Ordering the wrong amount of pool tile is one of the most common (and most avoidable) mistakes in a pool build or remodel. Order too little and you're waiting on a second shipment mid-project, hoping the dye lot matches. Order too much and you've overspent on material that's hard to return. Here's how to actually get it right.
Measure the area, not the tile
Start by measuring the actual square footage of the surface you're covering — waterline band, accent wall, or deck area — not by counting how many tiles you think you'll need. For a waterline band, multiply the linear footage of the pool perimeter by the height of the band (most waterline tile runs 6 inches tall, so a 60 linear foot pool perimeter with a 6 inch band is 60 x 0.5 = 30 square feet).
Always add a waste factor
No installation uses 100% of the tile you buy. Cuts around corners, steps, drains, and skimmers all create waste, and natural stone or patterned tile usually needs more than a plain field tile because you're also cutting for pattern matching. As a general rule:
- Simple, straight runs (waterline, plain field tile): add 10%
- Rooms or areas with lots of corners, steps, or curves: add 15%
- Diagonal layouts, herringbone, or French pattern stone: add 15-20%
So if your measured area is 30 square feet and you're doing a simple straight waterline run, order for about 33 square feet, not exactly 30.
Why tile is sold by the box, not the exact square foot
Most tile, including everything in our catalog, is manufactured and packaged in fixed box quantities — a box might cover 9.7 square feet, or 5.38 square feet, depending on the tile size and how many pieces are boxed together. You can't buy a partial box, so your final order will almost always round up to the nearest whole box past whatever your measured-plus-waste number comes out to. This is normal and expected — it's not overselling, it's just how tile is packaged and shipped.
Order everything in one batch when possible
Natural stone and even manufactured tile can have slight color and shade variation between production runs, called dye lots or batches. If you order 80% of what you need now and come back for the rest later, there's a real chance the second order won't match exactly, especially with natural stone. Whenever the budget allows, order the full amount — including your waste buffer — in a single order.
Keep a few extra pieces after installation
Beyond your waste factor, it's worth keeping a handful of leftover tiles in storage after the project is done. If a tile ever cracks or a corner chips years down the road, having an exact match on hand saves you from trying to color-match a discontinued run.