How much tile for a laundry room floor?
6 boxes of tile for a laundry room floor, at the settings most people start with. Below the calculator are the same numbers for the alternatives you are likely to choose, and what each one does to the total.
Reviewed · Method: measured dimensions, industry coverage rates, rounded up to real package sizes · How the numbers are calculated
Values are pre-filled for this page. Change anything and hit Recalculate.
The answer, and what it is made of
An 8 x 6 ft floor is 48 sq ft. Adding 12% for cuts and breakage gives 54 sq ft of tile. Cartons only come in 10 sq ft, so you buy 6 cartons of tile — 60 sq ft in total, which leaves 6 sq ft over. That overage is not waste: it is the repair stock you will want in two years, when this colour is no longer made.
Planning figure for everything on that list: $190 to $661, with $348 as the realistic middle for the products most people actually buy. These are estimates for budgeting, not quotes. Prices move by region and by season, and the middle figure assumes a mid-range product rather than the cheapest thing on the shelf.
The carton is the lever, not the waste. This job takes 6 boxes in a 10 sq ft carton and 3 boxes in a 20 sq ft carton — the area never changed, only the packaging. Half-empty cartons are the most expensive line on the receipt.
What changes if you change one thing
| Change the carton size | You buy |
|---|---|
| 10 sq ft carton | 6 boxes |
| 12 sq ft carton | 5 boxes |
| 20 sq ft carton | 3 boxes |
Every row is a live calculation, not an estimate. The shaded row is what this page defaults to.
What goes in the cart
| Item | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Tile cartons (10 sq ft each) | 6 boxes |
| Thinset mortar, 50 lb bag | 1 bag |
| Grout, 10 lb bag | 1 bag |
| Tile spacers | 100 pcs |
| Mixing paddle + 5 gal bucket | 1 set |
| Grout sponge + float | 1 set |
Keep one unopened box. Dye lots change between production runs — a replacement tile bought in two years will not match. Store it flat and dry.
What this size actually changes
Forty-eight square feet with four obstructions is the worst ratio of cuts to area in a normal house. A washer and dryer together take about 12 sq ft of floor, a utility sink another 6, and each of those is a rectangle with four cut edges plus the gap behind it that nobody can reach. That is why this page defaults to 12 percent waste rather than 10.
Figure. laundry room floor: 8 x 6 ft. Measure the finished surface, not the room walls — the area between skirting or cabinet faces is the area you pay for.
How the quantity is worked out
Tile is sold by carton, and the carton — not the tile — is what sets your final number. A 15.5 sq ft carton of 12x24 porcelain covers the same area whether the tiles are rectified or pressed, so two products that look identical on the shelf can leave you buying nine cartons or eleven. Always read the coverage printed on the carton, not the square footage of one tile multiplied out.
The waste allowance exists for three reasons: cuts at the perimeter, breakage from a wet saw, and pattern matching if the tile has a repeat. Ten percent is right for a straight lay in a roughly rectangular room. Diagonal layouts, herringbone, and rooms with more than four corners all push the real number to 15 percent or more.
How to measure this job
Laundry rooms are small and full of obstructions, which makes them the highest waste room in the house per square foot. Measure the clear floor, then measure around the washer, the dryer, the utility sink and the water heater. Anything that sits on the floor means cuts on four sides of it.
If the appliances are stacked or on a pedestal, the floor under them still needs tile if you ever intend to move them. Small rooms also mean the door swing takes a disproportionate share of the floor, so plan the layout from the doorway inward.
Mistakes that cost real money
Ordering the exact area and hoping for the best
Cuts alone eat 5 to 8 percent in a simple room. Ordering 144 sq ft for a 144 sq ft floor guarantees a second trip to the store, and the second trip is where dye-lot mismatch happens. The extra carton costs less than the delay.
Tiling around the washer and dryer
They will be replaced, and the new ones will be a different size. Tile the full floor and slide the appliances back on top. Tiling around them leaves a plinth of bare subfloor that no replacement machine will cover.
Tiling behind the appliances last
The strip behind a washer is about 6 in deep and 27 in wide. Tiling it after the field means working upside down in a gap with the machine in the way. Tile the full floor first, then slide the appliances back — the machines have levelling feet for exactly this reason.
Ignoring the floor drain slope if there is one
A laundry with a floor drain has a slope of about 1/8 in per foot falling to the drain. Large tile will not follow it without lippage, and a mosaic is the practical choice. Check for a drain before choosing tile size, not after.
Frequently asked questions
How much extra tile should I buy for cuts and breakage?
Ten percent over the measured area for a straight lay in a rectangular room. Fifteen percent if you are laying diagonally, running a herringbone pattern, tiling several small rooms from one order, or working with a tile that has a visible repeat. Never go below five percent, even in a perfect square.
How much tile for a small laundry room?
A 6x8 ft room is 48 sq ft, so about 56 sq ft with 15 percent waste for the appliance cuts — four cartons of 15 sq ft. Add the closet or the space under the stairs if it is being tiled at the same time.
How much tile for a laundry room floor?
A 6x8 room is 48 sq ft, so about 54 with 12 percent waste. That is six cartons of 10 sq ft. Small rooms with appliances need proportionally more waste than large open rooms, because every obstruction adds four cuts.
Does a laundry room need a different tile?
It needs a floor that tolerates water and a tile that is not slippery when wet. Matte porcelain or a quarry tile works; polished porcelain does not. If there is a floor drain, use a small tile or mosaic so it can follow the slope.
What will the materials for this cost?
A planning range of $190 to $661 for everything in the shopping list, with $348 as the realistic middle. That is materials only: it excludes labour, delivery, tool hire and disposal of the old surface. Treat it as a budgeting figure, not a quote.