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HOW TO CALCULATE THE QUANTITY OF TILES NEEDED, SELECTING TILES & TYPES.


GoodDay and its good to be back.

Let's go practical (as we always do) - calculating the quantity of tiles needed to tile various spaces within the building (floor and wall tiling).

We would make reference to our 3 bedroom plan, designed specifically for this lectures and calculate the tiles needed in the Living Room, One of the Bedrooms and the Master's toilet's floor and wall tiles.


SELECTING TILES

1. Tiles come in various sizes, the common ones being 150x150, 200x200, 300x300, 150x300, 200x400, 300x600, 400x400 and 600x600; the first thing to do is pick a tile (based on clients choice or use) for each floor and wall. There is no rule stopping you from using any particular tile size for floor or wall, as long as it has the perfect surface finish for that use.

e.g, a glazed (slippery) tile is not appropriate in the bathroom, so if I find any non-slippery tile, irrespective of the size, I can use it for my wet floors. Wet floors includes Bathroom, Swimming pool, Laundry etc. (We've had buildings where 600x600 tiles were used on the wall and 150x150 tiles used on the floor) - in summary, the tile finish NOT the tile size determines where it is used.

2. Select tiles for each space. (Lets select ours too).
I'll go with the popular opinions; Living Room (600x600), Bedroom (400x400), Bathroom Floor (300x300) and Bathroom Wall (200x400).

Note:
* Glazed tiles cannot be used on wet floors - its very slippery if floor is wet and dangerous
* Un-Glazed, Matte, Rough tiles can be used on any surface (wet or dry)

3. Calculate the area of the spaces (floor and wall) separately - This uses the simple LxB (area of a rectangle principle) - and write it out.

Note:
* Remember to deduct door and window openings where applicable (e.g Area of wall = 10m2; area of window = 0.5m2 therefore area to be tiled = 10m2 - 0.5m2 = 9.5m2)
* After getting your area to be tiled, ADD 10% of quantity for waste & broken tiles. (e.g 9.5m2 + 10% of 9.5m2 >> 9.5 + 0.95 >> 10.45m2)

4. Calculate the Total area of Tiles you're picking; this varies from one manufacturer to the other and from one product size to the other. >> this means that while 400x400 tiles from SaydFact Ceramics contain 11 pcs, those of Teewhy2 Tiles Ltd might contain 13 pcs - It is therefore, important to know how much pieces each pack of tiles you're buying contain.

5.  Ascertain the total area of one pack of tiles (either by calculating or checking on the pack), use this figure to divide the total square area of the room to be tiled and the result gives you quantities needed - in simple terms >> (AREA OF LIVING ROOM / area of 1 pack of tiles) = Quantity of Tiles needed (remember to add 10% for waste).

LETS NOW GO PRACTICAL BY CALCULATING USING THE ATTACHED DRAWING (see pics below) and information in No2 above.

A. Master's Bedroom:

* From the diamond below; total floor area of Master's Rm is 13.20m2
* Lets agree that our 400x400 tiles contain 11 pieces; hence area of 1 pack in meters >> 0.4m x 0.4m x 11 pcs (400mm is same as 0.4m and area of 1 tile is 0.4  x 0.4, while the area of 1 pack is (Area of 1 tiles x number of tiles in 1 pack)

1 PACK = 0.4 x 0.4 x 11 = 1.76m2

Number of tiles needed to complete Master's Rm floor = 13.20 (divided by) 1.76m2 = 13.20 / 1.76 = 7.5 packs

before we add for waste; lets calculate skirting for the Bedroom using 120mm as skirting height.

* The 1st question is how many skirting can we get from 1 tiles ? 
Ans: Lenght of tiles / Height of skirting = 400 / 120 = 3 skirting from 1 tiles.

