{"success":true,"version":"v1","request":{"tool":"get_calculator_schema","calculator_id":"tile"},"result":{"entity_type":"calculator","id":"tile","calculator_id":"tile","canonical_url":"https://tttkmbb.com/construction/tile","name":"Tile Calculator","title":"Tile Calculator – Number of Tiles and Boxes from Area, Tile Size, Grout Gap and Waste","category":"construction","category_name":"Construction & Home","tool_name":"estimate_tiles_needed","featured_mcp_tool":false,"description":"Counts the tiles needed for a floor or wall area from the tile dimensions plus the grout joint width, adds a cutting-waste allowance and converts to boxes when the tiles per box are known.","use_when":"You need to order ceramic, porcelain or stone tiles for a known area and tile size, including grout joints and waste.","do_not_use_when":"You are laying planks or sheet goods sold by area (use flooring), or need the area itself from room dimensions (use rectangle first).","inputs":[{"name":"unit_system","label":"Unit system","type":"enum","required":false,"default":"metric","values":[{"value":"metric","label":"Metric (m, cm, mm, m²)","aliases":["si","metres","meters"]},{"value":"imperial","label":"Imperial / US customary (ft, in, ft²)","aliases":["us","feet","inches"]}],"description":"Unit system of the length inputs (metric: m / cm / mm; imperial: ft / in). Outputs are reported in both systems.","example":"metric"},{"name":"area","label":"Area to tile","type":"number","unit":"m² or ft²","required":true,"max":100000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Floor or wall area to cover, in m² (metric) or ft² (imperial).","example":20},{"name":"tile_length","label":"Tile length","type":"number","unit":"mm or in","required":true,"max":5000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Tile length in millimetres (metric) or inches (imperial).","example":300},{"name":"tile_width","label":"Tile width","type":"number","unit":"mm or in","required":true,"max":5000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Tile width in millimetres or inches.","example":300},{"name":"grout_gap_mm","label":"Grout joint width","type":"number","unit":"mm","required":false,"default":3,"min":0,"max":30,"description":"Grout joint width in millimetres for both unit systems (3 mm ≈ 1/8 in; 1.6 mm = 1/16 in is the ANSI minimum).","example":3},{"name":"waste_percent","label":"Waste allowance","type":"number","unit":"%","required":false,"default":10,"min":0,"max":50,"description":"Extra material for cuts, breakage and offcuts, applied as a multiplier (1 + waste_percent/100). 10 % for straight layouts, 15 % for diagonal patterns or rooms with many cuts.","example":10},{"name":"tiles_per_box","label":"Tiles per box","type":"integer","required":false,"min":1,"max":1000,"description":"Number of tiles in one box; optional, enables the box count.","example":10}],"outputs":[{"name":"area_m2","label":"Area","type":"number","unit":"m²","decimals":2,"description":"Area to tile in square metres."},{"name":"area_ft2","label":"Area","type":"number","unit":"ft²","decimals":2,"description":"Area to tile in square feet."},{"name":"tile_footprint_cm2","label":"Tile footprint incl. grout","type":"number","unit":"cm²","decimals":2,"description":"(tile_length + gap) × (tile_width + gap)."},{"name":"tile_footprint_in2","label":"Tile footprint incl. grout","type":"number","unit":"in²","decimals":2,"description":"Same footprint in square inches."},{"name":"tiles_needed_no_waste","label":"Tiles (no waste)","type":"integer","decimals":4,"description":"ceil(area / tile_footprint)."},{"name":"tiles_needed","label":"Tiles to order","type":"integer","decimals":4,"description":"ceil(area / tile_footprint × (1 + waste_percent/100))."},{"name":"boxes_needed","label":"Boxes to order","type":"integer","decimals":4,"description":"ceil(tiles_needed / tiles_per_box); only when tiles_per_box is given."}],"input_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"unit_system":{"description":"Unit system of the length inputs (metric: m / cm / mm; imperial: ft / in). Outputs are reported in both systems.","type":"string","enum":["metric","imperial"],"default":"metric","examples":["metric"]},"area":{"description":"Floor or wall area to cover, in m² (metric) or ft² (imperial). Unit: m² or ft².","type":"number","maximum":100000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[20],"x-unit":"m² or ft²"},"tile_length":{"description":"Tile length in millimetres (metric) or inches (imperial). Unit: mm or in.","type":"number","maximum":5000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[300],"x-unit":"mm or in"},"tile_width":{"description":"Tile width in millimetres or inches. Unit: mm or in.","type":"number","maximum":5000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[300],"x-unit":"mm or in"},"grout_gap_mm":{"description":"Grout joint width in millimetres for both unit systems (3 mm ≈ 1/8 in; 1.6 mm = 1/16 in is the ANSI minimum). Unit: mm.","type":"number","minimum":0,"maximum":30,"default":3,"examples":[3],"x-unit":"mm"},"waste_percent":{"description":"Extra material for cuts, breakage and offcuts, applied as a multiplier (1 + waste_percent/100). 