Coverage is the carton, waste is the pattern
Measure finished length and width of the tiled field. Package coverage is printed on the selected carton — 12 ft² is only a planning default. Diagonal layouts, herringbone and large-format cuts eat more than a straight stack. Keep waste as its own percentage.
Always round up to a whole carton. A leftover box is cheaper than a dye-lot mismatch six weeks later.
Grout and thinset are not tile
Joint width, joint depth and bag yield live on the grout calculator. Thinset bags follow the mortar label. Do not hide either inside the tile carton count. Metric rooms in the GCC should switch units rather than converting a square-foot carton in your head.
Do it in order
- Enter finished floor length and width, not the room including cabinets you will not tile.
- Type the coverage printed on the selected carton and a waste factor that matches the pattern.
- Round up to whole packages, then open grout and thinset as extras.
Worked example — 12 ft × 10 ft field, 12 ft² carton, 10% waste
Net area is 120 ft². With 10% waste that is 132 ft², which purchases as 11 cartons at 12 ft² each. A 15% herringbone waste is a different ticket — change the percentage, do not multiply 11 by eye.
Planning boundary
This is a carton count. It does not set a layout, a lippage spec, a waterproofing system or a live tile price.
Do I include the shower walls?
No. Walls are a separate field with a different waste factor.
Is 10% waste enough for a diagonal?
Usually not. Raise the waste input. Do not hide it inside length.
Does this count grout bags?
No. Open the grout calculator with tile size and joint width.