How to Calculate How Many Tiles for a Shower

Shower tiles protect your house from water damage.

Showers need a waterproof surface to protect the structure of your house from moisture, and ceramic tiles are a popular solution. Determining the correct number of tiles to purchase is important. Tiles come in "batches" and to ensure that the tile colors match exactly, all the tiles should be from the same batch. Ordering too few tiles may result in you purchasing additional tiles that do not match your original ones.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure

Instructions

1. Divide the entire shower stall area into easily measured rectangles. Most walls are rectangular, or can be broken up into several rectangles. For example, a recessed window space and sill can be divided into four rectangles: two vertical and two horizontal ones. Measure the height and width of each rectangle.

2. Convert the lengths and widths into decimal feet by multiplying the inches part of each measurement by 0.0833. The result is inches converted to a decimal fraction. For example, a wall 7 feet and 2 inches high is also 7.167 feet high -- 2 times 0.0833 equals 0.1666. Decimal values make the math easier and allow the calculations to be done on a calculator.

3. Calculate the surface area for each wall by multiplying the width by the height. For example, a wall 7 feet high and 4 feet wide has a surface area of 28 square feet -- 7 times 4 equals 28.

   Add together the surface areas of all the walls requiring tiling. The result is the total area to be tiled. For example, a square shower with three walls, each measuring 28 square feet, has a total surface area of 3 times 28, or 84 square feet.

4. Establish the area covered by each tile. For example, a 6-inch-square tile covers 0.25 square feet, and a 12-inch square tile covers exactly 1 square foot. To find the area of individual tiles, measure the width and length, convert inches to decimal fractions and then multiply the length by the width.

5. Divide the area to be tiled by the area covered by a single tile. Round the result upward to the next largest whole number. The result is the number of tiles to purchase.

   For example, to tile 84 square feet requires 336 6-inch tiles -- 84 divided by 0.25 = 336.

   The same area requires 28 packs of tiles if a pack covers 3 square feet: 84 divided by 3 equals 28.

Tips & Warnings

• Divide tiling areas into rectangles because it is much easier to calculate the area of a rectangle than it is to calculate the area of an irregular shape.

• It's a good idea to purchase more tiles than you require, allowing for accidents and breakages. Buying an extra 10 percent is usually recommended.

• If you are confident multiplying with fractions, you may not need to convert feet and inches to decimal values. If you want to use a calculator, you will have to use decimal values.

References

• Build: Bathroom Waterproofing
• Tileco: Buying Tiles -- Know What You Are Buying
• Shades Tiles: How Do I Measure a Room For Tiling?
• Dave's Shop Talk; Inches to Decimal Foot; David E. Osborne
• The Yorkshire Tile Company Ltd.: Tile Calculator
• The Tile-Store: Online Tile Calculator

Resources

• North American Tile: Ceramic Tile Calculator