How to Measure a Shower for Tile
Shower walls are the fiddliest tiling job - small tiles, a niche, multiple walls and lots of cuts. Here is how to measure each surface so you order enough tile without overspending.
By the Calculate My Reno Team / Published
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Open the Tile Calculator
A shower is the most cut-heavy tiling job in the house: several walls, a niche, a curb, small tiles and tight tolerances. Measure each surface on its own and the numbers stay simple.
Measure each wall separately
Do not try to measure a shower as one figure. Take each wall as its own rectangle:
wall area = wall width × tiled height
Add the walls together. Tiling to the ceiling? Use the full height; stopping at a tile line? Measure to there. In the tile calculator, run each wall as its own entry and total them - walls often differ in width and one may have the niche.
The niche, curb and bench
- Niche (recessed shelf): do not deduct it. You tile the inside faces of the niche, which roughly replaces the wall area it removes - so leaving it in keeps you from under-ordering.
- Curb / kerb: the step at the entry has a top and front face - small, but add it as a little rectangle.
- Bench or seat: measure its top and visible faces and add them.
The shower floor
Usually tiled separately, often in smaller mosaic tiles that flex to the drain fall and add grip. Measure it as its own area (width × depth) and treat it as a separate job in the calculator, since the tile size and wastage differ from the walls.
Use a higher wastage allowance
Showers waste more tile than a plain floor because:
- the tiles are smaller (more cuts per square metre),
- there are cuts around the niche, controls, curb and corners, and
- mosaics and feature strips leave offcuts you cannot reuse.
Allow 15–20% (toward 20% for mosaics or a herringbone feature). See how to calculate tile wastage for the full breakdown.
Backsplashes use the same method
A kitchen backsplash is the same idea: measure the run length × the height from the worktop to the underside of the wall units, and allow generous wastage because a backsplash is almost all cut edges. Then get your totals with the tile calculator and the method in how many tiles do I need.
Frequently asked questions
How do I measure a shower for tile?
Measure each wall of the enclosure separately - width × tiled height - and add them together, then add the floor if you are tiling it. Do not subtract the niche; you tile inside it, which roughly cancels the wall area it removes. Tile each wall as its own rectangle in the tile calculator and total the result.
How much wastage should I allow for shower tiles?
Use 15–20%. Showers use smaller tiles and feature strips, have many cut edges around the niche, controls and curb, and offcuts are hard to reuse - so they waste more than a plain floor. Go to 20% for mosaics or a herringbone feature wall.
Should I tile the shower floor and ceiling too?
The floor, usually yes - often with smaller mosaic tiles for grip and to follow the drain fall, calculated as its own area. The ceiling only in fully enclosed steam showers. Measure each surface separately and add them, because they often use different tiles and different wastage.