ContractorHandbook

How Many 6x24 Plank Tiles for 200 Square Feet?

Tiles needed

225 tiles

200 square feet, 6 by 24 plank tile, an eighth inch joint, 8 tiles a box, 15 percent waste for a plank layout.

Anything 15 inches or longer counts as large format. The substrate has to be flat inside an eighth of an inch over ten feet, the notch goes up to half by half, and every tile gets back buttered for coverage. Offset the joints by a third at most, because a running bond half offset on a long plank telegraphs every bit of tile warp as lippage.

It does not stop at a number.

When the figures look right, the tile material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.

waste10%floor area, sq ftone tile, width x height, plus the grout jointarea / coverage of one tile = tiles, then round to whole boxes
A tile calculator is a division, but the divisor is not the tile size on the box. The grout joint makes each tile cover slightly more than its nominal face, and boxes only come whole, so the answer rounds twice.

How that number is worked out

These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.

  • Area to tile200 sq ft
  • Tile width6 in
  • Tile length24 in
  • Tile thickness0.375 in
  • Grout joint0.125 in
  • Tiles per box8 each
  • Waste allowance15 %

Tiles needed225 tiles

Anything 15 inches or longer counts as large format. The substrate has to be flat inside an eighth of an inch over ten feet, the notch goes up to half by half, and every tile gets back buttered for coverage. Offset the joints by a third at most, because a running bond half offset on a long plank telegraphs every bit of tile warp as lippage.

Area with 15% waste230 sq ft
Coverage of one tile1.026 sq fttile plus one joint
Tiles per square foot0.97
Boxes at 8 per box29
Thinset, 50 lb bags6about 40 sq ft per bag at this tile size
Grout16.7 lbsold in 10 and 25 lb boxes
Backer board, 3 by 5 sheets14

The material list this produces

Tile, boxes29
Thinset mortar, 50 lb bags6
Grout, lb17
Tile spacers, each450
Cement backer board, 3 x 5 sheets14
Backer board screws, each560

Waste allowance compared

Waste is the only input here you choose rather than measure, and it is the one that decides whether the job finishes on a Saturday or on the following Saturday.

Waste allowanceTiles neededBoxes at 8 per box
5%205 tiles26
10%215 tiles27
15%225 tiles29
20%234 tiles30

What else matters here

Wood look plank is the layout that punishes a half offset. A 6 by 24 plank is almost never dead flat along its length, and staggering at half puts the middle of one plank, which is its high point, against the end of its neighbor, which is its low point. The result is lippage down every joint. A third offset, or a random stagger with a minimum of six inches, fixes it.

Two hundred square feet takes 225 planks at 15 percent, which is 29 boxes. Fifteen percent rather than ten because the ends of every run become offcuts and only some of them are long enough to start the next row.

Grout climbs sharply on plank: nearly 17 pounds against the 10 pounds a 12 by 24 would want over the same floor, because a narrow tile puts far more linear joint into each square foot.

What this calculator assumes

  • The tile count is worked out from the space one tile actually occupies, which is the tile plus one grout joint on two sides, not the tile on its own. On a 12 by 24 with an eighth inch joint that difference is about one percent, and on a mosaic it is far more.
  • 10 percent waste suits a straight lay in a square room. A diagonal or herringbone lay wastes 15, and a room full of jogs, niches and closets can reach 20.
  • Grout is figured geometrically: the joint volume is the space around each tile times the tile thickness, converted at 105 pounds per cubic foot, which is where sanded grout lands once mixed. Manufacturer coverage charts vary, so treat this as the order quantity and not the gospel.
  • Thinset coverage follows the trowel, and the trowel follows the tile: about 85 sq ft from a 50 lb bag with a quarter inch notch under small tile, 60 under 12 inch, and 40 under large format where the notch grows and the tile gets back buttered.

Questions people ask

What offset should I use for plank tile?

A third, or a random stagger with at least six inches between end joints. Never a half. Manufacturers of plank tile almost all specify a maximum one third offset, and warranty claims for lippage get refused when the layout was a half.

How many 6x24 tiles in a box?

Usually 8, which is 8 square feet, but it varies by maker and thickness. Check the box before ordering, because the count on the label is what your 29 boxes were figured from.

Should I buy extra tile?

Buy the whole job plus the waste in one order. Tile is fired in batches and the shade moves between batches, so a replacement box bought next spring will read as a patch from across the room. Keep the offcuts too, because a cracked tile three years from now is a lot easier to match from your own attic than from a supplier.

Different numbers?

The tile calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.

Other common sizes