Drywall Calculator
Count drywall sheets for a room or a known area, with joint compound, tape, screws and corner bead.
How it's calculated
Wall area is the room perimeter times the ceiling height, minus about 21 sq ft per door and 15 per window. Walls and ceiling are divided by the sheet size separately, so you get the right count for each.
Finishing materials follow typical industry usage: about 140 lb of ready-mix compound and 370 ft of tape per 1,000 sq ft, and about 32 screws per 4×8 sheet.
Worked example
A 14 × 12 ft room with 8 ft ceilings, one door and two windows has 365 sq ft of wall and 168 sq ft of ceiling: 13 + 6 = 19 sheets of 4×8, two buckets of mud and one 500 ft roll of tape.
Field notes
- Hang the ceiling first, then the walls, top row before bottom.
- Use the longest sheets you can carry. Fewer butt joints means less finishing.
- Use 5/8" or sag-resistant 1/2" on ceilings framed at 24".
- Moisture-resistant board belongs in bathrooms; cement board goes behind tile in wet areas.
Common questions
- How many sheets of drywall for a 12×12 room?
- With 8 ft ceilings: about 12 sheets of 4×8 for the walls and 5 for the ceiling, before subtracting openings.
- How much joint compound do I need?
- About one 4.5-gallon bucket of ready-mix per 400–450 sq ft of drywall for taping and two finish coats.
- How many screws per sheet of drywall?
- About 32 for a 4×8 sheet on walls at 16" o.c., a few more on ceilings.