Solve backwards
How much floor will my tiles cover?
- 50 tilesThe example worked below
- Floor & Wall Tile CalculatorEvery figure is its own
You have
How much floor tile?
Worked by the Floor & Wall Tile Calculator at the settings below.
The settings it uses
- Tile length
- 24 in
- Tile width
- 24 in
- Lay pattern
- Straight / stack bond — 10% waste
- Tiles per box
- 6
What it will do
182 sq ft of floor
16.9 m²
One floor. Enough for a floor about 13.5 × 13.5 ft.
Or several. About 1 floor of the size the Floor & Wall Tile Calculator opens on: a floor about 11.4 × 11.4 ft.
Check it forwards
- Area to tile
- 182 sq ft
- It asks for
- 50 tiles
- You have
- 50 tiles
The Floor & Wall Tile Calculator asks for 50 tiles at that size, and 51 tiles one step larger.
If you had more, or less
Around your amount
Each worked by the Floor & Wall Tile Calculator at the same settings.
Half
25 tiles
90.9 sq ft
a floor about 9.5 × 9.5 ft
Yours
50 tiles
182 sq ft
a floor about 13.5 × 13.5 ft
Half as much again
75 tiles
273 sq ft
a floor about 16.5 × 16.5 ft
Double
100 tiles
364 sq ft
a floor about 19.1 × 19.1 ft
Common amounts
What each amount of floor tile covers
The sizes it is usually sold in, each worked by the Floor & Wall Tile Calculator at the settings above.
| You have | It covers | As one floor | Average floors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 tiles | 72.7 sq ft(6.76 m²) | a floor about 8.5 × 8.5 ft | under 1 |
| 50 tiles | 182 sq ft(16.9 m²) | a floor about 13.5 × 13.5 ft | 1 |
| 100 tiles | 364 sq ft(33.8 m²) | a floor about 19.1 × 19.1 ft | 2 |
| 200 tiles | 727 sq ft(67.6 m²) | a floor about 27 × 27 ft | 5 |
The pattern decides the waste
TCNA and BS 5385 both recommend 5 to 10 per cent waste for a straight lay and 15 to 20 for a diagonal or herringbone. The calculator opens at a straight lay with ten per cent, so the same tiles set in a diagonal at 18 per cent cover about 7 per cent less floor — the offcut from one diagonal edge rarely fits another.
Tile size sets the count, not the floor
The page counts 600 by 600 mm tiles, about 24 inches square, the calculator's opening size. The floor a stack covers depends on the tile's face, so change the tile in the calculator to your own and the answer moves with it: forty 12-inch tiles cover a quarter of the floor forty 24-inch tiles do.
Buy from one batch, and keep spares
Dye lots vary visibly between batches of the same product, so a floor wants tiles from one batch — mixed across the floor rather than laid box by box — and a few spare from that same batch for repairs. Large tiles, with any edge of 15 inches (380 mm) or more, also need a flatter substrate than small ones.
How the answer is worked
Nothing here is a second formula. The Floor & Wall Tile Calculator runs forwards — a size in, a quantity out — and this page grows its own starting floor in proportion until the quantity it asks for is what you have. Where it rounds up to whole containers, the answer is the largest size before the next one would be needed.
Where the calculator adds an allowance for cuts or breakage when you order, the same allowance comes off here, because it is the same calculator: a stack you already own finishes less than its face value. Where it adds none, neither does this page — the settings beside the answer say which.
Floor & Wall Tile Calculator
runs it forwardsCount tiles and boxes for a floor or wall, with the waste factor the lay pattern actually needs.
Work out what to buy insteadSolve backwards
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Solve backwards
Start from what is already in the yard
Paint, sheets, rolls, bags and pieces, each read the other way by the calculator that orders it.
The calculator's own figures
Nothing is estimated twice: the page runs the same calculator you would order with.
The largest size that fits
Where a calculator rounds up to whole containers, the answer stops before the next one.
Both unit systems
Gallons and litres, square feet and square metres, side by side.
Frequently asked questions
- How much floor does 50 tiles of floor tile cover?
- At the Floor & Wall Tile Calculator's own settings, 182 sq ft (16.9 m²) — a floor about 13.5 × 13.5 ft. That is about 1 floor of the size the calculator opens on: a floor about 11.4 × 11.4 ft. Every figure follows the settings, which you can change in the calculator.
- How many square feet does a box of 24 by 24 tiles cover?
- Each 24 by 24 inch tile is 4 square feet (0.37 m²), so a box of six covers 24 square feet before cuts. With ten per cent for a straight lay's cutting waste, plan on about 22 square feet (2 m²) of finished floor per box.
- How much extra tile should I buy?
- About 5 to 10 per cent for a straight lay and 15 to 20 per cent for a diagonal or herringbone pattern, which is what the TCNA Handbook and BS 5385 recommend. Rooms with many corners and doorways need the top of each range, and a few spares from the same batch are worth keeping.
- Why do my tiles not cover the area on the box?
- Because the box states the tiles' face area, and the floor loses a cut tile at every edge, doorway and obstacle — on a diagonal lay, at every edge of the room. Joints add a little area back, but not enough to make up the offcuts.