Drywall Calculator
Enter a room's length, width and ceiling height to get the drywall sheets it needs, plus the screws, joint compound and tape to hang and finish them.
Use this free drywall calculator to work out how many sheets a room needs, plus the screws, joint compound and tape to finish it. Enter the room length, width and ceiling height, choose whether to board the ceiling, pick your sheet size and set a waste allowance. It works as a sheetrock calculator and a drywall sheets estimator, turning wall and ceiling area into whole boards. Everything runs in your browser, nothing uploaded.
Room
Sheets needed
16
4×8 sheets · 451 ft² to cover
- Drywall area
- 451 ft²
- Screws
- 512 · 3.3 lb
- Joint compound
- 1 bucket
- Joint tape
- 225.5 ft
16 sheets covers 451 ft² with 10% waste for cuts. Compound is figured at a full tape plus three coats; screws assume roughly one every 12 inches.
A close planning estimate, not a hanger's takeoff. Closets, soffits, cathedral ceilings and odd angles all add sheets and offcuts, so round up and keep a spare sheet on hand.
How it works
- 1
Enter the room
Add the room length, width and ceiling height in feet or metres, and choose whether to board the ceiling as well as the walls.
- 2
Pick the sheet and waste
Choose your sheet size (4×8, 4×9 or 4×12), set a waste allowance for cuts, and subtract the door and window openings.
- 3
Read the materials
See the number of sheets, then the screws, buckets of joint compound and linear feet of tape to finish the job.
Instant & 100% private — nothing is uploaded
Every calculation runs locally in your browser. The income, balances and goals you enter stay on your own device and are never sent to a server — nothing is stored, logged or shared.
Frequently asked questions
- How many drywall sheets do I need?
- Add the wall area (the room perimeter times the ceiling height) to the ceiling area if you are boarding it, take off the openings, add a waste allowance, then divide by the area of one sheet. A 4×8 sheet covers 32 square feet and a 4×12 covers 48. The calculator rounds up to whole sheets.
- What is the difference between drywall, sheetrock and gypsum board?
- They are the same product: a gypsum core wrapped in paper. Sheetrock is a brand name and gypsum board is the technical term, so a sheetrock calculator or a gypsum board calculator does exactly the same job as this one.
- How much joint compound and tape will I need?
- Figure about 0.053 pounds of ready-mix compound per square foot for a taped joint and three coats, and roughly half a linear foot of tape per square foot of board. The calculator turns those into buckets and feet for your room.
- How many screws per drywall sheet?
- About 32 screws hang one 4×8 sheet, spaced roughly every 12 inches along the studs and in the field. That works out to a little under a pound of screws for every four or five sheets.
- Should I add extra for waste?
- Yes. Ten percent is a sensible default for a simple rectangular room; raise it for lots of windows, closets or angled ceilings that force more cuts. Buy at least one spare sheet, since a cracked corner is easy to make on site.
- How accurate is the sheet estimate?
- It is a close planning figure for a box-shaped room, not a professional takeoff. Soffits, cathedral ceilings, stairwells and tricky angles add both sheets and offcuts, so treat the count as a starting point and confirm it against your own layout.
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