Drywall is a type of board made from wood pulp, plaster, or other types of other material used to form the interior walls of houses. When making an estimate on how many drywall boards you need to cover a wall or ceiling in your home, you have to measure first the dimensions of the wall. Then this drywall calculator makes your task much easier to help make sure that you won’t have to be buying more than what you need.
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How to use the drywall calculator?
This drywall calculator may seem complicated because you need to enter several values in the required fields. But since measuring your space is an essential step, using this drywall or sheetrock calculator is a breeze. Here are the steps for you to follow:
- For the Drywall Calculator, input the values of the Room Length, Room Width, and Room Height then choose the units of measurement from the drop-down menu.
- For the Area Under Sloped Walls, input the values of the Number of Triangular Spaces, Base of Triangular Space, and Height of Triangular Space to get the value of the Total Area Under Sloped Walls.
- For the Doors, input the values of the Door Height, Door Width, and the Number of Doors to get the Total Door Area.
- For the Windows, input the values of the Window Height, Window Width, and the Number of Windows to get the Total Windows Area.
- For the Room Surface Area, simply select whether you want to Include the Ceiling or not.
- For the Drywall Amount, input the areas of the Net Room Area, Drywall Panel Type, and the Cost per Panel to get the Number of Panels and the Total Cost.
How do I calculate how much drywall I need?
Using the drywall estimator or calculator to determine how many drywall panels you need is very easy. But before you can perform any calculations, you must take the following measurements first:
- Room Dimensions which are the width, height, and length of the walls.
- Ceiling depends on you if you want to drywall your ceiling. If you want drywall installed on your ceilings too, measure the dimensions.
- Room Surface Area can be automatically calculated with the above values. If your space has a shape other than a rectangle cuboid, you may input the value of the surface area in the calculator. For rooms with walls of odd shapes, you can refer to math calculators to determine their surface areas.
- Doors can either be of standard form or custom ones. Typing in the door dimensions into the calculator automatically yields their surface areas.
- Windows can also be of standard sizes or customized. In any case, if your windows differ in size and form, you can do the calculations manually.
After entering all of the information listed above, the drywall calculator automatically calculates how many drywall panels you need. But keep in mind to buy a little more, ideally about 10% more. This extra value accounts for wastes, replacements, and cut-outs.
How many sheets of drywall do I need for 1000 square feet?
As an example, let us assume an area of 1,000 square feet for drywall installation. How many panels needed depends upon their size. In the USA, there are panels available in the following sizes:
- For a drywall panel size of 4’ x 8’, you need about 32 sheets
- For a drywall panel size of 4’ x 9’, you need about 28 sheets
- For a drywall panel size of 4’ x 10’, you need about 25 sheets
- For a drywall panel size of 4’ x 12’, you need about 21 sheets
The different panel sizes have their own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, you can accomplish projects faster using bigger boards as they cover more footage in your wall. But they’re harder to work with because of their size, weight, and low maneuverability.
Smaller boards cover less square footage but are easier to work with. If you plan to drywall small rooms or areas, smaller ones would be highly recommended.
How do you calculate drywall mud and tape?
The installation of drywall boards requires drywall tools and materials. The most basic ones are drywall mud and tape. You can also calculate how much of these you need for your drywall project without using a sheetrock calculator or a drywall estimator:
- Drywall Mud
This is important in joining sheets of drywall and in covering any holes. You can buy these in varying volumes and in different versions namely dry, pre-mixed, and low-dust. The dry version costs less but you have to perform the mixing of the mud with water yourself.
Be warned though, that mixing in wrong proportions can decrease the effectiveness of the mud. If you prefer not to vacuum after drywall installation, then purchasing the low-dust variety of drywall mud is the perfect choice for you. - Drywall Tape
This is usually made of paper but is strong enough to hold two drywall sheets firmly together. The process includes soaking the tape in drywall mud first before pasting them on the joints between the drywall sheets, then letting them dry.
If you opt for a more expensive version of the tape, you can buy the fiberglass type. This costs more but is easier to apply as it’s self-adhesive and it’s more durable too.
How do you measure drywall for a ceiling?
Like the walls in the room, installing drywall panels on the ceiling isn’t rocket science. The same procedures apply. Before using the drywall calculator, you must first measure the dimensions of your ceiling. That way, you can input the values into the drywall estimator to find out how much drywall you need. Here are the steps:
- Calculate the length and width of the room with a measuring tape. These dimensions should be approximately the same as the ceiling dimensions. You can solve for the ceiling’s square footage using these dimensions too.
- If you have a sloped ceiling which you want to drywall, use a ladder to access measuring the ceiling dimensions.
- Input the ceiling square footage and the other values you need for the drywall you plan to install. The drywall calculator does the rest.
