Measuring for Your Glass Tiles
Measuring for Your Glass Tiles
When installing glass tiles, it's important to measure the area correctly, so that you know how many you need to purchase. Because tiles are create in lots, when purchasing a quantity of tile for a particular installation, it is best to purchase them all at the time, from the same lot, to avoid any possible variations in color or shading. By measuring carefully, you will be sure to purchase enough tiles the first time to get the job complete.
Back to topHow to Estimate for Waste
When you install glass tiles, chances are you will have some waste. If you need to cut the tiles in order to fit them into the proper location, the discarded portion of the tile is going to count towards your amount of waste. Also, mistakes happen when glass tile and you are bound to break a few accidentally. Although some professionals recommend adding five percent to your total estimated tile needs, if you are a beginner at installing glass tile, you might want to add ten percent instead. Not only will this insure you have enough tile, even if you break a few, but you will have some spares left over in case you need to make any repairs in the future, or if you decide you want to install coordinating tile in another area of the room.
Measuring for a Floor Installation
If you are installing glass tile on the floor, you should start by measuring the square footage. To make this easy, in the case of an irregularly shaped room, divide the room up into rectangles, calculate the square footage of each area separately, and then add them together. For example, if your room is 10 feet by 12 feet, the total area is 120 square feet. Ten percent of 120 square feet is 12 square feet, so add this to your area for a total of 132 square feet. Then, using the total square feet noted on the cartons of glass tiles, divide your total square footage needed by the number of square feet provided in a carton of tile, and you will know how many cartons of tiles you need to purchase.
Measuring for a Wall Installation
If you are tiling a wall, you first need to decide what area of the wall will be covered. For example, if you are tiling a shower enclosure, you will either want to take the tile up to the ceiling, or at a minimum, six inches above the shower head. If you are tiling bathroom walls, a customary height for the tiled portion is four feet from the floor. Of course, if you are creating a full wall glass tile mural, you might need to measure to the ceiling. Using the same method described for floor tiles, measure each wall and calculate the total square footage. Add all the walls together, add your ten percent for waste, and you will have the total square footage of tile needed. If you are purchasing tiles in cartons, divide the total square footage by the amount of square footage in a package to find out the number of cartons needed. If you are purchasing individual tiles, you will need to calculate how many tiles are needed per square foot, and do the math. If you need any specialty shapes of tiles, such as trim pieces or accent pieces, you will need to calculate for these separately.
