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Baseboard Calculator

Round the floor, in the lengths the rack holds.

An estimate of quantity — the perimeter does not stop at a doorway; take off about 3 ft each.

4' · 48 in · 4 ft · 1.2192 m

12' · 144 in · 12 ft · 3.6576 m

48 ft²

Inch Calculator advises about 10% for tile laid straight, which is where this starts; 15% for diagonal, and Alpine 10-15% for herringbone. Mullican advises 5% for wood laid straight. It is added once, to whatever gets cut — the tiles or the planks, and the baseboard. A grout or mortar figure, where the page has one, is worked out on the surface as laid.

This page recalculates as you type. There is no Calculate button.

Answer

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Boxes

4 × box of 8

48 ft² to tile · 26 tiles · 4 boxes

Buy 26 tiles
Area to tile 48 ft²
Ticked items cost $155.00
More numbers
With the 10% for cuts 52.8 ft²
Grout 2.59 lb
Thinset 1 bags
DrawingThe project drawn to scale. Area 1: 4' × 12'.4'12'Area 1

Buying noteLarge tile wants mortar on the back of the tile as well as on the floor. Lift the first one back up and look at how much of it is covered before you set the rest.
Buying noteAt 1/8" buy sanded grout: unsanded is for joints under 1/8 in, and it cracks in a wider one. Our yield figure comes off the sanded chart, so this is the case it was worked out for.
Buying noteBuy the spare box with the rest, out of the same dye lot. A box bought a month later is a slightly different color, and nobody tells you until it is on the floor.

Breakdown

Surface Measurements Qty Area Share
Area 1 4' × 12' Add ×1 48 ft²

What to buy

Buying noteLarge tile wants mortar on the back of the tile as well as on the floor. Lift the first one back up and look at how much of it is covered before you set the rest.
Buying noteAt 1/8" buy sanded grout: unsanded is for joints under 1/8 in, and it cracks in a wider one. Our yield figure comes off the sanded chart, so this is the case it was worked out for.
Buying noteBuy the spare box with the rest, out of the same dye lot. A box bought a month later is a slightly different color, and nobody tells you until it is on the floor.

Shopping list

4 4 × box of 8 $124.00 Reference price $23.50. Type your store's. Reference price $31.00. Type your store's. Reference price $29.50. Type your store's. Reference price $30.00. Type your store's. Reference price $33.00. Type your store's. Reference price $28.00. Type your store's. Reference price $26.00. Type your store's. Reference price $42.00. Type your store's.
1 1 × 10 lb bag $14.00 Reference price $24.00. Type your store's. Reference price $14.00. Type your store's.
1 1 × 50 lb bag $17.00 Reference price $17.00. Type your store's. Reference price $11.00. Type your store's.
Ticked items $155.00

Untick what you already have. Each row has its price beside it — type what your store charges.

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Standards

We hold the criteria and the clause, not the wording of the standard.

Not checked ANSI A108.02 · minimum joint width, as CTEF reads §4.3.8

A 1/8" joint clears the 1/16" minimum, which is as far as a measurement gets. The clause also asks for three times how much the tiles vary across their faces — lay a few out dry and look before you commit to the spacers.

Not checked ANSI A108.02 · large format minimum joint, as CTEF reads §4.3.8.1

A 1/8" joint is the minimum for rectified tile and under the 3/16" a calibrated tile needs. Which one you have is printed on the box — no measurement here can tell us.

Not checked ANSI A108.02 · mortar contact, as CTEF reads A108.02

This project tiles a wall, so the standard asks for 95% of the back of each tile in contact with mortar, against 80% in a dry area. It is measured by lifting a set tile back off — nothing on this page can judge it.

How this was worked out

Every number below is yours. Each constant links to the row where you can change it.

Area 1 4' × 12' 48 ft²
With the waste for cuts 48 ft² × (1 + 10%) 52.8 ft²
One tile and its joint (12 in + 1/8") × (24 in + 1/8") ÷ 144 in²/ft² 2.0314 ft²
Tiles to buy 52.8 ft² ÷ 2.0314 ft² 26 tiles
Boxes to buy 26 tiles ÷ 8 tiles 4 × box of 8 · 6 tiles left over
Grout 48 ft² × 0.8336 in³/ft² (1/8" joints, 3/8" deep) × 0.0648 lb/in³ 2.59 lb → 1 × 10 lb bag

Change:Tile thickness, floor tileGrout in a cubic inch

Thinset 48 ft² ÷ 60 ft²/bag 1 bags → 1 × 50 lb bag

Change:Thinset coverage, 1/4 × 3/8 notchBag the coverage is published for

What it comes to 4 × $31.00 + 1 × $14.00 + 1 × $17.00 $155.00

Assumptions

Every one of these is editable. Change one and the answer changes with it.

