The surfaces in a shower order
- The three walls — each is width × height, tiled to your chosen line (ceiling, or a set height like 7′).
- The niche — the recessed shelf. Small in area, big in cuts: its back panel, four returns, and trim all come out of your tile.
- The curb — top and both faces, usually in the wall tile or a matching bullnose.
- The pan (floor) — normally a different tile: small-format mosaic (2″ or smaller) so the surface can follow the slope to the drain and grout lines add slip resistance. Order it as its own line item.
Worked example: a 36″ × 60″ alcove shower, tiled to 8 feet
Back wall: 5′ wide × 8′ tall = 40 sq ft. Two side walls: 3′ × 8′ = 24 sq ft each.
| Surface | Math | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Back wall | 5′ × 8′ | 40.0 sq ft |
| Side wall × 2 | 3′ × 8′ × 2 | 48.0 sq ft |
| Niche (12″ × 24″ + returns) | ≈ 2 + 2 | 4.0 sq ft |
| Curb (top + 2 faces) | 5′ × (4″ + 4″ + 4″) | 5.0 sq ft |
| Wall tile subtotal | 97.0 sq ft | |
| + 15% waste | 97 × 1.15 | ≈ 112 sq ft |
| Pan mosaic (3′ × 5′) + 15% | 15 × 1.15 | ≈ 17.5 sq ft |
So this "roughly 90 square foot" shower is a 112 sq ft wall-tile order plus ~18 sq ft of mosaic. If tile sells by the box — it almost always does — round up to whole boxes and note the per-box coverage on the order.
Why 15% here, when floors get 10%?
Showers are all edges: every wall meets two others, the niche adds eight cut lines, and plumbing penetrations (valve, head, spout) each cost a tile or two. Large-format tile (12″ × 24″ and up) wastes even more per cut because each offcut is a bigger fraction of a tile. Use 15% as the shower default; go higher for herringbone or diagonal layouts, and for any pattern with a repeat you must match.
Buy all of it at once — including the overage. Tile colors vary between production runs (dye lots). A 10 sq ft top-up ordered three weeks later can arrive visibly a different shade, on the most water-stared-at wall in the house. Leftover boxes are also your repair stock for the next decade.
Don't forget the layer underneath
The tile order is also a backer and waterproofing order: cement board or foam board for the walls (buy it off the same wall-area number, pre-waste), waterproofing membrane or topical sealer per your system, thinset, grout, and the trim profiles or bullnose that finish exposed edges. None of it is glamorous; all of it has to be on site before the setter starts, and special-order trim can have a longer lead time than the tile itself — check it against the ordering timeline.
Measure it properly first
All of this math is only as good as the tape measurements underneath it — measure the actual framed opening, not the listing's "36×60," and keep the numbers somewhere permanent. Our room-measurement guide covers the technique for every surface, and the same numbers price the backer board and waterproofing in one pass.