* What is the perimeter of the space needing skirting?
Ans: From the diagram, bedroom is 4150 by 3150 hence perimeter of room = 4150 + 4150 + 3150 + 3150 = 14600mm 

* Deduct openings from the perimeter ie 2 doors (toilet and bedroom doors) where there won't be need for skirting >> 750+900 = 1650mm

* Length requiring skirting = 14600mm - 1650mm = 12950mm

* Numbers of Skirting needed = 12950 / 400 (lenght of 1 tile) = 33 pcs (approximate to the next whole nos)

* Number of Tiles needed to make requirement = 33 pcs / 3 (number of skirting gotten from 1 tile) = 11 pcs (11 tiles are needed for skirting)

* Number of packs needed for skirting = 11 pcs / 11 pcs (number in 1 pack) = 1 pack is needed.

TOTAL TILES NEEDED FOR MASTER'S BEDROOM:
7.5 PACKS (FLOOR) + 1 PACK (SKIRTING) = 8.5 PACKS.

ADD 10% FOR WASTE >> 8.5 Packs + 10% of 8.5 = 8.5+ 0.85 = 9.35 packs needed

HENCE BUY 10 PACKS (approximated to the next whole number because you can't buy half tiles)


B. Living Room: (Straight to Biz) *wink*

We're using 600x600 tiles and each pack contains 4 pcs; hence Area of 1 pack = 0.6x0.6x4 = 1.44m2
Area of Living Room (see diagram) = 22.02m2

* Number of Packs needed for Floor >> 22.02 / 1.44 = 15.2 packs

Skirting >> Perimeter of Living Room - (All Openings) = 12.2m or 12200mm

* Number of Skirting in 1 tiles >> 600 / 120 = 5 pcs (from 1 tiles)

* Number of skirting needed for Living Room = 12200 / 600 = 21 pcs

* Number of Tiles needed to meet requirements = 21 / 5 = 5 tiles

* Number of packs needed for skirting = 5 tiles / 4 pcs (number in 1 pack) = 1.25 pack is needed.

TOTAL TILES NEEDED FOR LIVING ROOM:
15.2 PACKS (FLOOR) + 1.25 PACK (SKIRTING) = 17 PACKS.

ADD 10% FOR WASTE >> 17 Packs + 10% of 17 = 17+ 1.7 = 18.7 packs needed

HENCE BUY 19 PACKS (approximated to the next whole number because you can't buy half tiles)


C. Bathroom Floor: (using 300mm by 300mm Tiles)

Area of Floor / Area of 1 pack of Tiles >> 3.26 / 1.35 (assuming nos in 1 pack = 15nos) = 2.4 packs

There's no skirting in Bathroom because we have wall tiles.

TOTAL TILES NEEDED FOR BATHROOM FLOOR = 2.4 + 10% of 2.4 = 3 PACKS 


D. Bathroom Wall:

We're using 200x400 tiles and each pack contains 17 pcs; hence Area of 1 pack = 0.2x0.4x17 = 1.36m2

Lets also assume that we're tiling up-to 2.1m only i.e Window level (the alternative is to tile up-to 3m; i.e ceiling level)

* What is the perimeter of the space needing wall tiles?
Ans: From the diagram, bathroom is 2100 by 1500 hence perimeter of room = 2100 + 2100 + 1500 + 1500 = 7200mm = 7.2m

* Find total area to be tiled >> Perimeter x Height used >> 7.2m x 2.1m = 15.12m2

* Deduct Area of openings from the Area above i.e 1 door (2.1m x 0.75m) and 1 window (0.6m x 0.6m) >>  (1.6m2 + 0.36m2) = 1.96m2

* Hence; Area to be tiled = 15.12m2 - 1.96m2 = 13.16m2

Now we revert to our earlier formulas i.e AREAS TO BE TILED / AREA OF 1 PACK = NUMBERS OF PACKS NEEDED

* 13.16m2 / 1.36m2 (area of 1 pack) = 9.7 packs = 10 packs (approximate to next whole number)

TOTAL TILES NEEDED FOR TOILET WALL: 10 PACKS

ADD 10% FOR WASTE >> 10 Packs + 10% of 10 = 10 + 1 = 11 packs needed

HENCE BUY 11 PACKS 


Do the above for all space in the building; You can even prepare an excel file with the formulas so you wont need calculations each time; just input the area of floor and area of tiles and bingo.


Thanks for Following.




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