How to measure a room for tile
Walk each surface to tile: the floor, the walls, the shower and the backsplash, with what stays without tile. A worked example and a free calculator are at the end.
What to bring
- A tape measure and a level
- Your phone to record and photograph each surface in a MesuPro survey
- The label of a box of the chosen tile, and the thinset and grout data sheets
In an older house, have an old floor covering and its adhesive tested before you tear them out or sand them.
Step by step
Measure each surface
One row per surface: a floor's length and width, a wall's length and the height the tile goes up. A shower counts its walls and its floor, a backsplash its length by its height.
Take off what stays without tile
Openings, a tub, cabinets or a vanity set before the tile: note their area and take it off their row.
Choose the waste
No association publishes a percentage. Flooring makers' installation guides give about 10% for a straight lay, 15% on the diagonal and 10 to 20% for chevron or herringbone.
Read the box's coverage
It is printed on the box label, in sq ft or m²: it changes from one tile to the next.
Thinset and grout
A thinset bag's coverage depends on the trowel notch: for example 60 to 67 sq ft per 50 lb bag with a 1/4 x 3/8 in notch on Custom's data sheet. Grout depends on the tile and the joint: read your tile's line in the maker's chart.
The calculation
Area to tile = length x height (or width) - the part not tiled, for each surface, never below zero. Tile to buy = area x (1 + waste). Boxes = tile to buy / box coverage, rounded up to the next box on the total. Bags = area / coverage per bag, rounded up to the next bag, for the thinset and for the grout. The waste starts at 10%, the makers' guides' typical value for a straight lay; no coverage is filled in: they come from your product's label and data sheet.
Worked example
In a fictitious bathroom, the 8 by 6 ft floor less a 6 sq ft vanity, the tub surround's 5 by 6 ft back wall and its two 2.5 by 6 ft ends make 102 sq ft to tile. With 10% waste, that is 112.2 sq ft of tile, or 8 boxes of 15.5 sq ft (this example's label). At 60 sq ft per bag, the low end Custom prints for a 1/4 x 3/8 in notch, it takes 2 bags of thinset.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the ends of a tub surround or a shower's floor.
- Adding up the boxes of two different tiles.
- Taking the coverage of another tile or another notch.
- Counting the waste twice: in the area and again in the boxes.
Flooring: from the rooms to the boxes
The whole job in MesuPro
Tile installation survey
Floors, walls, showers and backsplashes: tile and boxes, thinset by trowel, grout by joint, membrane.
You get: Area to tile Tile to buy Boxes
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