- 1). Measure the room or area that you plan to tile. Measure the length and width in inches and multiply these figures to get the square inches of area you need in tile. For example, if your room is 120 inches by 144 inches, your square-inch measurement is 120 times 144, or 17,280.
- 2). Select the tile that you prefer based on color, material, style and textural preferences. Keep in mind that some tiles, such as stone or hand-made tiles, will be more irregular than some factory-made tiles. The larger the irregularity from tile to tile, the larger your grout line will need to be. Determine what sizes are available in the tile you've chosen.
- 3). Read the manufacturer's information about the tile variance. Multiply the average variance by three to get the minimum grout size that is recommended for this tile. For example, if the tile has a variance of .10 inch, the minimum grout measurement that will work with the tile is .3 inch. If the tile is too varied for your grout line, you will need to either increase the grout line you've chosen or you will need to choose a different tile.
- 4). Account for the width of your grout line in each direction. For example, an 8-inch tile with a 1/8-inch grout line means that the true dimensions of the tile is 8.125 by 8.125. The area of the tile is then 67.03 inches.
- 5). Calculate the number of tiles you need to purchase based on the square inches of the tile. For our example of an 8-inch tile adjusted for the grout line, you would divide your measurement from Step 1 by this measurement to get the number of tiles you need. In our example, 17,280 divided by 67.03 is 257.8 tiles, which you would round to 258. Add 10 percent to this total to account for breakage or tiles that need to be cut to fit in the final rows. In this example, the total number of tiles is 258 plus 26, or 284 tiles.
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