What is the best tile calculator app?

A tile calculator is most accurate when it starts with a real measurement of the room rather than a number you type in. focalScan uses your iPhone's LiDAR sensor to scan the space in about ten seconds, then works out tiles, boxes, and grout based on your tile size, layout pattern, and waste factor. Because it measures the actual room and accounts for the layout, the estimate reflects the real job. It runs on iPhone 12 Pro and newer and is free to try on the App Store.

How does the focalScan tile calculator work?

Scan the room with your iPhone, pick which surfaces you're tiling (floor, walls, or both), enter your tile size and layout pattern, set the grout joint width and a waste factor, and the app returns the number of tiles, the number of boxes, and the grout needed. The scan captures the real floor and wall dimensions with LiDAR, so the estimate is based on the actual room instead of a typed-in figure.

How do I calculate how many tiles I need?

Take the area of the surface you're tiling, divide by the area each tile covers (including the grout joint), and add a waste factor for cuts and breakage. The waste factor depends on the layout: around 10% for a straight grid, closer to 15% for diagonal or offset patterns, and 15–20% for herringbone. A tile calculator like focalScan does this automatically from a room scan — for a 161.7 sq ft floor in 12"×12" tile with a straight grid and 10% waste, it returns 175 tiles, or 18 boxes at 10 tiles per box.

What waste factor should a tile estimate use?

It depends on the layout. A straight grid on a rectangular room runs around 10%. Diagonal or offset patterns push closer to 15%. Herringbone or complex mosaics land in the 15–20% range, sometimes higher. Large-format tile over an uneven substrate needs extra for lippage and breakage. focalScan gives you a slider to set the waste factor based on the pattern, tile size, and substrate on the actual job.

Can a tile calculator estimate walls and floors separately?

Yes. focalScan lets you choose which surfaces to include in the tile estimate — floors only, walls only, floor and walls, with a separate toggle for ceilings. Within walls you can include a single accent wall, a shower surround, or wainscoting up to a chair rail, and leave the rest out. The estimate only counts the surfaces you put in scope.

Does a tile calculator estimate grout too?

focalScan does. It takes the grout joint width, joint depth, and bag size as inputs, then returns the number of grout bags and the total grout weight alongside the tile count. Because joint width also affects how much tile fits in the space, calculating grout and tile together on the same scan keeps both numbers consistent for the job.

Tile Calculator App: Scan a Room, Get a Tile Estimate

Tile installer using the focalScan tile calculator app on iPhone to scan a bathroom before ordering 12-inch porcelain floor tile — LiDAR room scan interface visible on phone screen, exposed studs and old tub still in place — The focalScan tile calculator in the field — scanning a master bath before ordering the floor tile.

focalScan is a room-measurement app built on one idea: point your iPhone at a space and let it do the hard part. Among the tools built in is a tile calculator that starts where every good estimate should — with a scan of the actual room. In about ten seconds the app captures the floor area, the wall area, and every opening, then turns that into a purchase-ready tile estimate: tiles, boxes, and grout, adjusted for your tile size, layout pattern, and grout joint width. No tape measure. No square-footage math. No ordering short.

What the tile calculator does

Scan a room → get a tile estimate. The app measures the floor and walls with iPhone LiDAR, then works out tiles needed, boxes needed, and grout based on your tile size, layout pattern, and waste factor. It handles straight grid, brick offset, herringbone, and diagonal layouts, and lets you tile a whole room or just one wall. Free to try on the App Store.

01Where the estimate starts

An estimate built from the real room

A tile order is only as good as the measurement behind it. Type in a rough square-footage figure and you're trusting a number that doesn't know the room's real shape, doesn't know how many tiles come in a box, and doesn't know that a herringbone floor wastes far more than a straight grid. The gaps show up at the supply counter — or worse, halfway through the install.

focalScan closes those gaps by starting with a LiDAR scan of the actual room, then factoring in the tile size, the layout, the grout joint width, and a waste factor you control. The result isn't an estimate you hope is right. It's one you can hand to your supplier.

