Drywall Calculator
Enter a room and its ceiling height, or a total wall and ceiling area, and get the full material list: drywall sheets, joint compound, tape, screws, and corner bead, plus a 2026 cost estimate. It works with any sheet size, and it is free to use with no signup.
Leave standard doors and windows in and let the offcuts cover your waste. Only deduct an opening bigger than a full sheet (over 32 sq ft), or your exact door and window area for a tight bid.
A 4×8 sheet covers 32 sq ft. Bigger sheets mean fewer seams to tape on long walls and tall ceilings.
10% for a simple square room, 15% for a cut-up space with cathedral ceilings, closets, and lots of corners.
Board only. A 1/2 in 4×8 sheet runs about $12 to $20; compound, tape, and screws are extra (see the cost table below).
Illustration, not to scale
Illustration, not to scale
Drywall sheets (with 10% waste)
21sheetsof 4×8
416 sq ft walls + 168 sq ft ceiling = 584 sq ft to cover.
A material list to price and order from, not a substitute for measuring. Field-measure or take off the plan before you buy.
Got your wall and ceiling areas by hand?
Measure them off the plan instead. Easy Takeoffs takes off wall and ceiling areas straight from the PDF to scale, so your sheet, mud, and screw counts come from the drawing. 14-day trial, no card.
How much does drywall cost?
Drywall runs about $1.50 to $3.00 per square foot installed in 2026, hung and finished, so a typical room is around $2.40 a square foot, or roughly $77 for a 4×8 sheet in place. Materials alone are far less, about $0.60 to $0.75 per square foot: a 1/2 inch 4×8 sheet is $12 to $20, a bucket of compound $20 to $25, and tape, screws, and corner bead a few dollars each. Labor is the bigger share. Prices vary by region, so treat these as a starting point.
What drywall costs (2026 US)
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Drywall sheet, 1/2 in 4×8 (32 sq ft) | $12 to $20 each |
| Drywall sheet, 5/8 in Type X 4×8 | About $15 to $22 each |
| Joint compound, 4.5 gal bucket (~450 sq ft) | $20 to $25 |
| Joint tape, 250 ft paper roll | $5 to $9 |
| Drywall screws, 1 lb box | About $7 ($25 for a 5 lb box) |
| Metal corner bead, 8 ft stick | $4 to $5 |
| Materials, all-in | About $0.60 to $0.75 per sq ft |
| Installed, hung and finished (Level 4) | $1.50 to $3.00 per sq ft ($2.40 typical) |
2026 US figures from Home Depot listings and Homewyse (May 2026). Big-box prices are volatile and vary by store and region, so confirm locally. Labor is the larger share of an installed price, and taller or cut-up rooms and ceilings run toward the high end.
What drywall costs by area (installed, 2026)
| Drywall area | Sheets (4×8) | Materials | Installed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 sq ft | 18 | $300 to $375 | $750 to $1,500 |
| 1,000 sq ft | 35 | $600 to $750 | $1,500 to $3,000 |
| 1,500 sq ft | 52 | $900 to $1,125 | $2,250 to $4,500 |
| 2,000 sq ft | 69 | $1,200 to $1,500 | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| 4,000 sq ft | 138 | $2,400 to $3,000 | $6,000 to $12,000 |
By DRYWALL surface area (walls plus ceiling), not floor area. A single 12 by 14 ft room with an 8 ft ceiling is about 584 square feet of drywall, so a whole house runs well into the thousands. Sheets include a 10 percent waste allowance; materials at about $0.60 to $0.75 per sq ft, installed at $1.50 to $3.00.
What materials do you need to hang and finish drywall?
Hanging drywall takes more than the board. For every sheet you also need joint compound to fill the seams and screw heads, paper or mesh tape over the joints, screws to fasten it, and corner bead on any outside corners. The calculator totals each one from your room, using standard coverage: about a gallon of compound per 100 square feet, 12 feet of tape per sheet, and about one screw per square foot.
Drywall materials at a glance
| Material | How it is sold | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Drywall sheets | By the sheet | 4×8 = 32, 4×9 = 36, 4×10 = 40, 4×12 = 48 sq ft |
| Joint compound | 4.5 gal bucket or 3.5 gal box | About 450 sq ft per bucket (~1 gal per 100 sq ft) |
| Joint tape | 250 or 500 ft roll, paper or mesh | About 0.37 lf per sq ft (~12 ft per 4×8 sheet) |
| Drywall screws | 1 lb or 5 lb box | About 1 per sq ft (~32 per sheet); ~238 per lb for 1-1/4 in |
| Corner bead | 8, 9, or 10 ft stick | One stick per outside corner |
Coverage from USG, National Gypsum, and CertainTeed submittals, set to the safe end so you never run short. Paper and mesh tape use the same length; they differ in how they go on. Use 1-1/4 inch screws for a single layer of 1/2 or 5/8 inch board on wood.
How do you measure a room for drywall?