10 % for straight layouts, 15 % for diagonal patterns or rooms with many cuts. Unit: %.","type":"number","minimum":0,"maximum":50,"default":10,"examples":[10],"x-unit":"%"},"tiles_per_box":{"description":"Number of tiles in one box; optional, enables the box count.","type":"integer","minimum":1,"maximum":1000,"examples":[10]}},"additionalProperties":false,"required":["area","tile_length","tile_width"]},"output_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"area_m2":{"description":"Area to tile in square metres. Unit: m².","type":"number","x-unit":"m²"},"area_ft2":{"description":"Area to tile in square feet. Unit: ft².","type":"number","x-unit":"ft²"},"tile_footprint_cm2":{"description":"(tile_length + gap) × (tile_width + gap). Unit: cm².","type":"number","x-unit":"cm²"},"tile_footprint_in2":{"description":"Same footprint in square inches. Unit: in².","type":"number","x-unit":"in²"},"tiles_needed_no_waste":{"description":"ceil(area / tile_footprint).","type":"integer"},"tiles_needed":{"description":"ceil(area / tile_footprint × (1 + waste_percent/100)).","type":"integer"},"boxes_needed":{"description":"ceil(tiles_needed / tiles_per_box); only when tiles_per_box is given.","type":"integer"}}},"formula":"footprint = (tile_length + grout_gap) × (tile_width + grout_gap); tiles_no_waste = ceil(area / footprint); tiles = ceil(area / footprint × (1 + waste_percent/100)); boxes = ceil(tiles / tiles_per_box).","sources":[{"name":"Custom Building Products – Technical Bulletin TB85: Grout joint width (ANSI A108.02 minimum 1/16 in)","url":"https://www.custombuildingproducts.com/media/60712312/tb85-grout-joint-width.pdf","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-23"},{"name":"Ceramic Tile Education Foundation – Tile industry standards for grout joints","url":"https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/blog/want-credit-card-grout-joints-check-tile-industry-standards","type":"reference","retrieved_at":"2026-09-23"}],"freshness":{"type":"static","max_age_seconds":null,"note":"Deterministic formula with fixed constants; results never go stale. Inputs supplied by the caller determine the output."},"examples":[{"name":"20 m², 300 × 300 mm tiles, 3 mm joints, 10 % waste, 10 per box","inputs":{"unit_system":"metric","area":20,"tile_length":300,"tile_width":300,"grout_gap_mm":3,"waste_percent":10,"tiles_per_box":10},"expected":{"area_m2":20,"tile_footprint_cm2":918.09,"tile_footprint_in2":142.3,"tiles_needed_no_waste":218,"tiles_needed":240,"boxes_needed":24},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/tile?unit_system=metric&area=20&tile_length=300&tile_width=300&grout_gap_mm=3&waste_percent=10&tiles_per_box=10"},{"name":"120 ft², 12 × 24 in tiles, 3 mm joints, 10 % waste, 8 per box","inputs":{"unit_system":"imperial","area":120,"tile_length":12,"tile_width":24,"grout_gap_mm":3,"waste_percent":10,"tiles_per_box":8},"expected":{"area_m2":11.15,"tile_footprint_in2":292.27,"tiles_needed_no_waste":60,"tiles_needed":66,"boxes_needed":9},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/tile?unit_system=imperial&area=120&tile_length=12&tile_width=24&grout_gap_mm=3&waste_percent=10&tiles_per_box=8"}],"faq":[{"q":"Why add the grout joint to the tile size?","a":"Each tile occupies its own face plus one joint along each edge, so the effective footprint is (length + gap) × (width + gap); ignoring the joint over-orders by a few percent on small tiles."},{"q":"How wide should the grout joint be?","a":"ANSI A108.02 requires at least 1/16 in (1.6 mm); 1/8 in (3 mm) is typical for rectified tiles and 3/16 in (5 mm) for calibrated (non-rectified) tiles."}],"tags":["tile calculator","how many tiles","grout joint","tiles per square metre","boxes of tiles"],"related":[{"calculator_id":"flooring","reason":"Sheet or plank flooring sold by area."},{"calculator_id":"rectangle","reason":"Get the area from length and width."}],"links":{"html":"https://tttkmbb.com/construction/tile","markdown":"https://tttkmbb.com/construction/tile.md","json":"https://tttkmbb.com/construction/tile.json","api":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/tile","schema":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/tile","openapi":"https://tttkmbb.com/openapi.json","mcp":"https://tttkmbb.com/mcp"},"version":"v1","updated_at":"2026-09-23"},"timestamp":"2026-09-23T23:24:09Z","next_actions":[{"tool":"run_calculator","calculator_id":"tile","reason":"Run Tile Calculator with the inputs above."}],"links":{"markdown":"https://tttkmbb.com/construction/tile.md"}}