Drywall Calculator
A 12 by 10 by 8 foot room, with the ceiling, a 3 by 7 door, and a 3 by 4 window, is 16 sheets of 4×8, 512 screws, 4.83 gallons of mud, and 169.02 feet of tape.
Last updated . Room size starts in feet. Switch any length to inches, yards, or meters. Waste starts at 10 percent. Sheet, screw, mud, and tape rates are planning figures. No price.
Enter the room, the ceiling, and one door and one window. Sheets are 4×8 or 4×12. Screws follow the sheets. Mud and tape follow the area after waste.
Paint: paint calculator. Insulation: insulation calculator. A cement-and-sand coat: plaster calculator.
Drywall sheets
Openings come off the walls, not the ceiling. Screws start at 32 per 4×8 sheet and 48 per 4×12 sheet, one per square foot of the sheet. Mud starts at 1 gallon per 100 ft² and tape at 35 feet per 100 ft². Those are planning rates. No price.
Results
How the sheets are counted
Walls = 2 × (length + width) × height. Ceiling = length × width, and it can be left out. Openings are the door plus the window, and they come off the walls only. They cannot reduce the walls below zero. Net on the opening room is 352.00 + 120.00 − 33.00 = 439.00 square feet.
Waste starts at 10 percent, so the order area is 482.90 square feet. A 4×8 sheet is 32 square feet, and 482.90 ÷ 32 rounds up to 16 sheets. A 4×12 sheet is 48 square feet, and the same area rounds up to 11. Screws are the sheet count times the screws per sheet: 32 on a 4×8 and 48 on a 4×12, one per square foot of the sheet. Mud is 1 gallon per 100 square feet of the order area, 4.83 gallons. Tape is 35 feet per 100 square feet, 169.02 feet. Those rates are planning figures.
Worked example
Leave every field as it opens: 12 ft by 10 ft by 8 ft, ceiling on, door 3 by 7, window 3 by 4, 4×8 sheet, waste 10 percent, 32 screws, 1 gallon and 35 feet per 100 ft². Walls read 352.00 ft² · 32.70 m². Ceiling reads 120.00 ft² · 11.15 m². Openings read 33.00 ft² · 3.07 m². Net reads 439.00 ft² · 40.78 m². With waste reads 482.90 ft² · 44.86 m². Sheets read 16. Screws read 512. Mud reads 4.83 gal. Tape reads 169.02 ft.
| Case | With waste | Sheets | Screws | Mud | Tape |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4×8, ceiling, 10% | 482.90 ft² | 16 | 512 | 4.83 gal | 169.02 ft |
| 4×12, ceiling, 10% | 482.90 ft² | 11 | 528 | 4.83 gal | 169.02 ft |
| 4×8, no ceiling, 10% | 350.90 ft² | 11 | 352 | 3.51 gal | 122.82 ft |
| 4×8, ceiling, 0% | 439.00 ft² | 14 | 448 | 4.39 gal | 153.65 ft |
| 4×8, no openings, 10% | 519.20 ft² | 17 | 544 | 5.19 gal | 181.72 ft |
Frequently asked questions
How many drywall sheets for a 12 by 10 room?
Leave the room at 12 ft by 10 ft by 8 ft, the ceiling checked, the door at 3 ft by 7 ft, and the window at 3 ft by 4 ft. Walls read 352.00 ft² · 32.70 m². Ceiling reads 120.00 ft² · 11.15 m². Openings read 33.00 ft² · 3.07 m². Net reads 439.00 ft² · 40.78 m². At 10 percent, with waste reads 482.90 ft² · 44.86 m². Sheets read 16 for a 4×8.
How many screws, and how much mud and tape?
The 16 sheets use 32 screws each, so screws read 512. That 32 is one screw per square foot of a 4×8 sheet, a planning rate. Mud reads 4.83 gal. Tape reads 169.02 ft. Mud starts at 1 gallon per 100 ft² and tape at 35 feet per 100 ft². Type the rate on the bucket or the roll.
What if the sheets are 4 by 12?
Choose 4 × 12 ft. The sheet is 48 ft² and screws per sheet become 48. Sheets read 11. Screws read 528. With waste stays 482.90 ft² · 44.86 m². Mud stays 4.83 gal and tape stays 169.02 ft, because those follow the area, not the sheet count.
What if there is no ceiling?
Uncheck Include the ceiling. Ceiling reads 0.00 ft² · 0.00 m². Net reads 319.00 ft² · 29.64 m². With waste reads 350.90 ft² · 32.60 m². Sheets read 11. Screws read 352. Mud reads 3.51 gal. Tape reads 122.82 ft.
What does zero waste change?
Check the ceiling again and set waste to 0. With waste matches the net, 439.00 ft² · 40.78 m². Sheets read 14. Screws read 448. Mud reads 4.39 gal. Tape reads 153.65 ft. Ten percent is a planning allowance for cuts.
What if the door and window are left out?
Set the door height and the window height to 0, and set waste back to 10. Openings read 0.00 ft² · 0.00 m². Net reads 472.00 ft² · 43.85 m². With waste reads 519.20 ft² · 48.24 m². Sheets read 17. Screws read 544. Openings come off the walls only, and they cannot reduce the walls below zero.
Is this plaster or paint?
No. This page is gypsum sheets, screws, joint compound, and tape. A cement-and-sand coat is the plaster calculator. Paint on the same room is the paint calculator. Insulation in a cavity or an attic is the insulation calculator.