Tile Quantity Calculator for Floor & Wall Tiling
Calculate exact tile quantities for any layout — enter your area, tile size and layout pattern to get a precise ordering specification, including wastage and box quantity.
How would you like to work?
Tiling Specification
How to Use This Tile Calculator
- Choose Metric or Imperial to set your working units.
- Select whether you're tiling a floor or a wall.
- Enter the room length and width (or wall length and height).
- Enter your tile size (length and width).
- Choose your layout pattern — this sets the wastage percentage automatically, or choose Custom % to enter your own.
- Optionally enter tiles per box to get a box count alongside the tile count.
- Click Calculate for your total area, tile count and box quantity.
Understanding Tile Wastage and Layout Patterns
Every tile layout produces offcuts, and more complex patterns produce more of them. A straight lay needs around 10% extra to cover cuts at the room's edges. Herringbone and chevron patterns need considerably more — 18–20% — because every tile at the border needs an angled cut, and chevron's mitred joints push it slightly higher than herringbone's square-cut zigzag. Feature walls and mosaic work carry the highest wastage of all, up to 23%, due to the sheer number of small cuts involved.
This calculator's wastage figures are pre-filled defaults based on these industry-typical ranges, but every layout also has a Custom % option — always defer to your installer's own estimate for a complex room shape or an unusually skilled (or unskilled) tiler.
Worked Example: Herringbone Floor Tiling
Take a 420cm × 350cm room (14.7m²) laid in herringbone with 600mm × 600mm tiles. At 18% wastage, the total area to order comes to 17.35m². Each tile covers 0.36m², so the room needs 49 tiles in total. At 4 tiles per box, that's 13 boxes to order.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tiles do I need for a room?
It depends on the room's net area, the tile size, and the layout pattern chosen — more complex layouts like herringbone or mosaic need significantly more wastage allowance than a straight lay. Use the calculator above with your own measurements for an exact tile and box count.
What's the wastage allowance for different tile layouts?
Straight lay needs around 10% wastage, brick/offset around 11%, diagonal around 15%, herringbone around 18%, chevron around 20%, and feature wall or mosaic work up to 23%, due to the number of cuts each pattern requires.
What's the difference between calculating for a floor and a wall?
The underlying area and wastage calculation is the same for both — the calculator simply relabels the fields (Room length/width for floors, Wall length/height for walls) so the inputs match what you're actually measuring.
What's the difference between herringbone and chevron tile layouts?
Herringbone uses standard rectangular tiles arranged in a zigzag with square-cut ends. Chevron uses tiles pre-cut at an angle so the pieces form a continuous V pattern with mitred joints — the extra precision cutting on every piece gives chevron a slightly higher wastage allowance than herringbone.
How do I convert a tile count into the number of boxes to order?
Enter the number of tiles per box, usually printed on the box itself, and the calculator divides your total tile count by that figure and rounds up, so you always order in full boxes.