How to Calculate How Much Tile You Need for a Room

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Calculating floor tiles can be a tricky job. Many people find themselves running to the hardware store for more tiles before the job is complete and this can slow down the job considerably. Here are the steps on how to calculate how much tile you need for a room.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

graph paper
measuring tape
calculator

Step1

Measure the floor or wall area to be tiled. For each flat surface, measure the width and length of the area. For an L-shaped room, you can measure the room in two rectangles, and then add the results. If you are measuring a shower, you should measure the floor and each of the walls separately, and then add the results.

Step2

Determine the measurement of each tile. This will tell you how many tiles you need to fill a square foot area. A 12” X 12” tile means the tiles will fill a square foot area. Likewise, four 6” X 6” tiles will fill a square foot area.

Step3

Calculate how many tiles you will need to fill your area that needs to be tiled. If your area to be tiled is 100 square feet, you will need 100 12” X 12” tiles. If your tiles are 6” X 6” then you will need 400 tiles per to over a 100 square foot area.

Step4

Add 10% more tiles to the number of tiles you need. If you are inexperienced and see that you will need to cut quite a few tiles, purchase 20% more tiles. Most of the waste and return trips to the store are usually do to mis-cut tiles. You can always return unused tiles to the store later.

Tips & Warnings

If you purchase tiles by the case, you only need to know your square footage area as the amount of square feet the tiles will cover will be printed in the box.
These instructions will work for ceramic and vinyl tiles
Do not forget to purchase grout according to those same wall and floor area measurements.