Assumption Value Confidence
Tile thickness, floor tile3/8 in, the nominal body thickness of porcelain floor tile 12 in and larger, and the thickness Custom Building Products' coverage chart lists a 12 x 24 at. Grout sits as deep as the tile is thick, so this number scales the grout straight; measure yours and type it. ~ in Derived or single-supplier
Grout in a cubic inch25 lb of grout fills about 386 in³ of joint, worked back out of 30 cells of Custom Building Products' Polyblend Plus Sanded coverage chart. A bag holds one volume whatever tile it goes into, so this is a density rather than a per-size figure. ~ lb/in³ Derived or single-supplier
Thinset coverage, 1/4 × 3/8 notch60 to 67 ft² a 50 lb bag with a 1/4 × 3/8 in square-notch trowel (TDS-119), the commonest notch for a 12 in and larger floor tile. The low end is the figure here. ft²/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Bag the coverage is published forThe bag the coverage figures below are published for. Custom Building Products' TDS-119 states VersaBond coverage per 50 lb bag, so a 25 lb bag covers half as much: coverage scales with weight, and the page solves the order in pounds rather than in bags for that reason. lb/bag From a data sheet or an agency document
Minimum joint1/16 in, the smallest grout joint ANSI A108.02 allows, and never less than three times the tile's facial dimension variation. Read in the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation's article on the clause, not in the standard itself - ANSI charges for the text. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Minimum joint, rectified large format1/8 in, the smallest joint for rectified tile with an edge over 15 in. A rectified tile is ground to size after firing, so its edges are square enough for a narrow joint; a calibrated one is not. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Minimum joint, calibrated large format3/16 in, the smallest joint for calibrated tile with an edge over 15 in. Whether a box holds rectified or calibrated tile is printed on the box and is not something any measurement on this page can say, which is why the check that reads this number never passes on its own. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Edge at which large format starts15 in: above this edge length the minimum joint stops being 1/16 in and becomes 1/8 or 3/16 in depending on how the tile was made. A 12 x 24 is over it on one side, a 12 x 12 is not. in From a data sheet or an agency document
Mortar contact, dry area80% of the back of the tile has to be in contact with mortar in a dry area. It is measured by lifting a set tile back up, not by any number on this page, so the page says the figure rather than judging it. Held as a percentage because that is how it is read and how the box shows it. % From a data sheet or an agency document
Mortar contact, wet area95% mortar contact in a wet area - a shower, a tub surround - and outdoors. The higher figure is why a shower wall project is told a different sentence from a kitchen floor. Held as a percentage because that is how it is read and how the box shows it. % From a data sheet or an agency document

How much baseboard a room takes

Baseboard runs round the perimeter of the floor, so the number is the perimeter plus some waste for the cuts. This page opens on a 12 by 14 foot room: a 52 foot perimeter, 57.2 with 10% for cuts, which buys as 4 sticks — three 16 foot and one 12 foot.

Take off the doorways

The perimeter does not stop at a door, and how many doors a room has is not something a rectangle can tell us. So the page counts the whole way round and says so, and you take off about 3 feet for each opening — a standard interior door is 32 or 36 inches of casing with no skirting behind it.

A 12 by 14 room with two doors is nearer 46 feet than 52. On the other hand, if the room has a chimney breast or a bay, the perimeter is longer than the rectangle, and that is a part with the plus sign.

Why it buys in sticks and not in feet

Length What it is for
8 ftshort walls, closets
12 ftthe common rack length
16 fta long wall in one piece

57 feet of baseboard is not four and a bit sticks of anything — it is a particular combination, and the page works out which one costs least at the prices you type. Prefer the longer sticks where a wall will take them: a 14 foot wall in one 16 foot piece has no scarf joint in the middle of it, and a scarf joint in baseboard opens up as the house dries out.

Quarter round, shoe and cap

The same number serves for quarter round and for shoe moulding, which run the same perimeter at the bottom of the baseboard — so if you are fitting both a baseboard and a shoe, this is two of these orders rather than one. Cap moulding at the top is the same again.

Floating floors want shoe or quarter round whatever the baseboard does, because the floor has to move under it. That is the usual reason a room ends up with two of the three.

Outside corners take more than you think

Every outside corner is two mitres cut at 45 degrees, and a mitre eats the end of a stick. The 10% this page starts at covers a room of ordinary shape; a room with a chimney breast has four extra corners in it and deserves more.