Job takeoff
Tile a floor takeoff
Backer board, the thinset it is bedded in, tile and adhesive for a rectangular floor from one measurement.
A takeoff is the trade word for the shopping list a job produces — every material, and how much of each, worked out by its own cited calculator.
- 2Measurements in
- 4Trades out
Give the job once
Every figure on the right follows these, in the units you choose.
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the floor tiling quote check: each line is read against these same calculators — what it leaves out, what it adds, and what to ask.
Check the quoteEvery trade, from those dimensions
then change a dimension, and each line shows what moved.
| Trade | Quantity | |
|---|---|---|
Tile Backer Board CalculatorBoards over the substrate, with cutting waste. On a floor they are bedded in thinset, which the next row counts.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The cutting waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 15 boards | |
Thinset bed under the backer boardThinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorThe thinset the backer board is bedded in, over the same area at a 6 mm (1/4 in) square notch. It is the same thinset as the tile's: each row is rounded to whole bags, so bought together the two can come to a bag fewer than their sum.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Thinset & Tile Adhesive Calculator | 2 bags | |
Floor & Wall Tile CalculatorTiles and boxes for the same area — change the tile size on its own page.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
The pattern waste: the calculator's working figure, a trade convention. | 36 tiles | |
Thinset for the tileThinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorTile adhesive at the default trowel notch; a larger tile needs a deeper one. It is the tile bed only — the backer board's bed has its own row, under the board.
Why this quantity?
Resting on
Change any other figure on the Thinset & Tile Adhesive Calculator | 3 bags | |
Tile Backer Board CalculatorBoards over the substrate, with cutting waste. On a floor they are bedded in thinset, which the next row counts.
Why this quantity? | 15 boards | |
Thinset bed under the backer boardThinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorThe thinset the backer board is bedded in, over the same area at a 6 mm (1/4 in) square notch. It is the same thinset as the tile's: each row is rounded to whole bags, so bought together the two can come to a bag fewer than their sum.
Why this quantity? | 2 bags | |
Floor & Wall Tile CalculatorTiles and boxes for the same area — change the tile size on its own page.
Why this quantity? | 37 tiles | |
Thinset for the tileThinset & Tile Adhesive CalculatorTile adhesive at the default trowel notch; a larger tile needs a deeper one. It is the tile bed only — the backer board's bed has its own row, under the board.
Why this quantity? | 3 bags |
Estimates, not a quote. Each row gives its base, the allowance on top, the adjusted figure and what to order; change an allowance on the row, or open its reasoning to see every figure it rests on. A trade's own page carries what it does not cover — open the one you are about to order against.
Labour and programme
Person-hours for the rows going in, from trade rules of thumb: a range for each piece of work, never a price.
- Tile Backer Board3.6 h (1.8–7.2)
- Floor & Wall Tile7.2 h (4.2–14)
About 11 person-hours in all, between 6.0 and 22.
Trade by trade
- Tiler1 tiler1½ days
About 1½ days, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Thinset bed under the backer board: counted with Floor & Wall Tile
- Thinset for the tile: counted with Floor & Wall Tile
Labour and programme
Person-hours for the rows going in, from trade rules of thumb: a range for each piece of work, never a price.
- Tile Backer Board3.6 h (1.8–7.2)
- Floor & Wall Tile7.2 h (4.2–14)
About 11 person-hours in all, between 6.0 and 22.
Trade by trade
- Tiler1 tiler1½ days
About 1½ days, one trade after another at eight hours a day. Left out: drying and curing, deliveries, inspections, trades overlapping.
2 rows carry no hours of their own
- Thinset bed under the backer board: counted with Floor & Wall Tile
- Thinset for the tile: counted with Floor & Wall Tile
Setups you have saved
The build-up, the dimensions and any allowance you changed — kept on this device, and reusable on any job. Your prices are not copied in: they stay in your price book, so a setup never holds a stale one.
How far does a budget go?
At your own prices, with this build-up unchanged.
About this job
Every quantity in a floor tiling job comes off the same area, and they all come off it differently. The board and the tile are area divided by a unit size, so both are governed by how much you can cut out of a sheet or a box rather than by the area itself. The adhesive is area times a depth that the trowel notch sets, which is why the same floor takes twice the adhesive with a large-format tile. The grout is the joint length, which is area divided by tile size — a small tile in the same room needs several times the grout of a large one.
