Drywalls Calculator guides
The calculators give you a number. These guides explain where the inputs come from, which assumptions matter, and how to tell a good estimate from a bad one.
Hanging
Bathroom and kitchen drywall: where moisture board goes, and where not
Green board is for splash and steam, not for water. Knowing where the line falls between gypsum and tile backer is most of what there is to bathroom drywall.
Garage drywall: the fire-separation rules and type X
An attached garage is the one place most houses need fire-rated drywall. The rules are short and specific, and they decide which board goes on which surface.
Hanging drywall: ceilings first, then walls, and why
Every hanger does the ceiling first. The reason is structural, not habit, and the same logic decides the order of every row on the walls.
Screws per sheet: spacing, length and pounds
Screws are cheap, but a wrong count means a second trip and a wrong spacing means nail pops. The count is a small piece of arithmetic anyone can check.
Cost & hiring
DIY drywall: hang it yourself, hire the finish?
Hanging drywall is heavy but learnable in a weekend. Finishing it so it disappears under paint takes years. That is why the middle option is so common.
Drywall repairs: patch kits, California patches, or a new section
The size of the hole decides the repair. A nail hole takes a fingertip of spackle; a fist hole takes a patch; a water-stained ceiling takes a saw.
Drywall vs veneer plaster: cost, time and finish
Veneer plaster is the modern plaster: hard, smooth and decorated the day after it goes on. It costs more than drywall, and here is how much more.
How to read a drywall quote (and compare two)
Two drywall quotes can differ by half and both be fair, if they price different jobs. The trick is making them price the same one.
Removing old drywall and plaster: weight, dumpsters and asbestos
Tear-outs are quick and heavy. The planning is mostly about weight, and, in older homes, one test before the first swing.
What drywall contractors charge: per sheet, per square foot, by finish level
Drywall is priced per sheet or per square foot of board, and the finish level moves the price more than anything but the region. These are the sourced ranges.
Finishing
Drywall textures: orange peel, knockdown, popcorn, and how much material
A texture hides small flaws and changes how a room looks and sounds. Each one has its own material, tools and coverage, and old ones come with a warning.
How long joint compound takes to dry, coat by coat
Twenty-four hours between coats is true at 70 °F and 70% humidity. In a cold basement it can be five days; in a warm, dry room, an afternoon.
Joint compound: all-purpose, lightweight, setting, and gallons per sheet
One bucket per ten sheets is the rule everyone quotes and nobody can source. Here is what the makers publish, and how the finish level changes it.
Levels of drywall finish, 0 to 5, explained
When a contractor quotes "taped and finished", ask which level. The answer decides how the walls look under paint, and a fair part of the price.
Paper vs mesh tape: strength, speed and where each belongs
Mesh is quicker to put on and paper is stronger once it is on. The right answer depends on the joint, and on the compound you bed it in.
Sanding drywall: grits, tools and keeping the dust down
Sanding is the messiest hour of the job and the one that decides how the paint looks. Less of it, done with the right grit and tool, is the goal.
Measuring & buying
4×8, 4×12 and the rest: sheet sizes, orientation and seams
The size and direction of the sheets decide how many joints there are to tape, and joints are where the labour and the visible flaws are. Here is how to choose.
Drywall thickness: 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8 and type X
Half-inch board covers most walls in most homes. The exceptions are ceilings on wide framing, fire separations, curves and sound walls, and each has a rule.
How many sheets of drywall do I need? The complete method
Square feet divided by 32 is where most counts start and where most go wrong. Here is the method a careful estimator follows, step by step, on a real room.
What drywall weighs and how to get it into the house
A room's worth of drywall weighs as much as a small car. Planning how it travels, where it is stacked and how it goes up saves backs, floors and corners.
Sound & fire
Fire-rated drywall assemblies: what a rating means, where it is needed
A fire rating belongs to a whole wall, tested in a furnace, not to the board on it. Here is how ratings work and how to build to one.
Soundproofing a ceiling: clips, channel, insulation and double layers
Ceilings carry two kinds of noise, voices and footsteps, and footsteps are the harder one. Decoupling the ceiling from the joists deals with both.
Soundproofing a wall: mass, damping, decoupling and the STC numbers
A soundproof wall is built from four ideas: more mass, a damping layer, decoupled sides and sealed edges. The numbers show what each buys.
Framing
Framing a non-load-bearing partition wall: studs, plates and openings
A partition wall is the most common framing job in a basement or a remodel, and the simplest. The count is a little arithmetic around a door.
Metal vs wood studs for interior walls
Steel studs are the norm in commercial interiors and still unusual in houses. Each has a place, and the drywall goes on both, with different screws.