Blog · Measuring
How to measure a room by counting floor tiles
No tape measure? The floor has one built in. Count the whole tiles, then say how much of the cut one is left.
· 4 min read
Most homes in Nigeria have tiled floors, and a tile is a ruler you are standing on. A 60 × 60 cm tile — the commonest size — with its grout line is very close to 600 mm from one joint to the next. Count them and you have a length.
Count the whole tiles first
Stand at one wall and count the whole tiles in a straight line to the other. Do it along the wall with the front door, then along a side wall. Two counts give you the room's width and depth.
Then the cut tiles — this is the step that matters
Almost every room ends in a cut tile against the wall. Counting that cut piece as a whole tile is the single most common mistake, and it moves a wall by half a tile or more. So Urcrib asks, for each end: is the tile against the wall cut, and how much of it is left — a quarter, a half, three quarters, or you are not sure.
How sure is a tile count?
A tile count is good to about ±5%. That is less certain than a tape measure (±30 mm), and more certain than pacing it out in steps (±10%). The plan records which you used, and every size on it says how sure it is — so when a wardrobe is close to the edge, you are told to check with a tape before you buy.
Your tile size
Measure one tile's edge, including one grout line. If your tiles are not 60 × 60, choose the size on the measuring screen — 50, 45, 40 and 30 cm are all there.