That last relationship is the one that catches people out. Halving the tile size roughly doubles the grout, does not change the board at all, and changes the adhesive only through the notch the smaller tile allows — a little less, not more. Ordering grout by eye from a previous job is how a floor ends up half-grouted on a Sunday.
Grout is deliberately not a row below, for that exact reason: it is the one quantity here that the floor's dimensions do not determine. Size it on the grout calculator with your own tile and joint width, which is the only place those two numbers exist.
How each line reads
- Base
- What the calculator gives for these dimensions, before anything is added.
- Allowance
- Cutting waste, a lap or spare stock — named, with where it comes from, and changeable on the row.
- Adjusted
- The base with its allowance on top.
- Order
- What to buy: the adjusted figure in whole boards, bags, rolls or lengths.
The order this happens in
Quantities do not tell you the sequence, and on this job the sequence is where the money goes wrong.
- Check the substrate: flatness, deflection and whether it is dry. Tile does not bridge a floor that moves.
- Bed the backer board in mortar and screw it down, staggering the joints, taping them with alkali-resistant mesh set in mortar, and leaving the expansion gap at the perimeter.
- Set out from the centre and dry-lay a row before mixing anything.
- Comb the adhesive in one direction and back-butter anything large-format.
- Leave the adhesive its full cure before grouting — not overnight because the job is due.
- Grout, then clean the haze while it is still soft, and seal only if the tile calls for it.
What this takeoff does not cover
- The substrate. Levelling compound, deflection, and whether the floor below is sound are what decide if a tiled floor survives, and none of them is derived from its area.
- Movement joints, perimeter expansion gaps, edge trims and thresholds.
- Tanking. A wet room or a shower floor needs a waterproofing system whose extent is set by the detail, not by the floor area.
- Underfloor heating, which changes the adhesive, the movement allowance and often the tile.
- Grout, which is set by tile size and joint width rather than by floor area — the same 12 m² takes several times the grout in a small mosaic as in a 600 mm tile.
- Sealers and cleaners, and the tile's own suitability for the traffic and the slip rating the room needs.
Quote check
Been given a quote for this job?
Paste it into the floor tiling quote check. Every line of it is read against these same calculators and your measurements. Quantities only, never prices.
What it leaves out
Every line this takeoff has that nothing on the quote reads as.
What it adds
Labour, removal, hire, fees — each named for what it is.
What to ask
One list of questions, ready to copy. Never a verdict.
More takeoffs
Other job takeoffs
Room fit-out
7 tradesBoard, fill, paint and floor a rectangular room, walls and ceiling, from one set of dimensions.
Run this takeoffStud partition
3 tradesStuds, jointing compound and outlets for a single run of internal partition.
Run this takeoffPlaster a room
4 tradesPlaster, beads and protection for a room, with the background choosing between a skim and a float and set.
Run this takeoff
Frequently asked questions
- What does the floor tiling takeoff give for a typical job?
- Opened at Floor length 4 m · Floor width 3 m, it orders: Tile Backer Board, 15 boards; Thinset bed under the backer board, 2 bags; Floor & Wall Tile, 37 tiles; Thinset for the tile, 3 bags. Opened at Floor length 13 ft · Floor width 10 ft: Tile Backer Board, 15 boards; Thinset bed under the backer board, 2 bags; Floor & Wall Tile, 36 tiles; Thinset for the tile, 3 bags. Every figure follows the dimensions you give it.
- Which calculators does the floor tiling takeoff run?
- 3 calculators, for 4 lines: Tile Backer Board Calculator, Thinset & Tile Adhesive Calculator, Floor & Wall Tile Calculator. Each has a page of its own with its formula and its sources; the takeoff runs them all on one set of dimensions.
- What does the floor tiling takeoff leave out?
- 6 things, each named on this page: The substrate; Movement joints, perimeter expansion gaps, edge trims and thresholds; Tanking; Underfloor heating, which changes the adhesive, the movement allowance and often the tile; Grout, which is set by tile size and joint width rather than by floor area; Sealers and cleaners, and the tile's own suitability for the traffic and the slip rating the room needs.
- Can I check a quote for this job against the takeoff?
- Yes. The floor tiling quote check reads a quote's lines against these same calculators and your measurements, and reports what it leaves out, what it adds and what to ask. It reads quantities, never prices.