Tile project planner
List the floors and walls you are tiling, take off the tub, vanity, doors and windows, and pick your tiles. You get one job sheet with every material to buy, in whole boxes and bags.
Shopping list
layit.com tile project planner · Bathroom floor and tub surround
Tile
- Floor tile, 12 × 24 in, 1/3 offset (brick)15 tiles for 27.5 sq ft (2.55 m²) including 10% waste, 8 per box, 1 spare.2 boxes
- Wall tile, 3 × 6 in, 1/3 offset (brick)512 tiles for 60.0 sq ft (5.57 m²) including 10% waste, 80 per box, 48 spare.7 boxes
Thinset and grout
- Thinset mortar for the floor (50 lb bags)1/2 × 1/2 in square notch (12 × 12 mm). Published coverage 42–47 sq ft per 50 lb bag, so 1 bag either way, plus 15% for back-buttering large tile.1 bag
- Thinset mortar for the walls (50 lb bags)1/4 × 1/4 in square notch (6 × 6 mm). Published coverage 75–100 sq ft per 50 lb bag, so 1 bag either way.1 bag
- Sanded grout for the floor (25 lb bags)1.7 lb for 1/8 in (3.2 mm) joints 3/8 in (9.5 mm) deep, including 10% mixing loss (1.4 lb to 1.8 lb across grout densities).1 bag
- Unsanded grout for the walls (25 lb bags)6.0 lb for 1/16 in (1.6 mm) joints 5/16 in (7.9 mm) deep, including 10% mixing loss (5.0 lb to 6.4 lb across grout densities).1 bag
Backer board and waterproofing
- Cement backer board for the floor, 3 × 5 ft27.5 sq ft (2.55 m²) plus 10% for cuts. Over a wood subfloor; an uncoupling membrane is the usual alternative.3 sheets
- Cement backer board for the wet walls, 3 × 5 ft60.0 sq ft (5.57 m²) plus 10% for cuts. Standard drywall is not allowed behind tile in a shower.5 sheets
- Backer board screws and alkali-resistant mesh tapeScrews every 8 in (200 mm) each way; tape and thinset every seam.about 450
- Liquid waterproofing membrane, two coats60.0 sq ft (5.57 m²) of wet surface at 55 sq ft (5.1 m²) per gallon: 1.09 gal (4.1 L). Sold in 1 gal and 3.5 gal pails. Add fabric for corners and changes of plane.2 gallons
Trim, spacers and levelling
- Edge trim profile, 2.5 m (8 ft 2 1/2 in) lengths22 ft (6.71 m) of exposed edge plus 10% for mitres. Match the profile height to the tile thickness.3 lengths
- Doorway transition stripMeasure the doorway: strips come in set lengths and are cut down to fit.1 piece
- Tile spacersAbout two per tile. Match the spacer to each joint width; floor and wall joints may differ.about 1,100
- Tile levelling clips and wedgesFor tiles with an edge of 15 in (380 mm) or more: about three per tile; the clips are single-use.about 50
Surfaces
| Surface | Type | Size | Taken off | Net area | Tiles before waste |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floor | Floor | 8 ft × 5 ft | Tub or shower tray 5 ft × 2 ft 6 in | 27.5 sq ft | 13.5 |
| Back wall | Wall, wet | 5 ft × 6 ft | — | 30.0 sq ft | 232.7 |
| Left end wall | Wall, wet | 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft | — | 15.0 sq ft | 116.3 |
| Right end wall | Wall, wet | 2 ft 6 in × 6 ft | — | 15.0 sq ft | 116.3 |
Tools checklist
- Notched trowel: 1/2 × 1/2 in square notch (12 × 12 mm); 1/4 × 1/4 in square notch (6 × 6 mm)
- Margin trowel, two buckets, mixing paddle and a low-speed drill
- Wet saw or a rail cutter long enough for the tile, plus a diamond hole saw for pipes
- 4 ft (1.2 m) level, straightedge, tape measure, square, pencil and a chalk line or laser
- Rubber grout float, two sponges, microfibre cloths
- Carbide scoring knife for backer board, screw gun, mesh tape
- Roller and brush for the liquid membrane, and a wet-film gauge
- 100% silicone (colour-matched) for inside corners, the tub line and changes of plane
- Knee pads, safety glasses, gloves, and an N95 mask for cutting and mixing
What these numbers assume
- Coverage rates vary by product. Check the bag, pail or carton you buy and use its own chart where it differs from these figures.