02What drives the estimate

The details the estimate accounts for

A handful of things move the tile count. focalScan accounts for all of them:

Tile size. A 12″×12″ porcelain, a 6″×24″ plank, a 4″×4″ mosaic, and a 24″×48″ large-format all yield different tile counts and different tiles per box. Enter the actual tile — the calculator handles the rest.
Layout pattern. A straight grid produces minimal cutting waste. Brick offset adds some. Herringbone and diagonal add more — the offcuts at the end of each row can't always be reused. focalScan lets you pick straight grid, brick offset, herringbone, or diagonal, and the estimate changes with the pattern.
Grout joint width. A 1/16″ joint fits more tile in the same space than a 1/4″ joint. On a small room that shifts the layout enough to change your cut sizes and the amount of grout you need — so the calculator asks for joint width, joint depth, and bag size, and returns grout bags and total weight.
Which surfaces you're tiling. Not every job is a whole room. A floor only, a single accent wall, a shower surround, wainscoting up to a chair rail, or a full floor plus a tile ceiling — focalScan lets you include the surfaces in scope and leave the rest out, so the estimate only counts what's actually getting tiled.
Waste factor. focalScan builds waste into the estimate with a slider you set based on the pattern, the tile size, and the substrate. Straight grid on a rectangular room runs lower; herringbone or large-format on an uneven floor runs higher. You own the number.

03The walkthrough

Estimating a real bathroom, start to finish

Here's the tile calculator running on an actual job — a master bath retile. Main space plus a small water closet niche, floor tile only.

The scan takes about ten seconds. Aim the iPhone, walk the room, and focalScan builds a 3D model with every wall, corner, and opening captured — floor area, wall area, ceiling height, and perimeter, all measured.

focalScan tile calculator 3D room scan of a bathroom with dimensions labeled around every wall — floor area 161.7 sq ft, wall area 450.5 sq ft, measured with iPhone LiDAR in about 10 seconds — 1 · Scan the room

focalScan tile calculator Tile Surface selector showing Floors, Walls, and Floor and Walls options with a separate Ceilings toggle — choose which surfaces the tile estimate should cover — 2 · Pick the surfaces to tile

focalScan tile calculator Tile Size settings showing 12 by 12 inch porcelain preset, 10 tiles per box, and Straight Grid layout selected from Straight Grid, Brick Offset, Herringbone, and Diagonal options — 3 · Set tile size, layout & waste

focalScan tile estimator result screen: floor area 161.7 sq ft, straight grid layout, 10 percent waste, 175 tiles needed, 18 boxes needed, 1 grout bag at 10.5 pounds — purchase-ready tile calculation — The tile estimate: **175 tiles, 18 boxes, and one bag of grout** for a 161.7 sq ft floor in 12″ porcelain — waste included.

Set the tile to 12″×12″ porcelain at 10 tiles per box, the layout to straight grid, the grout joint to 1/8″, and a 10% waste factor. The calculator returns 175 tiles, 18 boxes, and one bag of grout — the numbers you take to the supply house.

From there the decision is yours. Order the 18 boxes as calculated, or add a same-lot spare box for future repairs so a cracked tile in year three matches. Change the layout to herringbone and the estimate updates. Try a 6″×24″ plank instead and it recalculates. The scan is the room; the calculator lets you price every version of the job the tile could support.

04Beyond the number

A tile estimator that carries the whole job

focalScan saves each scan as a project — not just a number, but the 3D model, a 2D floor plan, the video recorded during the scan, reference photos, and dictated notes. Everything lives in one file that syncs to iCloud and shares between devices.

That matters when the person who measures isn't the person who installs. One partner runs the estimate, another does the work; the estimator hands off to a crew lead; the homeowner meets with one person and the job happens three weeks later with someone else. A shared project file means whoever orders the tile is looking at the same room the estimator scanned — not a number scribbled on an envelope.

The estimate is only as good as the measurement. This one starts with the actual room.

Finished master bathroom with 12-inch porcelain tile floor installed, brass fixtures and a marble shower surround — the completed remodel that used the focalScan tile calculator to order the right amount of tile in a single lot — The finished floor in 12″ porcelain — ordered in one lot from a focalScan estimate, no shortfall, nothing wasted.

Whether you're a tile contractor bidding jobs, a remodeler running estimates, or a homeowner working out how much tile to buy, the workflow is the same: scan the room, set your tile, get a number you can trust.