Tile Calculator
Number of tiles and boxes for a floor or wall, with skirting and wastage.
Free tool by EngineeringNepal.com.np · Results are for guidance; check critical figures with a qualified engineer.
How many tiles do I need?
Multiply the room length by width to get the floor area, divide by the area of one tile, and add wastage for cutting at the edges. The calculator does this, rounds up to full boxes, and can include skirting along the walls. Tile shops in Nepal usually price floor tiles per sq ft or per box, so both are shown.
How to use
- Enter the room length and width. For a wall, use the wall length and height.
- Choose the tile size. For 600 × 600 mm tiles, a box normally has 4 tiles (about 15.5 sq ft); check the box label for your brand.
- Keep 5 to 10% wastage. Use more for diagonal laying or rooms with many corners.
Coverage of common tile sizes
| Tile size | Area per tile | Tiles per 100 sq ft (no wastage) |
|---|---|---|
| 300 × 300 mm (1×1 ft) | 0.97 sq ft | 104 |
| 600 × 600 mm (2×2 ft) | 3.88 sq ft | 26 |
| 800 × 800 mm | 6.89 sq ft | 15 |
| 600 × 1200 mm | 7.75 sq ft | 13 |
Frequently asked questions
Should I buy extra tiles?
Yes. Keep a few spare tiles from the same batch. Later batches often have a slightly different shade, which makes repairs obvious.
How the calculator works
The tool converts the room size to m², subtracts any area you enter in the deduct box, and adds skirting if you tick it. Skirting area is the room perimeter, less the door widths you enter, times the skirting height. It then divides the total by the area of one tile, adds your wastage percentage, and rounds up to whole tiles and whole boxes. The last line of the result shows how much area the boxes actually cover, which is always a little more than you need.
Worked examples (checked in the calculator above)
Example 1: bedroom floor, 14 × 12 ft, 600 × 600 mm tiles
- Floor area = 14 × 12 = 168 sq ft (15.61 m²).
- Skirting 100 mm high with one 3 ft door: (2 × (14 + 12) − 3) = 49 ft × 0.328 ft = 16.1 sq ft.
- Total 184.1 sq ft (17.10 m²). One 600 × 600 tile covers 3.88 sq ft, so with 8% wastage the tool gives 52 tiles, 13 boxes of 4. Without skirting it is 47 tiles, 12 boxes.
Skirting is usually cut from the same floor tiles, so ordering it with the floor keeps the colour and batch the same.
Example 2: living room, 20 × 16 ft, 800 × 800 mm tiles
Floor 320 sq ft plus 100 mm skirting with 6 ft of door openings gives 341.7 sq ft (31.74 m²). At 8% wastage that is 54 tiles. With 3 tiles per box (an example value; read your box label) you need 18 boxes. Large tiles waste more at the edges of small or odd-shaped rooms, so check the cut pieces on a sketch before you settle on 8%.
Example 3: bathroom walls and floor, 7 × 5 ft
- Walls tiled to 7 ft: enter length 24 ft (the perimeter, 2 × (7 + 5)) and height 7 ft, and deduct the 2.5 × 7 ft door (17.5 sq ft). Area 150.5 sq ft. With 300 × 450 mm wall tiles and 10% wastage: 114 tiles, 15 boxes at 8 per box (example value).
- Floor 7 × 5 = 35 sq ft with 300 × 300 mm anti-skid tiles and 10% wastage: 40 tiles.
Use 10% or more in bathrooms because of the cuts around the pan, floor trap and pipes.
Tiles per 100 sq ft at different wastage levels
| Tile size | Area per tile | 0% | 5% | 8% | 10% | 15% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 × 300 mm | 0.97 sq ft | 104 | 109 | 112 | 114 | 119 |
| 300 × 450 mm | 1.45 sq ft | 69 | 73 | 75 | 76 | 80 |
| 300 × 600 mm | 1.94 sq ft | 52 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 60 |
| 400 × 400 mm | 1.72 sq ft | 59 | 61 | 63 | 64 | 67 |
| 600 × 600 mm | 3.88 sq ft | 26 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 800 × 800 mm | 6.89 sq ft | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
| 600 × 1200 mm | 7.75 sq ft | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 |
Counts are rounded up to whole tiles. Use 5% for a plain rectangular room with straight laying, 8 to 10% for normal houses, and 15% for diagonal or herringbone laying.
Cost of tiling, laid and finished
The price box in the tool gives the cost of the tiles only. For the whole item (tiles, cement mortar bed and labour), use a rate per m². As one reference, the Suryabinayak Municipality rate analysis for 2081/82 lists porcelain glazed tile in 1:4 cement sand mortar at Rs 3,682.19 per m² including 15% contractor overhead. At that rate, example 1 (17.10 m²) comes to about Rs 62,965 and the bathroom walls in example 3 (13.98 m²) about Rs 51,477. Tile prices vary a lot by brand and grade, and rates change every year and between municipalities, so get local quotes for a real budget.
Common mistakes
- Buying by room instead of for the whole floor. Rounding up box by box for every room adds several extra boxes. Add up all rooms using the same tile first, then round once.
- Mixing batches. Tiles from different production lots can differ in shade and slightly in size. Buy everything with the same batch or shade code and keep a few spare tiles for repairs.
- Forgetting skirting, steps and the kitchen platform. These eat up tiles quickly and are often missed in the first order.
- Using the wall plaster area for wall tiles. Wall tiles in bathrooms and kitchens usually stop at 7 ft or at a dado line, not at the ceiling. Measure the tiled height only.
- Too little wastage for large tiles. With 800 × 800 or 600 × 1200 mm tiles, an edge cut often wastes most of a tile. Sketch the layout before ordering.
More questions
How many 2 × 2 tiles are needed for a 12 × 14 room?
The floor is 168 sq ft. One 600 × 600 mm tile is 3.88 sq ft, so 43.3 tiles without wastage, 47 with 8%, or 52 with 100 mm skirting included (example 1).
Is 1 box always 4 tiles for 600 × 600?
Often, but not always. The number per box changes with the brand and tile thickness, so type the number from your box label in the tiles per box field.
Does the tile area include grout joints?
The tool uses the nominal tile size and ignores joints. Joints of 2 to 3 mm make the real coverage slightly larger, which works in your favour.
Plastering before tiling? See the plaster quantity for a whole house guide, and the standard room, door and window sizes post for typical room dimensions in Nepal.
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