This tiling layout calculator plans how tiles fall across a floor or wall — straight, brick (offset), herringbone, or diagonal — and works out tile counts, the size of the cut tiles at the edges, and the best starting point so you avoid ugly thin slivers in the corners.
Layout, grout and cuts
Tiles rarely fit a room a whole number of times, so the question is where the part-tiles land. The calculator takes the area's dimensions, the tile size, and the grout joint, then computes how many full tiles fit and how wide the perimeter cuts will be. Crucially it lets you shift the starting line so you avoid a sliver of tile against a wall, balancing the cuts so both edges look intentional.
Pattern changes the maths. Brick (running bond) offsets each row, herringbone interlocks tiles at 45° or 90°, and diagonal layouts run at 45° to the walls — each affects tile count, waste, and the cuts at the edges differently. The grout joint, though small, adds up across many tiles and must be included or the layout creeps off.
Why the start point matters
Setting out from a centre line, or deliberately offsetting it, decides whether you finish with handsome half-tiles or unworkable 10 mm strips at the walls. Planning the layout first — and ordering 10–15% extra for cuts, breakages, and future repairs — is what separates a tidy tiled surface from a frustrating one.
A 3000 mm wall tiled with 300 mm tiles and 3 mm grout joints, straight layout.
- Each tile plus joint = 300 + 3 = 303 mm.
- Full tiles = 3000 ÷ 303 ≈ 9.9, so 9 full tiles span 2727 mm.
- Remaining 273 mm splits into two ~136 mm cut tiles, one at each end.
Nine full tiles with balanced ~136 mm cut tiles at each end — far better than one thin sliver.
