Free tool
Tile Calculator
Enter the area and tile size and get exactly how many tiles you need — plus the number of boxes to buy and a material-cost ballpark. Free, no signup.
Tile needed
0 boxes
- Coverage area0 ft²
- Area with waste0 ft²
- Tiles needed0
- Boxes to buy0
- Estimated cost$0
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Or download it now (PDF)How to calculate how many tiles you need
Tile is measured by area but bought by the box, so the take-off is area, a waste margin, and a conversion first to tiles and then to boxes. The step people skip is buying whole boxes from one dye lot — get that wrong and a future repair will not match.
1. Find the area to tile
For a floor or wall, area is length × width in feet — or enter the total square footage directly if you already have it. Break irregular rooms into rectangles, calculate each, and add them together.
2. Add waste for cuts and pattern
Add about 10% for a standard grid layout to cover edge cuts, breakage, and mistakes. Diagonal, herringbone, and other angled patterns waste much more at the perimeter, so plan on 15% or higher.
3. Convert to tiles, then boxes
Divide the area-with-waste by one tile’s square footage and round up to get the tile count. Then divide by the tiles per box — or the box coverage — and round up again, since you can only buy whole boxes.
4. Buy an extra box for future repairs
Add at least one spare box beyond the calculation and keep it. Dye lots vary between runs, so a matching tile may not be available later — a spare from the same lot is cheap insurance. Confirm all boxes share one dye-lot number at purchase.
Sizing the tile is step one. Turning it into a priced, professional quote is faster inside CrewRivet. See the flooring calculator, the paint calculator, or the job pricing calculator.
Tile calculator FAQ
- How many tiles do I need?
- Find the area you are tiling in square feet, add about 10% for waste, then divide by the square footage of one tile and round up. A 12×12 tile is 1 sq ft, so a 120 sq ft floor with 10% waste needs 132 tiles. This calculator does the size conversion and waste for you and also tells you how many boxes that is.
- How much extra tile should I buy for waste?
- Order about 10% over your measured area for a standard straight or grid layout to cover cuts, breakage, and mistakes. Diagonal and herringbone patterns waste far more at the edges — plan on 15% or higher. The default here is 10%; bump it up for angled layouts.
- How many tiles come in a box?
- It varies by tile size — small tiles come many per box, large-format tiles just a few. Boxes are often labeled both by tile count and by the square footage they cover (frequently around 10–20 sq ft). This calculator lets you enter either the tiles per box or the box coverage, so you can match exactly what is printed on the box you are buying.
- Should I buy an extra box of tile?
- Yes — buy at least one extra box beyond the calculated amount and keep it. Dye lots change between production runs, so a tile you buy a year from now for a repair may not match. A spare box from the same lot is cheap insurance against a visible patch later. Also confirm all your boxes share one dye-lot number at purchase.
- Is this tile calculator free?
- Yes — the live estimate is free with no email required. Enter your email only if you want the free Job Pricing Kit (pricing worksheet, markup cheat-sheet, and invoice + quote templates) sent to your inbox.