Flooring: How to Calculate How Much Tile You Need

With some simple measuring and calculating, you can determine how much tile you need for your flooring project. If you are shopping for tile, this will help you get a handle on much the materials will cost you. If you are hiring an installer to do the project for you, you can provide the room measurements as well, to obtain an installation price quote-although the installer typically comes out to take their own measurements.

Supplies:
Paper
Pen or Pencil
Measuring Tape
Calculator (optional)

Step 1
Measure the length of the room or the floor area where you are tiling.

Step 2
Measure the width of the room or the floor area where you are tiling.

Step 3
Multiply the length of the floor by the width of the floor to determine the square footage of the room. For example, if the room is 12 feet wide by 12 feet long, then you would multiply 12 by 12 to get 144 square feet.

Step 4
Add 15% to the square footage. You should also add 15% to the amount of tile you need in order to accommodate for cuts, waste and breaks during installation. In addition, you want to have extra tile after the project is finished in case you have future problems such as cracks or broken tiles. Also, the tile may go out of the stock, so if you do not have extra tile, you may not be able to replace the broken or cracked tiles.

Step 5
Calculate how many boxes of tile you need. Divide the square footage of the room by the total square footage of tile in the box. For example, if the box has 10 square feet of tile, then you would need 15 boxes of tile.

Tips

A good rule of thumb: If you do not have at least one box of tiles left when your floor is in then buy one additional box to keep in storage.

If you are installing a diagonal or diamond pattern, then you should buy at least 20% in extra tile or if you are laying a square or straight tile floor pattern.