How much tile do I need?

Measure the area you want to cover by multiplying the length by the width. Enter those measurements and your tile size into the tile calculator. It will tell you how many tiles you need, including extra tiles for cuts and wastage when a wastage percentage is added.

What is a linear foot?

A linear foot is a measurement of length only. One linear foot equals 12 inches in a straight line. Linear feet are used for things measured in a line, such as room edges, borders and trim. Square feet measure the area of surfaces such as floors and walls.

How do I measure my floor?

Clear the space and measure the length and width of the room using a tape measure. Multiply the length by the width to calculate the total floor area. For an irregular room, divide it into smaller rectangular sections, calculate each area separately and then add the areas together.

How many 12 × 12 tiles do I need for 144 square feet?

A 12 × 12-inch tile covers approximately one square foot, so 144 tiles are required to cover 144 square feet when grout joints are excluded. In practice, add approximately 5% to 10% for cutting, breakage and layout wastage.

How many 60 × 60 cm tiles are needed for one square metre?

A 60 × 60 cm tile measures 0.6 metres by 0.6 metres and covers 0.36 square metres. Dividing one square metre by 0.36 gives approximately 2.78, so you will need at least three tiles per square metre before allowing for cutting and wastage.

How much extra tile should I buy?

Add approximately 5% to 10% for a straightforward installation with a simple layout. For rooms with numerous cuts, obstacles or complex tile patterns, allow approximately 10% to 15%. This covers cuts, breakages, mistakes and spare tiles for future repairs.

How many tiles are in a box?

The number of tiles in a box depends on the tile dimensions, thickness, weight and manufacturer. Packaging normally states both the number of tiles and the total area covered. As a rough guide, boxes may contain 10 to 15 tiles for 300 × 300 mm tiles, 5 to 8 tiles for 450 × 450 mm tiles, or 3 to 6 tiles for 600 × 600 mm tiles.

How do I calculate tile square footage?

Measure the room length and width in feet and multiply them to calculate the total square footage. To calculate the area of one tile, convert its dimensions from inches to feet and multiply its length by its width. For example, a 12 × 24-inch tile measures one foot by two feet and covers two square feet.

Grout is the material used to fill the joints between tiles. It helps support the tile edges, reduces the entry of dirt and moisture, limits movement and creates a neat, finished appearance.

What is the 3-4-5 rule for tile?

The 3-4-5 rule is used to check whether two layout lines form an accurate 90-degree angle. Measure three equal units along one line and four equal units along the perpendicular line. If the diagonal distance between the marks is exactly five units, the lines are square.

Tile Calculator

Calculation mode

By dimensions By area

Measurement unit

Floor length

Floor width

Floor area (m²)

Enter total floor area in the current main unit.

Tile length

Tile width

Tile length

Tile width

Gap (grout)

Gap between tiles (same unit system).

Wastage (%)

Extra tiles to cover cutting and breakage (0–100%).

Tiles / box

Tile cost (GBP £)

Enter the tile rate in GBP (£). Leave empty or 0 if you only need quantities.

Do you want to calculate binder and grout material?

No Yes

Coverage per bag for adhesive (m²)

Area covered by one bag (in current area unit).

Cost per bag (adhesive, GBP £)

Leave empty if you only need bags quantity.

Coverage per bottle for grout (m²)

Total gap area covered by one bottle (current area unit).

Cost per unit of grout (GBP £)

Leave empty if you only need bottles quantity.

How Many Tiles Do I Need?

To work out how many tiles you need, measure your area in metres (length × width), divide by the area of one tile, then add 10% for wastage. For a 10 m² floor with 300×300mm tiles, that’s about 121 tiles. This UK tile calculator does it instantly – including grout, adhesive and total cost in £.

Introduction

You know that moment in the store where you’re staring at stacks of tile boxes, trying to guess how many you need, and hoping you’re not completely wrong? Tile Calculator is here for exactly that mess.

This tile estimator takes your real numbers room size, tile size, grout gap, even the coverage of your tile adhesive (thin-set) and grout and turns them into something useful.
It helps you nail your materials so you’re not short a box or stuck with five extra. It saves time by doing all the boring maths in the background, no spreadsheet wrestling required. And it brings cost into focus, showing how much your tiles, grout, and adhesive will roughly add up to before you spend a single pound.

Less guesswork. Fewer surprises. Much calmer tiling.

How to use our tile calculator

Description of How to use the calculator

Steps	What to Do	Details
Choose units	Select Metric or Imperial	All inputs (floor, tile, grout, coverage) should use the same unit system to keep results accurate.
Pick calculation mode	Choose By dimensions or By area	Use By dimensions if you know floor length & width; use By area if you already know the total area to be tiled.
Enter floor & tile sizes	Fill in floor and tile dimensions	Add floor length/width, tile length/width, and the grout gap between tiles. Set a wastage % to allow for cutting and breakage.
Add tile packaging & price	Enter tiles per box and cost	Type how many tiles per box and the cost per tile or per box so the calculator can estimate required boxes and tile cost.
Include grout & thin-set	Turn on material calculation and enter coverage	Enable binder/grout calculation, then add coverage per grout bottle and thin-set bag, plus their prices. Click Calculate to see quantities and total estimated material cost.

