Wall & backsplash tile calculator.
Measure the wall or backsplash band. Keep the opening in context.
A window can interrupt all, some or none of a tiled wall or kitchen backsplash band. Set the band’s height above the floor, measured at the countertop for a backsplash, then locate the opening against that same reference. The planner clips the wall tiles, adds the selected window returns and lists the finishing trim runs left around the exposed boundaries.
0302 / Pieces to order
- Source tile blanks
- 16
- Additional reserve
- 0
- Carton surplus
- 4
- Opening area removed
- 0.0 sq ft
- Return area added
- 0.0 sq ft
- Combined tiled area
- 16.0 sq ft
- Finishing run length
- 0.0 linear ft
- Finishing pieces
- 0
- Your tile cost
- Enter your price
The tile order includes the chosen returns. Finishing pieces have their own count and are not included in the tile-carton price.
0203 / Wall elevation
Select a source tile to inspect its cuts and elevations.
Faces within the tiled field
| Face | Net area | Source tiles | Cut tiles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16.0 sq ft | 16 | 0 |
Selected face: individual pieces
Wall elevations refer to the floor datum. Return faces use their own local coordinates. Multiple polygons around a notch can share one source tile; selecting that tile reveals every fragment.
| Piece | Width | Height | Bottom / top above floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| wall-T001 | 12″ | 12″ | 36″ / 48″ |
| wall-T002 | 12″ | 12″ | 36″ / 48″ |
| wall-T003 | 12″ | 12″ | 36″ / 48″ |
| wall-T004 | 12″ | 12″ | 36″ / 48″ |
| wall-T005 | 12″ | 12″ | 24″ / 36″ |
| wall-T006 | 12″ | 12″ | 24″ / 36″ |
| wall-T007 | 12″ | 12″ | 24″ / 36″ |
| wall-T008 | 12″ | 12″ | 24″ / 36″ |
| wall-T009 | 12″ | 12″ | 12″ / 24″ |
| wall-T010 | 12″ | 12″ | 12″ / 24″ |
| wall-T011 | 12″ | 12″ | 12″ / 24″ |
| wall-T012 | 12″ | 12″ | 12″ / 24″ |
| wall-T013 | 12″ | 12″ | 0″ / 12″ |
| wall-T014 | 12″ | 12″ | 0″ / 12″ |
| wall-T015 | 12″ | 12″ | 0″ / 12″ |
| wall-T016 | 12″ | 12″ | 0″ / 12″ |
Uninterrupted finishing runs
An opening at the edge can split one long finish into two runs. The endpoints below are measured from the wall’s left edge and floor datum; each run is rounded separately into your supplied piece length.
| Boundary | Endpoints (left, elevation) | Run length | Pieces | Last cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Select a finishing boundary to calculate its uninterrupted runs. | ||||
The window and the tile band share a datum
A window is positioned in the wall; a tiled band is positioned there too. Measuring both from the floor lets their overlap be calculated directly. A window above the tile contributes no deduction. A window crossing the band’s lower edge removes only the intersecting rectangle, rather than its full architectural area.
A complete field around a window
The sample 48 × 48-inch wall takes sixteen 12-inch square tiles at zero joint width. Enable the 12 × 24-inch opening, positioned twelve inches from the left and twelve inches above the floor. Its edges match the grid, so it removes two complete blanks. The wall field now uses fourteen tiles over fourteen square feet.
Tile all four returns at four inches deep. Each 24-inch jamb needs two strips, and the head and sill each need one: six additional source blanks. The combined count becomes twenty, with sixteen square feet of exposed tiled area. A window has no tiled back face in this model; it is not a shower niche.
Raise the bottom of the tile
Keep that opening, set the tiled base to 24 inches and the tiled height to 24 inches. The wall field has eight tile positions, but the upper half of the window removes one. Its two visible jamb portions and head each need one return blank; the sill is below the field. The total is ten source tiles across four faces. This is why the opening’s full dimensions should not be blindly deducted from every wall band.
Follow the finishing boundary
For that raised-band case, selecting all four outer edges plus the opening boundary creates fourteen feet of finishing runs: eleven feet around the remaining outer boundary and three feet at the opening. Twelve-inch finishing pieces with zero joints need fourteen pieces. The cut-out along the band’s bottom is a break, not another exposed edge to count twice.
The supplied finishing length is a user input. This page does not assume that every metal profile, bullnose or liner is sold in the same stock length. It also does not turn two separate short runs into one reusable offcut; that requires a cutting and corner detail beyond this count.
Use the piece identity when a line crosses a tile
Move the opening away from grid lines and fewer whole blanks may disappear. The remaining portions share an identifier, preserving the connection to one source tile. The listed width and height bound those portions; they do not describe the shape of a notch. Read the fragment vertices and check whether the cut can be made and installed with the selected material.
