Drywall Calculator
With room length 12 ft, room width 10 ft, wall height 8 ft, sheet length 12 ft and 1 more field, drywall comes to 11 sheets — sheets to order. It is reached in 7 steps, the last of which is ceil(472 * (1 + 10 / 100) / (4 * 12)), and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by ASTM C1396, not an approximation fitted to it.
Sheets of drywall for a room, plus the screws, tape and joint compound to finish it. Screws, tape and compound too, with the ceiling counted separately.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Room length 12 ft, Room width 10 ft, Wall height 8 ft, Sheet length 12 ft
11 sheets
Sheets to order for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Wall area
2 * (12 + 10) * 8352 sq ft- Ceiling area
12 * 10 * 1120 sq ft- Total area
352 + 120472 sq ft- Sheets to order
ceil(472 * (1 + 10 / 100) / (4 * 12))11 sheets- Screws
11 * 32352 screws- Joint tape
472 * 0.37174.64 ft- Joint compound
472 * 0.05325.016 lbs
Several at once
A job is rarely one of anything. Work out the first, add it, change the figures and add the next — the list keeps what each line was, and totals them.
Worked example
A 12 × 10 room with an 8 ft ceiling is 472 sq ft including the lid — 11 sheets of 4 × 12, about 352 screws, 175 ft of tape and 25 lb of compound. Longer sheets mean fewer butt joints, and butt joints are the ones that show.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Measure the room and work out wall area: twice the length plus twice the width, times the ceiling height.
- 2.Add the ceiling area if you are boarding it — length times width.
- 3.Add 10% for waste, then divide by the area of one sheet: 4 ft times its length.
- 4.Round up. Allow about 32 screws per sheet, 370 ft of tape and 53 lb of compound per 1,000 sq ft.
What does it cost?
Typical price is $12–$22 per sheet. A 4 × 8 sheet of 1/2 in board. Longer sheets and fire-rated or moisture-resistant board cost more.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| 1/2 in, 4 × 8 sheet | $12–$18 per sheet |
| 5/8 in fire-rated, 4 × 8 | $15–$22 per sheet |
| Joint compound, 4.5 gal bucket | $15–$25 per bucket |
| Hang and finish labour | $1.5–$3.5 per sq ft |
Price ranges as of 2026. Materials pricing moves — treat these as a sanity check on a quote, not as a quote.
The formula
- Wall area
2 * (12 + 10) * 8 - Ceiling area
12 * 10 * 1 - Total area
352 + 120 - Sheets to order
ceil(472 * (1 + 10 / 100) / (4 * 12)) - Screws
11 * 32 - Joint tape
472 * 0.37 - Joint compound
472 * 0.053
Source: ASTM C1396 — standard specification for gypsum board, ASTM C840 standard specification for gypsum board application
Questions people actually ask
- Why choose 12 ft sheets over 8 ft?
- Fewer joints. A 12 ft wall hung with one 12 ft sheet has no butt joint at all; the same wall in 8 ft sheets has one, and butt joints have no tapered edge, so they are the hardest to hide under paint.
- What thickness do I need?
- 1/2 in for walls, 5/8 in for ceilings and anywhere a fire rating applies. Ceilings in 1/2 in sag between joists over time, especially at 24 in spacing.
- How much compound is three coats?
- Roughly 53 lb per 1,000 sq ft of board across tape, fill and finish coats. Buying pre-mixed by the bucket, that is about one 4.5-gallon bucket per 1,000 sq ft.
Related
- Paint CalculatorGallons of paint for a room, after subtracting doors and windows and allowing for the number of coats.
- Stud CalculatorStuds and plate lumber for a framed wall at 16 or 24 in on centre, including corners and openings.
- Insulation CalculatorBags or batts of insulation for an attic or a wall, from the area and the R-value you are aiming at.
- Square Footage CalculatorSquare footage of a room, wall, border, gable end, ring or triangle from feet-and-inches measurements, with a waste factor and the cost.
- Tile CalculatorHow many tiles and boxes to order for a floor or wall, with the waste factor the layout actually needs.
- Mulch CalculatorCubic yards and bags of mulch for a bed, with a waste allowance and a warning when the depth would smother the roots.
Part of a job
- Painting a room — 5 pages, in the order the questions arrive
Read first
- What Drywalling a Room Costs — Sheets, screws, and the finish level that decides most of the labour bill while appearing on no quote — level 4 and level 5 are not the same job.
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