If you have never estimated drywall before, it can be a bit intimidating. I am here to tell you, however, that it is very easy and I will tell you how to do it with confidence in this article. Estimating drywall for one room is much easier than for a whole house, however once you learn the basics, it’s just a matter of how much time it takes to go from room to room.
So the question is, how do you estimate drywall? Measuring length and height of walls allows you to determine how much drywall you require. Measuring the length and width of a room will allow you to calculate the amount of drywall needed for a ceiling.
That’s basically it. Measure the lengths and heights of rooms along with the floors and you should be able to determine a material list. I will explain this a bit more to make this process foolproof for you going forward. I will also touch on some other related questions on this subject. Let’s get started.
How to Estimate for Drywall
When I measure a room to figure out how much drywall is needed, I pick a wall and I work from that wall around the room clockwise. There is a basic formula for calculating for drywall manually and then with experience you will be able to add sheets of drywall up just by looking at a wall and knowing what the length and height is without crunching numbers.
The first piece of information important to know is that the most common size of gyproc is a 4’ x 8’ sheet of 1/2“ drywall. A 4×8 sheet of drywall covers 32 sq’ on a wall or ceiling.
Now that you have that information, let’s keep going.
- Measure the length and height of the wall. Once you have the length and height, multiply those numbers against one another. For example, if you have a wall that is 10’ in length and 8’ in height, you will have a wall that is 80 sq’. We get that number by calculating the 10’ by 8’.
The next thing to do now is take the number 80 and divide it by the 32sq’ in a 4X8 sheet of drywall. Divide 80 x 32 which gives you 2.5. This means for that one wall, you need 2.5 sheets of 4X8 drywall. It’s just that easy.
Once done one wall, move to the next one. To speed up the process, usually opposing walls are the same size in most homes. This allows you to measure only half the walls and be able to calculate all of the drywall required for that room. However, you should consider something else.
- Drywall sheets come in lengths of 8’, 10’, 12’, 14 etc. Thinking of my room example above, I said the wall was 10’ in length and 8’ high. This means that instead of using an 8’ sheet of drywall, if you used a 10’ sheet it could span the length of the wall. A benefit to doing this is you will have less mudding to do.
The calculation would be 10’ x 4’ equalling 40sq’ for a 10’ sheet of drywall. We know the square footage of the wall is 80sq’. Calculating for how many boards required would be 80/40 which equals 2. This means you could use 2 10’ sheets of drywall for that wall instead of the 2.5 sheets required when using 4×8 sheets of drywall.
With experience, you will be able to look at a wall and be able to estimate how many sheets of drywall by walking around the room.
What materials are needed [should I be accounting for?]
Installing drywall includes more than gyproc. You need screws to attach it and then you will need drywall tape and mud to finish the seams. Estimating drywall should include those items as well.
How Do You Measure Linear Feet for Drywall?
To find out how much drywall tape you should purchase, go back to your calculations and figure out how many sheets of 4X8 drywall you needed. Take the number of sheets required and multiply that number by 24. The result is how many linear feet of drywall tape required.
Drywall tape can be purchased in lengths of 250’ and 500’
Divide the linear feet number by one of the tape lengths to determine how many rolls you will need.
Here’s an example, if you are using 10 sheets of 4×8 drywall:
10 x 24 = 240
240 / 250 or 500 = .96 or .48.
This example tells you, you have 240 linear feet and you will need almost a whole roll of 250’ drywall tape or about half a roll of a 500’ length roll. That make sense?
How Many Sheets of Drywall Do I Need for 1000 sq’?
1000 sq’ requires 31.25 sheets of 4X8 drywall.
This calculation is a result of taking 1000 and dividing it by 32 which is how many sq’ a sheet of 4X8 is.
How Much Drywall Do You Need for a 10 by 12 Room?
Assuming you have a room that measures 10’ down one wall and 12’ down another. Opposing walls are equal. Let’s also assume the ceiling height is 8’.
In this room, you could possibly get away with using just 8 sheets of drywall on the walls assuming you use 4 sheets of 10’ and 4 sheets of 12’ gyproc. The ceiling will depend on which way the joists or trusses run. If you luck out you might be able to use three sheets of 10’ for the ceiling.
How Many Sheets of Drywall Do I Need for a 12 x 12 Room?
With the same assumptions as above that ceilings are 8’.For this room, you will need 8 sheets of 12’ drywall for the walls and three sheets of 12’ for the ceiling. So eleven 12’ sheets of drywall.
If there is a closet, then you will need to measure for that on top of the 11 sheets.
It’s not all Cut and Dry
It’s great when you can get drywall that is the right length and everything works out. Sometimes you will have to cut a foot off some lengths as the framing just doesn’t work out for a full sheet. Then you will have short pieces being cut for closets etc.
I recommend when considering your drywall needs, you look at the studs of the framing carefully to determine what you need.
Every short piece of gyproc you end up throwing out is a waste of money. Think of it that way.
Conclusion
And there you have it! As you can now see, estimating for drywall is very straight-forward.
Measure lengths by heights and measuring the floor is a great way to get measurements for your ceiling.
I even threw in a calculation for you to figure out how much drywall tape is needed. The nice thing about drywall tape is that it’s inexpensive so purchasing too much shouldn’t break the bank for you. Thanks for reading and good luck!
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