Drywall (Plasterboard) Calculators
Estimate drywall or plasterboard sheets for walls and ceilings, plus joint compound, tape and screws for finishing.
All drywall (plasterboard) calculators
Coming soon: Joint compound · Stud count
How drywall (plasterboard) estimating works
Drywall (plasterboard in the UK, gyprock in Australia) is sold in sheets of fixed size: 4 × 8, 4 × 10 and 4 × 12 ft in North America; 1200 × 2400, 2700 and 3000 mm elsewhere. Sheet count is surface area plus waste divided by sheet area, rounded up. Longer sheets reduce the number of joints to tape and finish, but they are heavier and harder to get into the room.
Finishing materials — joint compound, tape and screws — scale with board area. Our figures are rules of thumb for a standard finish; manufacturers' handbooks give exact rates for their systems, and fire-rated or acoustic walls follow specific tested assemblies.
Glossary
- Mud
- joint compound
- Taper
- board with tapered long edges for flush joints
- Dot and dab (UK)
- board fixed to masonry with adhesive dabs
- Level 4 finish
- standard smooth finish for painting (US)
Updated by the DIYCalcLab Editorial Team · How we calculate
Guides
- Drywall and Plasterboard Sheet Sizes: US vs UK vs AustraliaStandard drywall and plasterboard sheet sizes and thicknesses in the US, UK and Australia, how to choose a size, and how sheet size changes the number of joints.
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