HOW MUCH EXTRA TILE SHOULD I BUY AND WHY?
Whether you’re calculating how much tile to budget for in your DIY project or you’re having your tile professionally installed, it takes a simple calculation to determine how much tile you need to complete the job. First, you’ll need a large measuring tape and something to jot your measurements down on.
Begin by measuring one length of the room, and then the width of the room. Remember to calculate any alcoves or adjoining closet space. If you’re tiling a wall, then measure the length of the wall and the height of the wall as well. Multiply the length of the room by the width of the room to obtain the square footage, adding in the square footage of alcoves or closet space. When doing calculations for wall tiling, the length of the wall is multiplied by the height of the wall, and the total is multiplied by the number of walls to be tiled.
The overage needs to be calculated by multiplying the square footage by 15%, and then adding this to square footage to obtain the total required. It is not only necessary to buy overage to account for cuts, breaks, and waste, but it is also necessary in the event your tile selection goes out of stock. If you have to replace tile down the line and do not have spares, it would be far more expensive to replace the entire floor at that junction. Also, add 20% to the total square footage if the tile is being laid in a diagonal or diamond pattern.
After you have completed your surface calculations, take the total square footage and divide it by the square footage each box of tile covers to determine how many boxes of tile you need. It is a good rule of thumb to purchase one extra box of tile to cover your overage. If your tile is being professionally installed, your installer will do these calculations to complete the job.
The specialists at Carr Stone and Tile can assist you with every aspect of your tiling job. Your tile specialist will give you the best advice for maintaining your tile too. Call us at (504) 835-8453 or contact us at sales@carrstone.com for more information.
