Drywall & Flooring Calculators

Drywall, flooring and tile are sold by the sheet, the box or the square foot, and every job produces waste from cuts. The tools here turn room dimensions into quantities with a waste allowance, and the finish products have their own coverage.

Which tool answers which question

• Drywall Calculator: Room size in, sheets of drywall out, plus screws, tape and mud for the job.
• Drywall Installation Cost Calculator: Estimate the installed cost to hang and finish drywall, by square footage and finish level.
• Drywall Mud Calculator: Buckets of joint compound and feet of tape from your drywall square footage.
• Flooring & Tile Calculator: Square footage, boxes to buy and material cost for tile, laminate, vinyl plank or hardwood.
• Tile Calculator: Floor or wall area and tile size to tiles needed, boxes to buy, and cost.

Sheets, mud and waste

A standard drywall sheet is 4 by 8 feet, or 32 square feet, and ceilings and walls are counted separately. Joint compound quantity depends on the number of joints and coats. Flooring and tile need extra for cuts and breakage, commonly 5 to 10 percent and more for diagonal layouts, and buy all the material from the same lot so the color matches.

Older homes and dust

Sanding joint compound and removing old flooring creates dust. In older houses, some joint compound, flooring and adhesives contain asbestos, so test before you sand or demolish, and wear a dust mask or respirator suited to the job.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the waste allowance. Cuts and breakage are certain.
• Mixing lots. Colors and sizes can differ between batches.
• Sanding unknown old material. Test for asbestos and lead first.
• Skipping subfloor prep. Flooring only looks as good as the surface under it.