Free Drywall Calculator — Sheets, Mud, Tape & Screws
Enter your room and it totals the drywall sheets (4×8, 4×10 or 4×12), joint compound, tape and screws — doors and windows subtracted, 10% waste included. Free, instant, no sign-up.
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How many sheets for a 12×12 room?
A 12×12 room with 8-foot ceilings has a wall perimeter of 48 ft × 8 ft = 384 sq ft. Subtract one door (≈17 sq ft) and one window (≈12 sq ft) → 355 sq ft. Add 10% cutting waste → 390 sq ft to buy, which is 13 sheets of 4×8 (390 ÷ 32, rounded up) — or 9 sheets of 4×12. Hanging the 144 sq ft ceiling too brings it to about 17 sheets of 4×8, one 4.5-gallon bucket of compound, one 500-ft roll of tape, and two 1-lb boxes of screws.
How we calculate this
- Area: wall perimeter × ceiling height − 17 sq ft per door − 12 sq ft per window (+ floor area if the ceiling is included), then +10% waste — the standard estimating buffer for offcuts and breakage.
- Sheets: area ÷ sheet size (32 / 40 / 48 sq ft), rounded up.
- Joint compound: one 4.5-gal bucket of ready-mix per ~450 sq ft hung.
- Tape: ~370 linear ft per 1,000 sq ft → 500-ft rolls, rounded up.
- Screws: ~1 per sq ft on 16" o.c. framing → 1-lb boxes (~300 screws), rounded up.
Use ½" board on walls, ⅝" Type X where fire separation is required (like attached-garage walls), and moisture-resistant board in wet rooms — check your local code for what applies.