floor separately and add the tile counts (or sum the areas and enter them as one rectangle). Don't subtract for a toilet flange or a small niche; you'll use that material on cuts.
Choosing the grout gap
- 1/16 in: rectified (precision-ground) porcelain, glass mosaics.
- 1/8 in: the standard for most ceramic and porcelain floor and wall tile.
- 3/16 in: the TCNA minimum for large-format tile (any side 15 in or longer), to hide warpage and lippage.
- 1/4 in or more: handmade, terracotta, quarry tile.
The gap is small, but on a large floor with small tiles it moves the count by several percent.
Waste
Ten percent covers a straight or offset (brick) layout in a rectangular room. Go to 15% for a diagonal set or a room with lots of jogs and fixtures, and 20% for herringbone, chevron, or large-format tile where a single broken piece is expensive. Breakage in shipping, a bad cut, and a future repair all come out of this allowance — keep leftover tiles from the same dye lot.
Boxes
Tile is sold by the box, and the count per box varies with size: eight 12 × 24 tiles (16 sq ft), ten 12 × 12s, a hundred 3 × 6 subways. Enter the number from your carton so the box count is exact. If you're buying loose tiles or mosaic sheets, set tiles per box to 1 and treat "tiles" as sheets by entering the sheet size as the tile size.
Thin-set, grout and backer board are not included; a 50-lb bag of medium-bed mortar covers roughly 40–50 sq ft with a ½-in notched trowel.
Frequently asked questions
▸How many 12×12 tiles do I need for 100 square feet?
With a 1/8-in grout joint each tile covers 12.125² = 147 sq in, so 100 sq ft takes 98 tiles. Add 10% waste and buy 108 — usually 11 boxes of 10.
▸How many 12×24 tiles are in 100 square feet?
About 49 with a 1/8-in joint. With 10% waste that's 54 tiles, or 7 boxes of 8.
▸How much extra tile should I order?
10% for straight or brick-pattern layouts, 15% for diagonal, 20% for herringbone or large-format. Tile dye lots vary, so buying repair stock later rarely matches.
▸Do I subtract the area under the vanity or toilet?
No. Tile normally runs under a toilet (it's set on top of the tile) and the few square feet under a vanity are cheaper than running out. Only subtract large built-ins.
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