The Drywall Calculator estimates sheetrock panels, joint compound buckets, paper joint tape, and screw fastener weight from total wall or ceiling square footage.

### Material Takeoff Rules of Thumb Professional drywall contractors calculate material quantities using standard coverage baselines: - **Sheetrock Panels**: Total square footage is divided by sheet surface area ($32\text{ sq ft}$ for $4\times 8$ or $48\text{ sq ft}$ for $4\times 12$) with a 10% buffer for cutting waste and corner scraps: $$\text{Sheets} = \left\lceil \frac{\text{Square Footage} \times 1.10}{\text{Sheet Area}} \right\rceil$$ - **Joint Compound (Mud)**: Roughly $1.0\text{ gallon}$ of premixed joint compound per 100 square feet of hung drywall (covering embedding, fill, and finish coats). - **Drywall Screws**: Approximately $1.0\text{ lb}$ of 1-1/4" coarse-thread drywall screws per 400 square feet of surface area. - **Paper Joint Tape**: Roughly $0.40\text{ linear feet}$ of joint tape per square foot of drywall installed.

### Worked Example Calculating materials for a 600 sq ft room using standard $4\times 8$ panels: - **Drywall Sheets**: $\lceil (600 \times 1.10) / 32 \rceil = \lceil 660 / 32 \rceil = 21$ sheets ($4\times 8$) - **Joint Compound**: $\lceil 600 / 100 \rceil = 6$ gallons of all-purpose mud - **Drywall Screws**: $\lceil 600 / 400 \rceil = 2$ lbs of 1-1/4" drywall screws - **Joint Tape**: $600 \times 0.40 = 240$ linear feet of tape

### Client-Side Execution & Privacy All material estimates calculate locally in your browser memory. No architectural plans, home dimensions, or contractor bids are transmitted across the internet.