How to Properly Measure Tile for Home Improvement Projects of Various Types
Home improvement projects are never easy, and often they involve a lot more trouble than people often initially expect them to. It never fails, even for the most experienced craftsman or carpenter, to get into a project that can, at times, appear to overwhelm. The level of proficiency needed for many Do It Yourself home improvement projects can seem almost prohibitively inaccessible. But luckily, most every type of home improvement project can be accomplished with three things in generous portions – patience, persistence, and preparation.
Any skill that you do not currently possess can be learned, any talent that you do not have for such projects can be gleaned in the process, and as long as you have the fortitude to see it through to completion, there is literally nothing in your home that you cannot accomplish.
When it comes to tile work, whether you are redoing a kitchen counter top, your bathroom floor or custom insets near a plumbing fixture, the absolute most important thing that you need to make sure you do, and do well (this is where preparation comes in very handy) is to measure, and measure again. Though it is a rather famous adage, it holds true that you must measure twice before cutting once, because you will never have a second chance to get the cut right.
And, laying down new tile, no matter what you are laying, and no matter where you plan to lay it, comes down to proper measurements. Here is a quick guide to measuring tile for a variety of applications.
Basic Math
First, you should make yourself familiar with basic math formulas for determining the perimeter of an area, and for determining the surface area of a given space as well. Both of these will be necessary in order to establish the amount of tile that you will need to buy, and for determining the best way to lay down that tile.
The formula for the perimeter measurement is fairly simple. All that you need to do is add up the lengths of sides of the room, and you have your perimeter. For surface area, it becomes a little more involved, but for a rectangular room, you will need multiply the length of the room by the width of the room. Say that you have a room that is 10 feet by 20 feet. Multiply the length of 20 by the width of 10 to get 120 feet of surface area. This will be the most important measure that you take for your tile needs.
So, for the given room, you will need to measure the length of the room and the width of the room, and you will need to write these down. It helps to draw it out. Also, you will need to account for any areas where closets, doors or other things jut out into the room. Chances are that the room you are laying tile in is not a perfect rectangle. Measure every length involved in the given room.
Once you have determined the surface area that you require, multiply that figure by .10. Then, take whatever that number is and add it to the surface area. This is because you will likely need more tile than what the surface area suggests due to cutting and fitting. A standard rule of thumb has long been, for measuring tile, the square footage plus 10 percent. So, for the example given earlier, you will need to take with you to the tile store 120 square feet, plus 12 equals 132. This means that you will need enough tile to cover 132 square feet of space.