Tile Calculator
Work out tile, grout and thinset for floors, showers, tub surrounds and backsplashes.
Getting your tile order right
Square footage — not tile count — is what suppliers quote against. Complex layouts like diagonal and herringbone create more cut waste, so we default to a higher allowance for those patterns.
Tiling a shower or tub surround
Shower walls are the job people most often get wrong, because you’re measuring vertical surfaces rather than a floor. A standard three-wall alcove is two end walls plus the back wall, measured from the top of the tub or shower pan to wherever the tile stops — which is usually the ceiling, or around 72 to 80 inches for a tub surround.
For a typical 60 × 32 inch alcove tiled to 80 inches, that’s roughly 55 to 60 square feet of wall before waste. A shower floor or curb adds more, and a niche adds a small amount of cut work that’s easy to forget.
Two things worth knowing before you order. Shower tile takes more waste than floor tile — cuts around the valve, the niche, the curb and the ceiling line all add up, so 15% is a safer allowance than the usual 10%. And check your thinset: wet areas normally want a modified thinset over a waterproof backer, not the standard mix you’d use on a floor.
Select Shower Surround above and enter your wall dimensions to get tile, box, grout and thinset counts for the whole surround.
Planning tile alongside the rest of the job
Tiling over a new slab? Work out the pour first with the concrete calculator.
Finishing the walls in the same room? The drywall calculator covers sheets, mud and tape.
Related calculators
- fence calculator — for outdoor runs on the same job.
- concrete calculator — for the substrate pour.
FAQFrequently asked questions
A 10×10 room is 100 sq ft. With a 12×12" tile and 10% waste, you’d need about 110 sq ft of tile — roughly 110 tiles, or check your box coverage to get an exact box count.
A standard three-wall alcove tiled to 80 inches works out to roughly 55 to 60 square feet before waste — two end walls plus the back wall, measured from the top of the tub or pan. Add a shower floor, curb or niche on top of that. Allow 15% waste rather than the usual 10%, since cuts around the valve and niche add up. Select Shower Surround above for your exact dimensions.
Measure each wall separately — height times width — then add them together. Height runs from the top of the tub or shower pan to wherever your tile stops, commonly 72 to 80 inches for a tub surround or full height to the ceiling for a walk-in. Don’t deduct for the niche; you’ll need those cuts anyway. Enter each wall above and the calculator totals it for you.
Allow about 15% for a shower, compared with 10% for a straightforward floor. Shower walls need cuts around the valve, the niche, the curb and the ceiling line, and every cut produces an offcut you can’t use. If you’re running a diagonal or herringbone pattern in there, go higher again.
10% is standard for a straight layout. Offset/brick layouts typically need 10–15%, and diagonal or herringbone layouts need 15% or more due to angled cuts.
| Layout | Waste allowance |
|---|---|
| Straight / grid | 10% |
| Offset / brick | 10–15% |
| Diagonal | 15%+ |
| Herringbone | 15%+ |
Diagonal layouts create more edge cuts than a straight grid, so we recommend a 15% waste allowance instead of the standard 10%.
For 12×12" tile with 1/8" joints, allow roughly 1 lb of grout per 8–10 sq ft. Smaller tiles and wider joints use considerably more — mosaic sheets can need three times as much. The calculator adjusts for your tile size and joint width; confirm against your grout manufacturer’s coverage chart before buying.
Enter your box’s coverage (printed on the box, usually in sq ft) under “Buying by the box?” and we’ll calculate the number of boxes, always rounded up.
Yes. Vinyl tile, LVT and LVP are calculated the same way as ceramic — by coverage area plus waste. Skip the grout and thinset figures, and check whether your product needs underlayment, which is calculated separately.
Larger tiles (18×18" and up) read as more modern and mean fewer grout lines, but create more waste in small or irregular rooms. Smaller tiles suit tight spaces and intricate layouts.