how much tile to buy?

[Sibley]

Hi all. I'm ordering tile for a very small area by my front door (about 3x4 ft). So, I have the pattern, etc. This is a custom order, which I'm only doing because it's such a small area. I will have experienced assistance with laying the tile, and won't need to cut tiles. I will need to cut sheets, but that's been factored into my minimums.

It's a design with a boarder, they come in separate sheets. I need a minimum of 2 sheets of the boarder and 16 of the design to do the floor, but that won't account for any breakage, etc. How many extra sheets of each should I get?

Thanks!

[Systems101]

What size is the tile?  I've done 1/2" glass tile and finding bad ones is trivial to replace them with a tiny amount of extra.  12" square tiles would be a different story... if you drop one you lose a lot of area very quick.  "Cutting Sheets" makes me think it's more like the former (small), but want to check...

Also, what is the acceptable breakage/chip level in the tile you are purchasing?  If it's softer or natural material (stone) recognize that some may be near disintegrating if you have certain types of stone.

Anyway, you need to at least overshoot any acceptable defect number, and probably a bit above that to account for accidents... but not too much extra if it's small tile.

When I did the 1/2" glass tile, I think I was doing 18"x12' (~18 sq ft), and I think I purchased 20 (~10% overshoot), and I didn't use all the extra.

[Sibley]

Individual tiles are 1 inch square, sheets are roughly a foot square. It's a ceramic, and fairly tough. If I get 1-2 extra sheets that might be enough extra it sounds like.