- Thinset is planned from the low end of published coverage (CUSTOM VersaBond and MAPEI Ultraflex 2 charts). Trowel choice follows tile size; your installer or the tile maker may call for a different notch.
- Grout uses the joint-volume formula at 1.8 kg/L, with the range at 1.5 to 1.9 kg/L shown; joints are taken as deep as the tile is thick.
- Waterproofing is for the surfaces marked wet only, at RedGard's published 55 sq ft per gallon as a two-coat membrane.
- Tile waste is a rule of thumb per pattern: 10% straight or offset, 15% diagonal, 20% herringbone. Small or busy rooms use more.
- Buy all the tile at once, from the same production lot, and keep a few spares for repairs.
How to measure a tile job
Treat every flat area you are tiling as its own rectangle. A floor is length by width. A wall is its width by the height you will tile, which is not always the ceiling: a tub surround usually stops about 6 ft (1.8 m) above the tub rim, and a backsplash fills the gap between counter and cabinets, often 18 in (450 mm). Split an L-shaped floor into two rectangles, or work out its area with the square footage calculator first.
Then take off what you will not tile: a built-in tub or shower tray, a fitted vanity, a window or a door. Leave outlets, switches, toilet flanges and pipes in; the tile around them is still bought and cut. Mark walls inside a shower or over a tub as wet, so they get backer board and waterproofing.
A worked example
The job sheet above starts from a common bathroom: a 5 × 8 ft floor with a 60 × 30 in tub along one end, and a tiled tub surround 6 ft high on the back wall and both end walls.
- Floor: 40 sq ft, less 12.5 sq ft of tub, leaves 27.5 sq ft. A 12 × 24 in tile with a 1/8 in joint covers 12.125 × 24.125 in, or 2.03 sq ft, so the floor takes 13.5 tiles; with 10% waste for a 1/3 offset that is 15 tiles, or 2 boxes of 8.
- Walls: 30 + 15 + 15 = 60 sq ft. A 3 × 6 in subway tile with a 1/16 in joint covers 18.57 sq in, so the walls take 465.4 tiles, 512 with waste: 7 boxes of 80.
- Thinset: the 24 in floor tile calls for a 1/2 × 1/2 in notch (42 to 47 sq ft per bag) and back-buttering, so 27.5 × 1.15 = 31.6 sq ft, one bag. The walls use a 1/4 × 1/4 in notch (75 to 100 sq ft per bag): 60 sq ft is one bag.
- Grout: the joint-volume formula gives about 1.7 lb of sanded grout for the floor and 6.0 lb of unsanded for the walls, each including 10% for mixing loss. One bag of each.
- Backer board and waterproofing: 3 sheets of 3 × 5 ft board for the floor over wood and 5 for the wet walls, each with 10% for cuts; the 60 sq ft of wet wall takes 1.09 gallons of liquid membrane at 55 sq ft per gallon, so two 1-gallon pails or one 3.5-gallon pail.
Laying patterns and waste
The pattern changes how much tile ends up in the offcut bin. These are the allowances tile retailers and installers usually quote; small rooms and rooms with many corners use more.
-
Straight (grid)
10% waste (quoted range 5–10%)
Joints line up both ways; cuts only at the edges.
-
1/3 offset (brick)
10% waste (quoted range 10%)
Offcuts from row ends often start the next row.
-
Diagonal (45°)
15% waste (quoted range 15%)
Every edge piece is a triangle.
-
Herringbone
20% waste (quoted range 15–25%)
Angled cuts along every edge.
Coverage rates and where they come from
Tile and grout quantities are geometry. Mortar, membrane and board quantities are coverage rates published by the people who make them, and they differ between products, so the planner uses the cautious end and shows the range.
| Trowel notch | Usually for | Sq ft per 50 lb bag |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 × 1/4 in square notch (6 × 6 mm) | tiles up to about 8 in (200 mm) | 75–100 |
| 1/4 × 3/8 in square notch (6 × 10 mm) | tiles from about 8 to 15 in (200 to 380 mm) | 55–67 |
| 1/2 × 1/2 in square notch (12 × 12 mm) | tiles with an edge of 15 in (380 mm) or more | 42–47 |
- Thinset: ranges from CUSTOM Building Products’ VersaBond Professional data sheet and MAPEI’s Ultraflex 2 data sheet. Large tile (an edge of 15 in or more) is back-buttered; the planner adds 15% for that, which is a working allowance rather than a published rate.