Kitchen backsplash calculator: counter-to-cabinet bands, window sills and range-hood zones
A kitchen backsplash is a raised wall band starting at the countertop datum and rising to the underside of the wall cabinets; measure both in your own kitchen. For an arithmetic example, enter a 120 × 96-inch wall, a 36-inch tiled base and an 18-inch tiled height. Use 6 × 3-inch subway tiles, a corner start, zero joints and no returns or reserve. This fifteen-square-foot backsplash strip takes 120 source tiles.
Enable a 36-inch-square kitchen sink window, 42 inches from the left and 48 inches above the floor. Only the bottom six inches of that window intersect the example band, which runs from 36 to 54 inches above the floor: twelve whole tiles disappear, leaving 108, while enabling the sill and left/right jamb returns adds the exact return strips inside the 6-inch overlap. Deducting the entire 9-square-foot window would falsely under-order tile. When a range hood or open shelving extends tile to the ceiling, run the under-cabinet backsplash band first, then run the upper chimney rectangle as a second zone and pair the total square footage with our grout joint calculator.
Choose spacing from the tile instructions
A zero joint helps make the examples easy to verify; it is not an installation recommendation. Daltile’s joint guidance and CTEF’s offset discussion explain why the product and surface conditions matter. A half-offset drawing here does not certify that pattern for a large-format tile.
The shower calculator adds a niche back, bench, curb and separate floor product. The general tile planner provides additional geometric patterns for an uninterrupted rectangle.
Wall measurement questions
How do I calculate how much tile a wall needs?
Define the tiled field first: its width, height and distance above the floor. Remove the part of the opening that intersects that field, add any selected return faces, and count the source tiles that remain in the layout. Apply reserve and carton rounding to that combined count.
Can I subtract a window area from the tile count?
Subtracting area is useful bookkeeping but does not identify how many whole blanks disappear. A window on grid lines can remove complete tiles; a small opening inside a blank can leave a notched tile that still needs to be bought. The drawing and source identifiers show that distinction.
What does the 3/4/5 rule tell me about a tiled wall?
It constructs a right angle from lengths in the ratio 3:4:5. That checks squareness in the measured plane. It does not establish wall flatness or plumb, and this rectangular model does not compensate for either condition.
How many 12x12 tiles cover 100 square feet?
The area quotient is 100 for exact 12-inch squares. A 10-by-10-foot rectangle fits a ten-by-ten zero-joint grid in this model. Openings, joints, field dimensions, reserve and carton size can change the purchase count, so keep the area quotient separate from the order.
Does the square-foot total include the window returns?
Only the returns you select and only the portions inside the tiled-height range. The wall field loses the visible opening rectangle. Left and right returns use its intersecting height; the head or sill is included when that actual edge lies within the field.
Why can the same square footage need more tiles?
An opening can leave narrow strips or notched blanks. Those pieces consume stock even when much of the original tile is discarded. This model does not move offcuts between the wall and the returns, so the source count is conservative about reuse.
Can I use the wall cutting list on a phone?
Tap a shape or its row to inspect the piece. The CSV includes face names and vertices, while the wall face also includes elevations above the floor datum. The finishing CSV is separate so tile blanks and finishing pieces do not become one ambiguous quantity.
Can I use the floor tile formula for a wall?
The rectangle arithmetic is shared, but the reference matters. A raised tiled band starts above the floor, and its window intersection may cover only part of the opening. This page keeps that base elevation explicit instead of pretending the tiled field is the whole wall.
Can I use this as a kitchen backsplash tile calculator?
Yes: set the tiled base to your measured countertop height and the tiled height to the measured gap up to the wall cabinets, then place any sink window from the same floor datum. If a range-hood chimney creates a taller second rectangle, run that upper zone separately.
Does the layout align the wall pattern through the returns?
No. Each return is laid out as its own rectangle with the chosen tile orientation and starting rule. Its pieces are included in the purchase count, but wrapping grout joints and mitered corners must be set out separately.
Can I combine a wall and floor order here?
This order combines one wall field and its selected opening returns, all using the same tile product. It does not combine floor material. Use the shower planner when the project needs a separate floor product and an alcove surface inventory.
How much area is one 1200 × 600 mm tile?
Its measured rectangle is 0.72 square meters, approximately 7.75 square feet. That is not necessarily the manufacturer’s installed coverage per piece or carton, and it does not predict the cut waste around an opening.
Details outside this calculation
- One rectangular wall and one opening. No sloping tops, multiple windows, stepped cabinets or out-of-square adjustment.
- All selected faces use one tile product and independent layouts. No pattern continuation around corners or return miters.
- Return head and sill dimensions are flat projections. Slopes, frame overlap, sealant gaps and installation build-up need measured corrections.
- No offcut reuse, saw kerf, breakage prediction or validation that a notched blank can be installed intact.
- The finishing list measures selected boundaries; profile type, corner pieces, movement joints and attachment details remain product-specific.
A kitchen top has a different stock problem: the countertop blank planner separates exposed surface from the slab rectangles that must actually fit.