Tiles Per m² – UK Tile Sizes

Tile size (mm)	Tiles per m²	Common UK use
100 × 100	~94	Mosaics, splashbacks
200 × 100 (metro)	~48	Kitchen & bathroom walls
300 × 300	~11	Small bathroom floors
450 × 450	~5	Kitchen & hallway floors
600 × 300	~5.4	Bathroom walls, showers
600 × 600	~2.8	Living rooms, large kitchens
800 × 400	~3	Contemporary floors
1200 × 600	~1.4	Open-plan spaces

How Much Tile Adhesive & Grout?

Standard tiles (<600mm): ~4-5 m² per 20kg bag of adhesive with a 6mm notched trowel.
Large-format (600mm+): ~3 m² per 20kg bag – larger notch, back-buttering required.
Grout gaps (BS 5385): 2-3mm walls, 3-5mm floors, 1.5-2mm rectified, 5-10mm external.
Wastage (The Tile Association): 10% straight lay, 15% diagonal, 15-20% herringbone, 15% natural stone.

A UK Worked Example

For a 10 m² floor using 300×300mm tiles with a 3mm grout gap and 10% wastage, you’ll need roughly 121 tiles – about 12 boxes of 10 – plus around 2 × 20kg bags of adhesive and 5kg of grout.

Calculation Logic: Thin-set vs. Grout

Thin-set (or thin-set mortar) and grout sit right next to each other on the shelf, but in the calculator they’re treated very differently. And there’s a good reason for that.

Thin-set is all About Area

It lives underneath the tiles, as one continuous bed. So the calculator mainly looks at how big your tiled surface is and how much coverage one bag of thin-set gives you. You tell it the coverage (for example, one 20kg bag covers around 4–5 m² with a 6mm notched trowel), and it simply divides your total tiled area by that number, then adds your wastage on top. Big tiles, small tiles, weird layout thin-set doesn’t really care. The square footage is what matters most.

Grout is all About the Gaps

Grout sits only in the lines between tiles, so the calculator has to “think” in terms of length and depth of joints, not just surface area. It considers your tile size, the gap (grout joint) you entered, and the overall area. From that it works out the total length of grout lines and uses your coverage value to estimate how much grout you’ll need.

Grout Consumption Comparison

We understand this with an example:
Imagine a small area, say a kitchen floor, imagine it was tiled with old small 4″ x 4″ tiles, and then the same area re-tiled with larger 24″ x 24″ tiles.
With small 4″ inches, you have a grid with multiple small boxes of tiles. That means a lot of vertical and horizontal joints. Line after line after line. All that space needs to be filled with grout.
Now change the tile size to 24″ x 24″ and you have very few tiles covering the same area. Far fewer joints. Much shorter total grout line length.

Same wall. Same square footage. Completely different grout demand.

That’s why the calculator doesn’t just look at area for grout. It looks at tile size and joint width too, so the numbers you see actually match what happens in the real world, not just on paper.

Essential User Inputs Explained

I’ve been laying tiles in kitchens, baths, living rooms and patios for about twenty years now. The jobs that go smooth always start with the right numbers. That’s what this calculator is asking you for. Remember this tool is all in one, it’s not only your backsplash calculator but also your shower tile calculator buddy. So let’s dig deep to understand it.
First thing: Units.
Pick metric or imperial and stay with it. Mixing inches with centimeters is how you end up one box short on a Friday afternoon.
Next is your floor or wall size. You can give the length and width, or just the total area if you already know it. This tells the calculator how big the job really is.
Now, the part most people underestimate: tile sizes and grout joint. You’ll enter the tiles measurement, plus the gap between tiles. Small tiles with tight joints mean a lot more grout lines. Big tiles with wider joints look different, move different, and they change how much grout and thin-set you burn through. The calculator uses these numbers to work out how many tiles you’ll actually lay, not just how many look nice on paper.
Then you’ve got coverage for thin-set and grout. This isn’t a guess check the bag or bottle. One adhesive might say it covers 5 m² with a certain trowel size, another 3 m². Same story with grout. You punch in what your product claims, and the tool adjusts to that, instead of using some random average.
Last bit: cost and wastage.
Enter what you pay per bag or bottle and add a small waste % for cuts, chips, and “oops” moments. It’s the difference between a tidy finish and an extra run to the store with half the job done.

Material Deep Dive: Which Grout to Buy?