- Grout: the same joint-volume formula as the grout calculator, plus 10% for mixing and clean-up as LATICRETE’s coverage chart advises.
- Liquid waterproofing: 55 sq ft (5.1 m²) per gallon for two coats, from CUSTOM’s RedGard data sheet (TDS-104). Other membranes differ; LATICRETE Hydro Ban and MAPEI AquaDefense publish their own rates.
- Sheet waterproofing: 54 sq ft (5 m²) rolls, a common Schluter KERDI size, plus 10% for overlaps.
- Backer board: 3 × 5 ft sheets (1200 × 800 mm in metric), plus 10% for cuts; screws every 8 in (200 mm).
- Trim: profiles such as Schluter’s are sold in 2.5 m (8 ft 2 1/2 in) lengths; 10% is added for mitres.
Sources: CUSTOM Building Products, VersaBond Professional TDS-119 (thinset coverage by trowel); MAPEI, Ultraflex 2 technical data sheet (thinset coverage by trowel); CUSTOM Building Products, RedGard TDS-104 (55 sq ft per gallon as a waterproof membrane); LATICRETE grout coverage chart (add 10% for waste and clean-up); Schluter-Systems, KERDI roll sizes and profile lengths.
Where this stops being reliable
- Out-of-square rooms and sloped ceilings. The planner works in rectangles. Measure the longest dimension of an out-of-square wall, or split a sloped wall into a rectangle and a triangle.
- Showers built from scratch. A mortar-bed shower floor, a curb, a niche and a bench each add material the planner does not count: dry-pack mortar, a pan liner or pre-sloped tray, niche inserts.
- Mosaic sheets. Enter the sheet size as the tile with a zero joint and the count is sheets. Mosaics usually go down with a smaller notch than the planner picks, so the thinset estimate runs high.
- Natural stone and handmade tile. They break more and vary more; add 5% to the waste. Stone often needs white or specific mortar and unsanded grout.
- Heated floors and self-levelling underlayment. Not included; both change the mortar quantity.
- Codes and product instructions win. Where a tile or membrane maker, or your local code, says something different, follow them.
For a single surface, the floor tile calculator and wall tile calculator compare all four patterns side by side, and the tile layout calculator shows where to start so you do not end with a sliver at a wall.
Common questions
How much thinset do I need for a bathroom?
It depends on the trowel, and the trowel depends on the tile. Mortar makers publish roughly 75 to 100 sq ft per 50 lb bag with a 1/4 × 1/4 in notch (small wall tile), 55 to 67 with 1/4 × 3/8 in, and 42 to 47 with 1/2 × 1/2 in (large floor tile). For a 5 × 8 ft bathroom with 12 × 24 floor tile and a subway-tile tub surround that is one bag for the floor and one for the walls. Use the chart on the bag you buy.
Do I need backer board and waterproofing on every wall?
Walls in a shower or tub splash zone need a tile backer (cement or fibre-cement board, or a foam board system) and a waterproofing membrane; standard drywall is not allowed behind tile there. A kitchen backsplash on sound, dry drywall usually needs neither. Floors over a wood subfloor need backer board or an uncoupling membrane; a sound concrete slab usually does not.
How many boxes of tile should I buy?
Divide the net area, with openings taken off, by the area one tile covers including its grout joint, add the waste for your pattern, and round up to whole boxes. Buy every box at once so the tile comes from one production lot; shade can differ between lots.
Should I subtract the tub and vanity from the floor?
Subtract what you will not tile under: a built-in tub, a fitted vanity or cabinet. Do not subtract a toilet or a pedestal sink; tile runs under them. On walls, subtract windows and doors but not outlets or switches.
Sanded or unsanded grout?
Sanded grout for joints of 1/8 in (3 mm) and wider, unsanded for narrower joints. Polished stone and glass can be scratched by sanded grout; follow the tile maker’s advice for those. The planner picks sanded or unsanded per tile from the joint width you enter.
Can I share or save the plan?
Yes. The whole plan is kept in the page address after the # sign. Copy the share link and open it on another device, or send it to whoever is buying the materials. Nothing is stored on a server, and nothing is saved in your browser.
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