Laying pattern
Tiles needed
37
6.66 m² to buy · 10% waste
Your figures, your sums - nothing is sent anywhere. Measure each wall or floor and add them up; take off baths and doors. Herringbone and chevron need many cuts at the edges.
How many tiles you need
Measure the area to be tiled in square metres: length × width for a floor, length × height for each wall, then take off the bath, shower tray, doors and windows.
Divide the area by the size of one tile in square metres (width × height in mm, divided by 1,000,000). Then add waste for cuts and breakages and round up to whole tiles, and to whole boxes if you buy by the box.
A worked example
A floor of 3 m × 2.5 m is 7.5 m². A 600 × 300 mm tile covers 0.18 m², so the floor needs 41.7 tiles before waste.
Adding 10% for a straight lay gives 45.8, so buy 46 tiles, which covers 8.28 m². If a box holds 5 tiles, that is 10 boxes.
For a diagonal lay, herringbone or a room with many cuts, use 15% instead: 48 tiles for the same floor.
How much waste to allow
About 10% for a straight lay and 15% for diagonal or herringbone. Large-format tiles and natural stone can need more, because one broken tile costs a bigger share of the job.
Keep a few spare tiles after the job. A tile broken years later can only be matched from the same batch.
Common mistakes
Buying exactly the area with no waste, then finding the last row needs a new box from a different batch.
Forgetting the adhesive, grout and spacers. The tiles are only part of the materials bill.
Mixing up mm and cm when entering the tile size. A 60 × 30 cm tile is 600 × 300 mm.
Measuring before the walls are straight. Out-of-square rooms mean more cuts than a plain rectangle suggests.
JobGuard puts the tiles on your quote with your markup and suggests what is easy to miss.
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Questions
How much extra should I allow for tiles?
About 10% for a straight lay, 15% for diagonal, herringbone or a room with lots of cuts. Large-format tiles can need more because each broken tile costs more area.
How many tiles do I need for a room?
Work out the floor or wall area in m², add 10% for cuts, then divide by the area of one tile. Our calculator does it for any tile size in mm and tells you how many boxes to buy.
How many tiles are in a box?
It depends on the tile size and the manufacturer; the box label gives the m² it covers. Divide the area you need (with waste) by that figure and round up to whole boxes.
How do I work out the area?
Length × height for each wall (or length × width for a floor), add them up and take off the bath, shower tray, doors and windows.
Should I buy all the tiles at once?
Yes, from the same batch. Shades change between batches, and a box bought later may not match.