How many sheets of drywall for a 12x12 room?
A 12x12 room with 8' ceilings takes 17 sheets of 4×8 drywall, walls and ceiling — counted separately, because they are hung as two jobs. Sheets, tape and mud for every common room size.
A 12' × 12' room with 8' ceilings takes 17 sheets of 4×8 drywall — 12 for the walls and 5 for the ceiling.
That is 484 sq ft of board once 1 door and 2 windows come out, with 10% on top for cuts. In 4×12 sheets the same room is 12 (8 + 4), with fewer butt joints to tape.
How that is worked out
- Walls: the perimeter times the height, 2 × (12' + 12') × 8' = 384 sq ft. The door and windows take 44 sq ft back off, leaving 340.
- Ceiling: 12' × 12' = 144 sq ft.
- Each is grown by 10% and divided by the 32 sq ft of a 4×8, then rounded up on its own: 12 for the walls and 5 for the ceiling. Rounding them separately is the point — an offcut from the ceiling rarely finishes a wall.
Sheets for a room with 8' ceilings, 1 door, 2 windows and 10% waste
| Room | Wall sheets | Ceiling sheets | Total 4×8 | Total 4×12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10' × 10' | 10 | 4 | 14 | 10 |
| 10' × 12' | 11 | 5 | 16 | 11 |
| 12' × 12' | 12 | 5 | 17 | 12 |
| 12' × 14' | 13 | 6 | 19 | 13 |
| 14' × 16' | 15 | 8 | 23 | 16 |
| 16' × 20' | 19 | 11 | 30 | 21 |
Worth knowing
- Many drywallers do not deduct openings at all and let the cut-outs be the waste. This does deduct them, so a room with a wall of windows is not over-ordered — if you would rather sheet straight over and cut out, set the openings to zero in the calculator.
- Hang the ceiling first, then the walls, so the wall sheets hold up the edges of the ceiling. A ceiling sheet is heavy and awkward overhead; a drywall lift is cheap to hire and worth it above a small room.
- 1/2" board is the usual choice for walls. Ceilings on framing 24" apart often take 5/8" or a sag-resistant 1/2" so the board does not droop between joists — check what your framing and the local code ask for.
- Longer sheets mean fewer butt joints, which are the hard ones to finish flat. A 4×12 needs two people and a clear path into the room; if it will not turn up the stairs, it is the wrong sheet.
Work out your own numbers
- Drywall
Sheets of 4x8, 4x10 or 4x12 for a room's walls and ceiling, less doors and windows, with the mud, tape and screws to finish them.
- Paint and finish coverage
Gallons from an area and a coat count, with the cans to buy for brush, roller or spray.
- Insulation calculator
Bags of batts for a wall, floor or attic at 16" or 24" on centre, or the depth and bags of blown-in for a target R-value.
Related questions
- How much tape and mud for a 12x12 room?
- About 179 ft of paper tape — 1 roll of 500 ft — and 2 pails of ready-mixed compound, at USG's handbook figures for 484 sq ft of board. A heavy hand or a skim coat uses more mud; the coverage on the pail is the figure to trust.
- How many screws to hang drywall in a 12x12 room?
- Around 484, at the rule of thumb of 32 screws a 4×8 sheet. Ceilings take more per sheet than walls, because the screws go closer together overhead.
- Should I subtract windows and doors when estimating drywall?
- It is a choice, and both are common. This page subtracts them — 44 sq ft for 1 door and 2 windows here — and adds 10% for cuts. Sheeting over the openings and cutting them out afterwards buys a little more board and turns the cut-outs into the waste allowance.