When it comes to tiling your bathroom, one of the most important steps is calculating how much tile you'll need. Buying too much tile can be a waste of money, while not buying enough can lead to delays and additional costs. To calculate the right amount of tile, start by measuring the square footage of the area you want to tile. For a 5x8 bathroom, the floor area would be 40 square feet.

Next, add 10-15 percent to the total square footage to account for waste. This includes cuts, broken tiles, and any other mistakes that might happen during the installation process. So for a 5x8 bathroom, you would add 4-6 square feet to the total, bringing the total to 44-46 square feet.

If you're planning to install your tile in a diagonal pattern, you'll need to add even more to the total. Diagonal patterns require more cuts, which means more waste. Add 15 percent to the total square footage to account for this. For a 5x8 bathroom with a diagonal pattern, you would need 46-50 square feet of tile.

It's also important to note that the calculation for floor tile and wall tile can be different. Floor tile needs to be calculated based on the square footage of the floor, while wall tile needs to be calculated based on the square footage of the wall. Be sure to take this into account when calculating the total amount of tile you'll need.

To make calculating tile easier, use our free tile calculator at https://tradecalcs.com.