You measure a room for drywall by surface: the walls plus the ceiling. Multiply the wall lengths by the ceiling height for the walls, add length times width for the ceiling, and that surface area is what the sheets, compound, tape, and screws all come from.
- 1
Multiply each wall length by the ceiling height, or for a rectangular room use perimeter times height: 2 × (length + width) × height.
- 2
If you are sheeting the ceiling too, add its area: length × width.
- 3
Leave standard doors and windows in and let the offcuts count as waste. Only deduct an opening bigger than a full sheet (over 32 sq ft).
- 4
Add about 10 percent for waste, then divide the surface by the sheet coverage (32 sq ft for a 4×8) and round up to whole sheets.
How do you calculate drywall?
Drywall comes down to surface area. Add up the wall and ceiling area you are covering, subtract any opening bigger than a full sheet, add about 10 percent for waste, then divide by the size of your sheet to get the number of boards. The joint compound, tape, and screws all follow from that same area. Here is the exact math, with a worked example.
- Wall area
- perimeter × wall height, or 2 × (length + width) × height
- Ceiling area
- length × width, added when you sheet the ceiling
- Openings
- subtract only openings bigger than one full sheet (over 32 sq ft); leave small doors and windows in as waste
- Sheets
- surface area × (1 + waste %) ÷ the sheet coverage, rounded up (a 4×8 sheet is 32 sq ft)
- Joint compound
- about 1 gallon per 100 sq ft of board, or one 4.5-gallon bucket per 450 sq ft
- Joint tape
- about 0.37 linear feet per sq ft of board, roughly 12 feet per 4×8 sheet
- Screws
- about 1 per sq ft: 32 per 4×8 sheet on walls, 36 on ceilings; about 238 screws per pound
- Corner bead
- the linear feet of outside corners, one stick per corner run
Ordering adjustments
Order to the waste allowance, not the bare surface: 10 percent for a simple square room, 15 percent for a cut-up space with cathedral ceilings, many corners, or lots of small rooms. Round every quantity up to whole sheets, buckets, rolls, and boxes. Leave standard doors and windows in the count and let the offcuts cover your waste; only deduct an opening larger than one full 4×8 sheet (32 square feet).
Worked example
A 12 by 14 ft room with 8 ft walls, ceiling included, 4×8 sheets, 10% waste
- Walls: 2 × (12 + 14) × 8 = 416 sq ft
- Ceiling: 12 × 14 = 168 sq ft
- Total surface: 416 + 168 = 584 sq ft
- Add 10% for waste: 584 × 1.10 = 642 sq ft
- Sheets at 32 sq ft each (4×8): 642 ÷ 32 = 20.1, round up to 21
Drywall reference tables
Drywall needed for common room sizes
| Room (8 ft ceiling) | Wall + ceiling area | Sheets (4×8) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 × 10 ft | 420 sq ft | 15 |
| 10 × 12 ft | 472 sq ft | 17 |
| 12 × 12 ft | 528 sq ft | 19 |
| 12 × 14 ft | 584 sq ft | 21 |
| 12 × 16 ft | 640 sq ft | 22 |
| 14 × 16 ft | 704 sq ft | 25 |
| 16 × 20 ft | 896 sq ft | 31 |
| 20 × 20 ft | 1,040 sq ft | 36 |
Walls plus a flat 8 ft ceiling, ceiling included, with 4×8 sheets and a 10 percent waste allowance, exactly as the calculator computes them. Walls are 2 × (length + width) × 8. Change the ceiling height or sheet size above and the counts update.
Drywall sheet sizes and coverage
| Sheet size | Coverage |
|---|---|
| 4×8 | 32 sq ft |
| 4×9 | 36 sq ft |
| 4×10 | 40 sq ft |
| 4×12 | 48 sq ft |
| 4×16 | 64 sq ft |
| 54 in × 12 ft | 54 sq ft |
Coverage is width times length. The 4-foot-wide sheet is standard; 54-inch-wide board hangs sideways on a 9-foot wall in two courses with no seam in the middle. Longer sheets mean fewer joints to tape.
Drywall thickness by use
| Thickness | Where it is used |
|---|---|
| 1/4 in | Curved walls and skimming over an existing surface |
| 3/8 in | Repairs and a second layer over old plaster |
| 1/2 in | Standard for walls and most ceilings |
| 5/8 in (Type X) | Fire-rated walls, garages, and ceilings (resists sagging) |
Half-inch is the everyday choice. Five-eighths inch Type X is required by code in many garages and between attached units, and holds a ceiling flatter. Thickness does not change the square footage or the sheet count, only the screw length and the price.
Waste allowance by room
| Room | Waste |
|---|---|
| Simple square room, flat 8 ft ceiling | 10% |
| Several rooms, closets, and doorways | 12 to 15% |
| Cathedral or vaulted ceilings, many corners, curves | 15 to 20% |
Add more for a cut-up layout. On a small room, rounding every sheet up already adds overage on its own, which is expected and safe. Buy a sheet or two extra for mistakes and future repairs.
Drywall Calculator Questions
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