← Kitchen tile backsplash bid calculator

Do leftover tile boxes cover the laundry wall?

Setters lose money two ways after a kitchen splash: they buy 3.3 boxes on a spreadsheet, or they assume leftover on the van covers the laundry return the owner adds in the driveway. Tile is sold by the box. Waste still applies on the second wall.

Open the kitchen tile calculator, keep your own box size and leftover, and type the laundry or pantry square footage. The table below uses the page defaults: 30 SF subway, 10% waste, 10 SF per box, no leftover on the van.

The 33 SF kitchen buy is four boxes

30 SF of wall with 10% waste is a 33 SF buy. At 10 SF per box that is four boxes (40 SF), not 3.3. You leave the kitchen with 7.0 SF leftover and eat 7.0 SF of round-up on the kitchen ticket.

An 8 SF laundry return with the same 10% waste is 8.8 SF. 7.0 SF leftover misses it. You still buy 1 box. A 6 SF pantry return is 6.6 SF — leftover covers it. Do not buy another box for that return.

Leftover on the van is already-paid stock

Two leftover boxes (20 SF) credit the 33 SF kitchen buy: you still need 13 SF, so you buy 2 boxes, not 4. That leftover does not change the headline installed price unless you decide the van inventory is free. Credit it on materials if you want; leave the labor and extras alone.

Four leftover boxes cover the kitchen without a buy. You still leave 7.0 SF after the splash. Enter the second wall to see whether that leftover is enough.

This page is a walkthrough of the leftover arithmetic in the kitchen tile backsplash bid calculator. It is not a tile specification, a waterproofing design, a building-code determination, or a price you should copy onto a contract.

Common questions

Do leftover tile boxes cover a laundry or pantry wall?

Not automatically. A 30 SF subway splash with 10% waste is a 33 SF buy. At 10 SF per box that is four boxes, not 3.3, and you leave the kitchen with 7 SF leftover. An 8 SF laundry return with the same waste is 8.8 SF — leftover misses it and you still buy a box.

Why is a 33 SF tile buy four boxes instead of 3.3?

Tile is sold by the box. 33 divided by 10 is 3.3, but you cannot buy three-tenths of a box. Four boxes is 40 SF. You eat 7 SF of round-up on the kitchen ticket whether or not a second wall is on the job.

Does leftover already on the van change the backsplash bid?

Leftover already on the van is already-paid stock unless you decide to credit it. It cuts the boxes you buy next. It does not change the headline installed price by itself.