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Calculate drywall sheets needed for walls and ceilings. Includes door and window openings, waste factor, and material estimates. Free construction calculator.
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Estimate drywall sheets, joint compound, tape, screws, and corner bead for any room with professional-grade precision.
Drywall — also called gypsum board, plasterboard, or Sheetrock — is the dominant interior wall material in modern construction. A drywall calculator determines how many boards you need by comparing total wall and ceiling area against single-board coverage, then adds a wastage factor (typically 10–15%) for cuts, doorways, and offcuts.
The key inputs are: room length, width, ceiling height, and deductions for windows and doors. Most boards are 1200×2400 mm (standard) or 1200×2700/3000 mm (floor-to-ceiling). You also need joint tape, joint compound (mud), screws (every 300 mm on studs), and corner bead for outside edges.
A professional estimator will also account for board orientation (horizontal vs vertical), stud spacing (400 or 600 mm OC), and double-layer requirements for fire ratings (FR boards as second layer) or acoustic partitions.
Boards = Ceil(Total Area ÷ Board Area × (1 + Wastage))Total area = (2×(L+W)×H) + (L×W) for ceiling. Subtract window/door area. Typical wastage = 10–15% for squared rooms.
Mud (kg) ≈ Total Area (m²) × 0.25Includes base coat (3–4 mm), tape coat, and finish coat. Three-coat system uses approx 0.25 kg/m² dry weight joint compound.
Screws ≈ (Board Width ÷ Stud Spacing + 1) × Board Height ÷ 0.30With 600 mm OC studs and 1200 mm board, there are 3 lines of screws per board. Each line has screws at 300 mm intervals.
Tape = Total Area (m²) × 1.2Butt joints every 2.4 m height plus horizontal top/bottom joints add up to approximately 1.2 m of tape per m² of wall of drywall installed.
| Type | Thickness | Standard Size | Main Application | Relative Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 9.5, 12.5 mm | 1200×2400 mm | Internal walls, ceilings | $ |
| Moisture-resistant (MR) | 12.5 mm | 1200×2400 mm | Bathrooms, kitchens | $$ |
| Fire-rated (FR/Type X) | 15.9 mm | 1200×2400/3000 mm | Fire walls, egress corridors | $$$ |
| Acoustic (STC) | 12.5, 15 mm | 1200×2400 mm | Soundproofing, partitions | $$$ |
| Lightweight | 9.5, 12.5 mm | 1200×2400 mm | Ceilings, easy handling | $$ |
| Foil-back | 12.5 mm | 1200×2400 mm | Vapour barrier in cavities | $$$ |
Interior walls were built with three-coat lime plaster on wood lath. While durable, the process was slow, skilled-labour-intensive, and required weeks of drying time.
US Gypsum Company introduced Sackett Board — multiple layers of gypsum plaster between wool felt paper, marketed as a fire-resistant base for traditional plaster. This was the forerunner of modern drywall.
WWII housing shortage drove demand for faster construction. USG developed Sheetrock® — a single-layer gypsum panel with paper facing — enabling rapid wall installation without wet plaster curing.
Post-war suburban housing boom in USA and Australia saw drywall become the standard for residential construction, displacing traditional lime plaster entirely in new builds.
Specialised products emerged: moisture-resistant (green board), fire-rated (Type X), and acoustic drywall, expanding use into commercial, hospital, and high-rise construction.
Mold-resistant and ultra-lightweight boards introduced. Fire-resistant multi-layer systems now dominate stairwells, lift shafts, and commercial separating walls meeting modern building codes.
US standard specifying physical and mechanical properties for gypsum wallboard, including core hardness, flexural strength, nail pull resistance, and dimensional tolerances.
Read source →European standard defining types A, H, F, R, I, P, D, E, X and their performance requirements for moisture resistance, fire resistance, and mechanical strength.
Read source →Gypsum Association guide covering framing spacing, fastener types and patterns, joint treatment, and fire-resistance assembly specifications for gypsum board installation.
Read source →Green board is waterproof and suitable for wet showers
Moisture-resistant (green) board resists incidental moisture but is NOT waterproof. Wet areas (shower surrounds, bath panels) require cement board, tile backer, or a waterproof membrane over the cured drywall.
Standard drywall is fire-resistant
Standard 12.5 mm board provides about 30 minutes fire resistance. Fire-rated Type X (15.9 mm) provides 45–60 minutes per layer. Building codes typically require 1–2 layers of Type X for fire separation walls.
You should always buy 10% extra and no more
Wastage depends on room geometry: simple square rooms: 8–10%. Rooms with many angles and cuts: 15–20%. L-shaped rooms, many windows: 12–15%. Using a roomspecific wastage factor gives more accurate orders.
Screw spacing doesn't matter much
Incorrect screw spacing causes drywall to sag (ceilings) or crack at joints. GA-216 requires 300 mm max spacing on studs and 400 mm on ceiling joists. Overdriving screws breaks the paper face and reduces holding strength.
Estimate boards, mud, tape, and screws precisely so you only visit the store once.