Calculators / Tile
Tile Calculator
A 100 sq ft floor with 12 × 12 in tiles laid straight needs 110 tiles with 10% extra for cuts and breakage, 2 bags of 50-lb thinset and about 7 lb of grout. Enter your floor, wall or shower below.
How much tile do you need?
Grout: about 7.2 lb, 1 bag of 25 lb. 10% extra included for cuts and breakage. Area 110.0 sq ft (10.22 m²) with extra.
How much will it cost? A mid-range remodel of a 5 × 8 ft bathroom, tile included, typically costs $27,070. Bathroom remodel cost in your state
How to calculate tile
Tiles = area × (1 + extra) ÷ the area of one tile, rounded up. A 12 × 12 in tile covers 1 sq ft, so 100 sq ft with 10% extra needs 110 tiles. Thinset: a 50-lb bag covers about 85 to 95 sq ft with a 1/4 × 1/4 in notch and 60 to 67 sq ft with 1/4 × 3/8 in; we use the lower figure. Grout depends on the joint width, the tile thickness and the tile size: small tiles have more joints.
Tiles per 100 square feet
| Tile size | Straight | Diagonal | Herringbone | Grout, 1/8 in joint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 × 6 in (subway) | 880 | 920 | 960 | 21.5 lb |
| 4 × 4 in | 990 | 1,035 | 1,080 | 21.5 lb |
| 6 × 24 in (plank) | 110 | 115 | 120 | 9.0 lb |
| 12 × 12 in | 110 | 115 | 120 | 7.2 lb |
| 12 × 24 in | 55 | 58 | 60 | 5.4 lb |
| 18 × 18 in | 49 | 52 | 54 | 4.8 lb |
| 24 × 24 in | 28 | 29 | 30 | 3.6 lb |
| 24 × 48 in | 14 | 15 | 15 | 2.7 lb |
Common questions
How much extra tile should I buy?
About 10% for a straight layout, 15% for diagonal and 20% for herringbone, which has the most cuts. Buy all the tile from the same lot so the color matches, and keep a few spares for future repairs.
How many boxes of tile do I need?
Divide the square feet with extra by the coverage printed on the box, and round up. Enter the box coverage above and the calculator does it for you.
How much thinset do I need?
One 50-lb bag covers about 85 to 95 sq ft with a 1/4 × 1/4 in notched trowel and about 60 to 67 sq ft with a 1/4 × 3/8 in trowel, according to manufacturer data sheets. Large and uneven tiles take more.
How much grout do I need?
For 12 × 12 in tiles with 1/8 in joints, about 7 lb per 100 sq ft. Small mosaic and subway tiles use much more because there are more joints: about 22 lb per 100 sq ft for 3 × 6 in subway tile. Check your grout's coverage chart.
How much tile do I need for a shower?
Add up the walls you will tile. A standard 5 ft tub alcove with two 2.5 ft side walls, tiled 6 ft high, has (5 + 2.5 + 2.5) × 6 = 60 sq ft of wall. With 12 × 24 in tiles laid straight, that is 33 tiles including 10% extra and about 3 lb of grout. Choose Shower or tub walls above for your sizes, and count the shower floor separately.
How we calculated this
Tile counts use standard geometry with the extra shown. Thinset coverage comes from Custom Building Products technical data sheets; grout is estimated from the joint volume at about 0.058 lb per cubic inch, plus 10%. We test the calculator against 155 worked examples, checked with a separate program. Sources.
Check the coverage on your thinset and grout bags; products differ.
Changelog
- : Published.
- : Formulas checked against 155 worked examples, verified with a separate program.
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