How many boxes of tiles should you buy after planning the layout?

Explanation

Count tiles to buy, not every cut piece

One tile may provide two cut pieces. It then counts only once in the purchase. But two pieces cannot always come from the same tile: their shape, size or pattern direction may prevent it.

Check what the result means: cut pieces, whole tiles or a quantity that already includes spares. “Source tiles” means the whole tiles used to make the pieces shown on the plan.

Combine matching products

If two rooms use exactly the same product, add their requirements before working out the boxes. Ask the supplier whether the batches, sizes and colours can be mixed.

Keep different products, skirting tiles, small decorative tiles and any left- or right-handed pieces separate. Each product needs its own order quantity.

Allow some spare tiles

A reserve covers breakage, adjustments or a later repair. Choose it to suit the job. If cuts are already included in the plan, do not automatically add another allowance for those same cuts. If the result already includes spares, do not add them again either.

The tile layout planner combines purchases before adding the reserve and rounding to boxes. Before drawing, the tile area calculator gives an initial estimate. The beginner’s guide explains the difference.

Concrete example

Two rooms each need 17 tiles of the same product: 34 tiles altogether. For this example, you choose 10% spares, which adds 3.4 tiles. Allow 38 whole tiles.

With 8 tiles per box: 38 ÷ 8 = 4.75, so buy 5 boxes, or 40 tiles.

Calculating boxes separately for each room would give 3 boxes per room: 6 boxes and 48 tiles. Combining the requirements avoids an extra box here. The 10% reserve is an example, not a rule for every job.