Tile calculator
Area, tile size, grout joint and pattern. Tiles and boxes out, with waste set for the layout.
Your numbers stay in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
How it is figured
Each tile covers its size plus one grout joint in each direction. A 12 by 24 with a 1/8 inch joint covers 12.125 by 24.125 inches, 2.03 square feet. Area divided by that is tiles; add the waste for the pattern and round up to the box.
Waste is about the cuts. A straight lay in a rectangle wastes ten percent. A third-offset or a diagonal wastes fifteen, because every row ends in a cut that is thrown away. Herringbone, small formats in a small room, and showers with a niche and a bench run twenty.
Thinset: a 50 lb bag covers about 90 square feet with a 1/4 by 3/8 trowel for large format, more with a smaller notch. Grout depends on the joint width and the tile size; the bag has a chart. Buy the tile all at once from one dye lot, and keep a box.
From the quantity to the bid
The calculator gives you the material count. The bid gives the customer one price and the scope in plain words, and keeps the count as your cost math. The how to bid tile jobs guide works the whole price with example numbers, and the tile proposal template is the layout. Materials at cost plus markup, labor at your rate, then the job price calculator adds them up and sets the deposit.
Questions contractors ask
How many 12x24 tiles for 100 square feet?
About 50 before waste at a 1/8 inch joint, 55 with ten percent waste for a straight lay, 58 for a third offset.
How much extra tile should I order?
Ten percent for a straight lay, fifteen for diagonal or offset, twenty for herringbone or a small room with many cuts, plus a box to keep for repairs in the same dye lot.
How many bags of thinset per 100 square feet?
About one 50 lb bag per 90 square feet with a 1/4 by 3/8 inch notch for large format. Two bags for 100 square feet to be safe.
How do I bid a tile job?
By the square foot with the tile size and pattern named, prep and waterproofing as lines, and the overage the customer has to buy written down. The <a href="/guides/how-to-bid-tile-jobs">tile bidding guide</a> prices a shower rebuild.
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