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Tile

Shower Tile Calculator

Measure each shower surface separately — back, left, and right walls, plus optional floor, ceiling, and niche — then get net area, waste-adjusted order square footage, and whole tiles (or boxes). Not a single-rectangle floor tool.

Shower walls (ft)
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
Floor & ceiling (optional, ft)
ft
ft
ft
ft
sq ft

Door, window, or other large areas you will not tile. Leave blank if none.

Niche (optional, inches)
in
in
in

Adds the niche returns (and optional back) in square feet. Uncheck the back if your wall takeoff already covers that face.

in
in
%

Starts at 15% — this site’s wall/shower trade convention for cuts and breakage, not a TCNA Handbook table or manufacturer yield. Raise it for niches, benches, curbs, patterns, or large-format tile.

sq ft

Buy

102

tiles

101.2 sq ft to order (incl. waste)

Walls 88.0 · net 88.0 sq ft

The working

How to measure a shower for tile

Treat the surround as separate planes, not one “bathroom tile” number. For an alcove, measure the back wall width and height, then each side wall’s depth (into the shower) and height. Multiply each plane in feet for square footage, then add. Optional floor and ceiling use the same length × width rule. Tile size stays in inches; face area is inches × inches ÷ 144.

Example default above: back 40 sq ft + left 24 + right 24 = 88 sq ft walls. At 15% waste with 12″ × 12″ tile that is 101.2 sq ft to order → 102 tiles. Change any field and the working updates.

For a single rectangle (one floor or one wall) use the Tile Calculator. After you know area, the Grout Calculator covers joint material from tile size and joint width.

How niches and openings change the takeoff

A niche is not free tile. The recess adds two side returns, a top, a bottom, and usually a back — all in inches, converted to square feet. If you already counted the niche face as part of the wall rectangle, uncheck “include niche back” so that face is not counted twice. Large untiled openings (glass entry that replaces a tiled wall, a window, a fixture panel you skip) go in the openings field and subtract from gross. Net area never goes below zero.

Waste is a judgment call

The 15% starting point is this site’s labeled wall/shower convention — the same figure used in Wall / shower mode on the generic tile tool. It is not from the TCNA Handbook and not from a manufacturer product data sheet. Niches, benches, curbs, herringbone or diagonal patterns, and large-format porcelain that punishes a bad cut all burn more. See Tile Waste Factor for how those conventions are framed, and Methodology for how this site treats conventions versus sourced yields.

Exclusions

This calculator does not:

Sources

Grouped by manufacturer or publisher. Expand a group for the cited value, document, and verified-on date — every citation stays in the HTML either way.

Trade conventions(3)

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate tile for a shower with three walls?

Measure each wall’s width and height in feet, multiply for that plane, then add the three areas. A common alcove — 5×8 ft back and two 3×8 ft sides — is 88 sq ft of wall before floor, niche, openings, or waste. This tool does that sum and converts to tiles.

How much tile do I need for a shower niche?

A niche adds the interior faces: two sides, top, bottom, and usually the back. Enter width, height, and depth in inches. Uncheck “include niche back” if your wall takeoff already covers that face so you do not double-count it.

What waste percentage should I use for shower tile?

This site starts wall/shower takeoffs at 15% — a labeled trade convention for cuts and breakage, not a TCNA Handbook table or manufacturer yield. Niches, benches, curbs, patterns, and large-format porcelain often need more. Edit the field to match your layout.

Should I use the shower tile calculator or the regular tile calculator?

Use this page when you are measuring separate shower planes (walls, floor, ceiling, niche). Use the generic tile calculator for a single rectangle — a floor, one wall, or a backsplash — or when you already have a combined square footage.

Does this include a shower bench or curb?

No. Benches and curbs are extra surfaces. Measure each face, add that square footage into your wall or floor totals (or raise waste to cover the extra cuts). The exclusions section below lists what is out of scope.

How many boxes of shower tile do I need?

Enter square feet per box from your carton label after the waste-adjusted order area is calculated. The tool divides order square footage by that coverage and rounds up. We do not invent a site-wide “sq ft per box” constant — coverage is SKU-specific.