Tile Calculator
Calculate how many tiles you need including 10% wastage.
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Enter the floor or wall area to be tiled and the area of one tile, and this calculator tells you how many tiles to buy, with 10% extra added for cuts, breakage and spares. It is meant for quick estimates before visiting a tile showroom or checking a contractor's quote.
The formula
Tiles needed = (room area ÷ tile area) × 1.1, rounded up
The 10% allowance covers tiles cut at walls and corners, a few that crack during cutting or laying, and spares for future repairs. The result is always rounded up to a whole tile.
Working out the tile area
Tile sizes in India are usually quoted in millimetres. Multiply the two sides and convert to square metres:
| Tile size | Area per tile | Often used for |
|---|---|---|
| 300 × 300 mm | 0.09 m² | bathroom floors, balconies |
| 600 × 600 mm | 0.36 m² | living rooms and bedrooms |
| 800 × 800 mm | 0.64 m² | large halls |
| 600 × 1200 mm | 0.72 m² | large-format floors |
Use the nominal size printed on the box. Grout joints of 2 to 3 mm make almost no difference to the count.
Worked example: a bedroom floor
A 4.2 m × 3.6 m bedroom has a floor area of 15.12 m². With 600 × 600 mm tiles (0.36 m²): 15.12 ÷ 0.36 = 42 tiles, and 42 × 1.1 = 46.2, rounded up to 47 tiles. Tiles are sold by the box, so divide by the number of tiles per box printed on the carton and round up again.
A small bathroom floor of 9.5 m² with 300 × 300 mm tiles needs 9.5 ÷ 0.09 × 1.1 = 116.1, so 117 tiles.
The area calculator gives you the floor area from length and width if you have not worked it out yet.
Using square feet instead
The labels say m², but the calculation only divides one area by the other, so any unit works as long as both fields use the same one. A 160 sq ft room with 2 ft × 2 ft tiles (4 sq ft each) gives 160 ÷ 4 × 1.1 = 44 tiles. Do not mix a room area in square feet with a tile area in square metres.
When 10% extra is not enough
- Diagonal or herringbone patterns produce more offcuts; add roughly another 5% to the result.
- Rooms with many corners, pillars or a bay window need extra cuts.
- Large-format tiles leave larger offcuts that often cannot be reused elsewhere.
- Patterned or veined designs may need extra tiles to keep the pattern flowing.
Buy everything from the same batch; shade and exact size can vary slightly between production batches, which shows up clearly on a floor.
Walls, skirting and what the count excludes
For wall tiles, the area is the wall length × the height you are tiling, minus doors and windows. Skirting is usually cut from floor tiles or bought as separate strips, so calculate it from the room perimeter. Adhesive, grout, spacers and levelling clips are not included, and neither is labour, which is typically charged per square foot.