So our floor tile calculator tells you how many kilos or pounds of grout you need. Good start.
Now you still have to pick the right bag from a whole wall of them, and that is where a lot of people freeze.
When I choose grout on a job, I look at three things. How wide the joints are? what kind of tile I am pushing it against?, and how much water or dirt that surface will see in real life?. A kitchen floor, a marble shower wall, and a cafe counter all ask for different grout, even if the color looks the same on the chart.
For regular ceramic or porcelain tiles with joints that are not tiny and not huge, sanded grout is usually the everyday choice. It has grit inside, feels a bit rough in the hand, and it handles traffic and movement better.
If I am working with polished marble, glass mosaics, or very narrow joints, I reach for unsanded grout. There is no grit to scratch the tile surface, and it squeezes into tight gaps nicely, as long as the joint is not too wide.
Epoxy grout is a different animal. It is more expensive and you must work a bit faster with it, but it repays you with serious resistance to stains, chemicals, and water. Showers, commercial kitchens, busy counters, that kind of thing.
Here is a quick summary you can follow after the calculator gives you a number.

Wider joints, most floors and walls, standard ceramic/porcelain

Can scratch soft or polished tiles; not ideal for very narrow joints

Narrow joints, glass, marble, delicate surfaces

Not great for wide joints; may crack or shrink if gaps are too big

Wet areas, heavy use, stain-prone spots (showers, counters, commercial)

Higher cost, faster setup time, needs careful mixing and cleanup

Frequently Ask Questions (FAQ)?

Measure the area you want to cover (length × width), then enter those measurements and your tile size into the tiles calculator. It will tell you how many tiles you need, including any extra for cuts and wastage if you add a percentage.

A linear foot is a measurement of length only.
1 linear foot = 12 inches in a straight line.
It’s different from area:

Linear foot = how long something is (like the length of a room edge).
Square foot = length × width (how much surface an area has, like a floor or wall).

So you use linear feet for things measured in a line (edges, trim, borders) and square feet for things that cover an area (tiles, flooring, paint).

Clear the space, move furniture so you can reach all edges.
Measure the length and width of the room with a tape measure (in feet or meters).
Multiply length × width to get the total area.
If the room isn’t a perfect rectangle, split it into smaller shapes (rectangles/L-shapes), measure each, then add all the areas together.

That final number is the wall area you’ll use in our tiling calculator.

If you exclude grout lines and treat a 12×12 tile as covering exactly 1 square foot, then for 144 square feet you need 144 tiles.

Grout lines make each tile cover slightly less area, so in real projects it’s still a good idea to add 5–10% extra for cuts, breakage and layout.

A 60×60 cm tile is 0.6 m × 0.6 m = 0.36 m².
So:

Tiles per m² = 1 ÷ 0.36 ≈ 2.78

In practice, you’d say:
You need 3 tiles of 60×60 per 1 square meter (allowing for cuts and a little waste).

A simple rule:

Straight, simple areas: add 5–10% extra
Rooms with lots of cuts/patterns: add 10–15% extra

This covers cuts, mistakes, broken tiles and a few spares for future repairs.

It depends on the tile size, thickness and brand. There’s no fixed number.
Usually you’ll find on the box:

Tiles per box
Total coverage per box

but here are some typical floor tile sizes and rough box quantities:

US common floor tiles
- 12″ x 12″ (about 30 x 30 cm): often10–15 tiles per box
- 12″ x 24″ (30 x 60 cm): often 6–10 tiles per box
- 18″ x 18″ (45 x 45 cm): often 5–8 tiles per box
UK common floor tiles
- 300 x 300 mm: often 10–15 tiles per box
- 450 x 450 mm: often 5–8 tiles per box
- 600 x 600 mm: often 3–6 tiles per box

Find room square footage:
- Measure length × width (in feet).
- Example: 10 ft. × 12 ft. = 120 sq ft.
Find tile square footage:
- Convert tile size from inches to feet, then multiply.
- Example: 12″ × 24″ → 1 ft. × 2 ft. = 2 sq ft. per tile

Grout is the material that goes between your tiles. It’s a smooth paste (usually cement-based) that. Fills the gaps between tiles, helps keep tiles from shifting, reduces dirt and moisture getting in, and makes the overall tile job look clean and finished.

The 3/4/5 rule is a quick way to check if your tiles are being laid out at a perfect right angle (90°).

Measure 3 units (e.g. 3 feet or 3 meters) along one line.
Measure 4 units along the line that should be perpendicular.
Measure the diagonal between those two marks.

If the diagonal is exactly 5 units, your lines are square.
Tile installers use this to avoid crooked layouts and keep grout lines straight.

References and UK Guidance

BS 5385-1:2018 – Wall and floor tiling: design and installation of ceramic, natural stone and mosaic wall tiling in normal internal conditions.
BS 5385-3:2024 – Wall and floor tiling: design and installation of internal and external ceramic, mosaic, natural stone and terrazzo flooring.
BS EN 14411:2016 – Ceramic tiles: definitions, classification, characteristics and marking requirements.
The Tile Association (TTA) – UK technical guidance and information on relevant standards for wall and floor tiling.
Tile manufacturer and UK retailer product data – Used as general guidance for nominal tile dimensions, pack quantities and stated coverage. Always check the specifications of your chosen product before ordering.