Tile Calculator
Count the tiles for a floor or wall before you order. Enter the area, tile size, and grout joint, pick your layout, and get the number to buy — with a waste margin sized to the pattern.
For a wall, use wall length × wall height.
Common joints: 1/16 in (0.0625), 1/8 in (0.125), 3/16 in (0.1875), 1/4 in (0.25).
Picking a pattern sets a suggested waste — nudge it up for lots of cuts.
Advanced: by the box & price
Add other sections so it's all one order.
Formula & how it works
Each tile plus its grout joint covers (tile L + joint) × (tile W + joint) ÷ 144 ft². Tiles before waste = area ÷ that.
Tiles to buy = tiles before waste × (1 + waste), rounded up. The layout pattern sets a suggested waste because diagonal and herringbone layouts produce more cut-off pieces.
Worked example
A 10 × 10 ft floor is 100 ft². With 12 × 12 in tiles and a 1/8 in joint, each tile covers about 1.02 ft², so you need roughly 98 tiles before waste. A straight grid adds 10%: round up to 108 tiles. At 10 tiles a box, that's 11 boxes.
Getting the tile order right
Why the joint matters
People often divide the floor area by the bare tile size and stop there. Including the grout joint is more accurate: a 12-inch tile set with a 1/8-inch joint actually occupies a 12⅛-inch square, so it covers a hair more ground. Over a small bathroom the difference is a tile or two; over a great room it can be several, which is enough to matter when tiles come by the box.
Match waste to the pattern
Straight grids and running-bond layouts cut cleanly along the edges and waste little. Diagonal layouts add triangular offcuts at every wall, and herringbone multiplies the cuts throughout the field, so both need a bigger cushion. Rooms with lots of corners, niches, or curved walls also push waste up regardless of pattern.
Buy the batch, keep spares
Tile is fired in batches, and shade can drift between runs. Order everything at once from the same lot number, and set aside a few extra tiles after the job — a matching replacement years later is nearly impossible to find otherwise.