How Much Tile Do You Actually Need? A No-Guesswork Guide to Measuring Your Project

So you've picked out your tile (maybe even from our room by room guide) and now you're staring at your bathroom floor or kitchen backsplash trying to figure out how many boxes to order. This is one of the most common places DIYers get tripped up. Order too little and you're stuck waiting on a reorder mid project, praying the dye lot matches. Order too much and you've wasted money on tile sitting in your garage.

Here's the good news: calculating how much tile you need isn't hard once you know the process. Let's walk through it step by step.

Step 1: Measure the Area

Grab a tape measure, a notepad, and a calculator (or your phone).

For floors: Measure the length and width of the room in feet, then multiply them together to get the square footage.

Length x Width = Square Footage

If your bathroom floor is 8 feet by 10 feet, that's 80 square feet.

For irregular rooms: Not every room is a perfect rectangle. If you've got an L-shaped kitchen or a bathroom with a jutting vanity, break the space into smaller rectangles, measure each one separately, then add the totals together.

For walls or backsplashes: Measure the height and width of each section you're tiling, multiply for square footage, then add all the sections together. Don't forget to measure around outlets, windows, or cabinets, since you'll subtract those areas out.

For showers: Measure each wall separately (height x width), add them together, and do the same for the shower floor if it's being tiled too.

Step 2: Subtract Areas You Won't Be Tiling

If there's a vanity, tub, or built in shelving that won't be covered, measure that area and subtract it from your total. It doesn't need to be perfectly precise since you'll be adding a buffer anyway, but getting close will help you order more accurately.

Step 3: Add a Buffer for Waste and Cuts

This step trips up a lot of first time DIYers. You almost never want to order the exact square footage you measured. Cutting tile to fit around corners, doorways, and fixtures creates waste, and mistakes happen even to experienced installers.

Here's a general guideline:

• Simple, rectangular rooms: add 10 percent extra
• Rooms with lots of corners, angles, or fixtures: add 15 percent extra
• Diagonal layouts or intricate patterns (like herringbone): add 15 to 20 percent extra
• Small mosaic or specialty tile: add 10 to 15 percent extra, since sheets can be harder to piece together perfectly

So if your bathroom floor measured 80 square feet and it's a simple rectangular layout, you'd order about 88 square feet of tile.

80 x 1.10 = 88 square feet

Step 4: Round Up to Full Boxes

Tile is typically sold by the box, and each box covers a certain number of square feet (this will be listed on the product page or box itself). Once you know your total square footage needed, divide by the coverage per box and round up to the next full box.

For example, if each box covers 10 square feet and you need 88 square feet, that's 8.8 boxes, which rounds up to 9 boxes.

Step 5: Always Keep a Few Extra Tiles After the Job

Once your project is finished, don't toss the leftover tile. Tile lines get discontinued or updated more often than people expect, and matching a replacement tile two or three years down the road (after a cracked tile or a plumbing repair) can be nearly impossible if the original is no longer made. Store a few spare tiles somewhere safe, like a basement or garage shelf, just in case.

A Quick Example, Start to Finish

Let's say you're tiling a kitchen backsplash that's 4 feet high and 15 feet wide, with a 3 foot by 2 foot section blocked off by a window.

1. Total wall area: 4 x 15 = 60 square feet
2. Window area to subtract: 3 x 2 = 6 square feet
3. Net area: 60 minus 6 = 54 square feet
4. Add 10 percent buffer for a straightforward layout: 54 x 1.10 = 59.4 square feet
5. If each box covers 12 square feet, that's 59.4 divided by 12, which rounds up to 5 boxes

That's it. No complicated math, just a few careful measurements and a bit of buffer built in.

A Few Extra Tips Before You Order

Buy all your tile in one order. Tile is manufactured in batches called dye lots, and color can vary slightly from one lot to another. Ordering everything at once helps ensure a consistent look across your whole project.

Double check your measurements. It sounds obvious, but measuring twice really does save headaches later. This is especially true for rooms with angles or multiple sections.

Ask before you buy if you're unsure. If your project has an unusual layout or you're working with a pattern like herringbone or a diagonal install, it never hurts to have someone double check your math before you place an order.

Ready to Order?

At Glaveri, every product page lists the exact square footage covered per box, so once you've calculated your total, ordering the right amount is simple. And if you're ever unsure about your measurements or which tile fits your space, our team is happy to help you double check before you check out.

Browse our full collection and get your project started the right way, with exactly the amount of tile you need and not a single box more.