Tile Calculator
Calculate tiles needed for flooring
Tile Calculator tool
Tile Size
Areas
Tile Calculator: key facts
- What it does
- Calculate tiles needed for flooring
- Category
- Other Calculators
- Cost
- Free, with no account, sign-up, or install.
- Your data
- Runs entirely in your browser — the files and text you enter are never uploaded to a server.
- Last reviewed
- . Report an incorrect result.
Understanding the Tile Calculator
Tiling a floor or wall starts with one question: how many tiles do I buy? This calculator answers it from the area you are covering and the size of your tile, then adds a waste allowance for cuts and breakages so you do not run short mid-job.
DIYers and renovators use it before a bathroom or kitchen project, and it handles several areas at once so a room plus a backsplash can be totaled together. Enter your tile dimensions, set a waste percentage, and it returns the base tile count, the count including waste, and an optional cost estimate.
Getting a result
- Choose your measurement units and enter your tile's length and width.
- Set a waste factor (10% by default) and, optionally, a price per tile.
- Add each area you are tiling with its length and width.
- Read the total area, the base tile count, the count including waste, and the estimated cost.
Tiles are counted, then rounded up twice
The tool divides the surface area by the area of one tile and rounds up, since partial tiles must be bought whole. A waste factor is then applied and the result rounded up again, which is why the number climbs a little faster than a straight percentage would suggest.
The default 10% waste allowance covers cuts at walls and around obstacles, breakages during handling and cutting, and the offcuts that cannot be reused because they are the wrong shape. Ten percent suits a simple rectangular room with a straight layout. A diagonal or herringbone pattern generates far more waste — 15 to 20% is more realistic — as does a room with many corners, alcoves, or fittings to cut around.
Grout width is entered separately because it affects how many tiles actually span a given distance. A wider joint means fewer tiles across the same run.
- A 12 by 12 inch tile covers exactly one square foot, which makes the arithmetic easy to sanity-check.
- A 200 square foot room therefore needs 200 tiles before waste, and 221 with the default 10% allowance.
- At $2.50 a tile that is $552.50 — with the 21 extra tiles costing about $52 of insurance against running short.
Reasons to use it here
- It builds in an adjustable waste allowance, so the count reflects the extra tiles real installations need for cuts and breakages.
- It totals several areas at once, letting you combine a floor and a backsplash, or multiple rooms, in one estimate.
- It returns both the base count and the with-waste count, plus a cost estimate when you add a price.
- It works in your browser with nothing to install.
Buy the extra, and buy it now
The strongest argument for over-ordering is not waste during installation but repairs afterwards. Tiles are manufactured in batches and colours shift measurably between them, so a replacement bought in two years will rarely match. Keeping a box spare from the original batch is the only reliable way to fix a cracked tile invisibly, and most tilers recommend holding a few square metres back for exactly that.
Beyond the tiles themselves, a job needs adhesive, grout, spacers, and often a levelling compound or backer board, each with its own coverage rate — adhesive coverage in particular varies with trowel size and substrate. Underestimating adhesive is a common way to stall halfway through.
Two layout notes worth more than the arithmetic. Plan where the cut tiles fall before starting, because centring the layout usually looks better than starting flush against one wall and leaving a sliver at the other. And check the room is actually square — few are — since a layout set out from a wall that is out of true will visibly drift across the floor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tiles do I need?
Divide the area you are covering by the area of a single tile, then round up and add a waste margin. This calculator does that automatically — enter your area and tile size and it returns the count including extra for waste.
How much waste should I allow for tiling?
Around 10% is typical for straight layouts, which is the default here. Add more — 15% or higher — for diagonal patterns, lots of cuts around fixtures, or large-format tiles where breakages are costlier.
Does the calculator account for grout spacing?
It sizes the count from the tile dimensions and the area, not from grout-line spacing, so for tight estimates allow for grout joints and your specific layout. Keeping the standard waste margin generally absorbs the small difference grout lines make.
Should I buy extra tiles beyond the estimate?
It is wise to keep a few spare tiles from the same batch, on top of the waste allowance, for future repairs — dye lots vary between production runs, so a matching replacement bought later may look slightly different.
