Free tile calculator
How many tiles do I need?
Enter your room and tile size. You get the tiles and boxes to order, with the grout joint and a waste allowance for your pattern already counted.
10% for a straight or brick lay, 15% for diagonal, 15–20% for herringbone.
48 tiles to order, 6 boxes, for 7.68 square metres.
Tiles to order486 boxes
- Floor area
- 7.68 m²
- Tiles to cover it
- 43
- Plus 10% waste
- +5
The formula
How the tile count is worked out
- Room area = length × width. A 3.2 × 2.4 m bathroom is 7.68 m².
- Tile footprint = (tile width + joint) × (tile length + joint). A 60 × 30 cm tile with a 3 mm joint covers 0.1827 m².
- Tiles to cover = area ÷ footprint, rounded up: 7.68 ÷ 0.1827 = 42.03, so 43.
- Add waste for cuts and breakages: 43 + 10% = 48 tiles, or 6 boxes of 8.
For an L-shaped room, split it into rectangles, add the areas together, and use a higher waste allowance: each extra corner means more cuts.
Waste
How much waste to allow for each pattern
| Pattern | Add |
|---|---|
| Straight (grid)Cuts only along the walls; offcuts often reused on the opposite side. | 10% |
| Brick / offsetSame edge cuts as straight, with the half-tile stagger mostly using up its own offcuts. | 10% |
| Diagonal (45°)Every edge tile is a triangle cut, and fewer of the offcuts fit anywhere else. | 15% |
| Herringbone / chevronAngled cuts at every wall, and the zig-zag leaves offcuts that rarely fit again. | 15–20% |
Exact count
Need every cut counted?
An area estimate cannot see where the cuts fall. The free Tile Planner lays every tile in your real room shape, in your pattern, and counts whole tiles and cuts separately.
FAQ
Tile calculator questions
- How do I work out how many tiles I need?
- Measure the room's length and width and multiply them for the area in m². Divide that by the area of one tile plus its grout joint, round up, then add a waste allowance — 10% for a straight lay, 15% or more for diagonal and herringbone.
- How many tiles are in a square metre?
- It depends on the tile. With a 3 mm joint, a 60 × 60 cm tile covers about 0.36 m², so you need roughly 2.8 per m²; a 60 × 30 cm tile needs about 5.5; a 30 × 30 cm tile about 11; a 20 × 10 cm metro tile about 48.
- How much extra tile should I buy?
- At least 10% for a straight or brick pattern and 15–20% for diagonal or herringbone. Keep a few spare tiles after the job — batches vary in shade, so a matching tile can be hard to find later.
- Does the grout joint change the tile count?
- A little. Every joint adds to each tile's footprint, so wider joints mean slightly fewer tiles. On small tiles like mosaics or metro tiles the difference is noticeable; on large format tiles it is only a tile or two.
- Is this calculator exact?
- It is an area-based estimate, which is how most shops quote. For an exact count, with whole tiles and cuts counted separately for your real room shape and pattern, draw the room in the free Tily Tile Planner.
Sell tiles? Put this on your product pages
Tily's Tile Planner sits on your product pages. Customers draw their room and add the right number of boxes to the basket.