How to calculate floor tiles
The number of tiles for a room is the floor area divided by the area of one tile, plus an allowance for breakage and cutting waste. In formula form: tiles = (room area ÷ tile area) × (1 + breakage), rounded up. For a 12 × 10 ft room (120 sq ft, about 11.15 m²) laid with 600 × 600 mm tiles (0.36 m² each), you need roughly 31 tiles bare, or about 35 once a 10% breakage margin is added.
Why add a breakage allowance?
Tiles get cut at walls, corners and around fixtures, and some crack during handling and laying. Buying the exact mathematical count almost always leaves you short, and a later top-up may be a different dye-lot batch with a visible colour mismatch. A 10% allowance suits straightforward straight-lay floors; increase it to 12–15% for diagonal or herringbone patterns, large-format tiles, or small rooms where cuts dominate. Always keep a few spare tiles after the job for future repairs.
Buying by the box
Tiles are sold by the box, not individually, so the calculator rounds the tile count up to whole boxes. The number of tiles per box depends on the tile size — larger tiles mean fewer per box. Check the box label, since this varies by brand; the default here is four, common for 600 × 600 mm tiles. The box coverage figure shows the total area your purchased boxes will actually cover.
Common tile sizes in India
| Tile size | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 300 × 300 mm | Bathrooms, balconies, anti-skid floors |
| 600 × 600 mm | Living rooms, bedrooms, the most common floor tile |
| 800 × 800 mm | Large halls, premium floors |
| 600 × 1200 mm | Feature walls, large-format floors |