Building & renovation
How much drywall material do you need?
Shopping list for drywall: boards, metal profiles, screws, joint tape and compound — from wall or ceiling dimensions, single or double side.
Quick answer
Drywall is ordered as a kit — boards, galvanised track and studs, screws, paper tape and joint compound — not as “a few sheets”. The fixed numbers: a standard EU board is 1200 × 2400 mm = 2.88 m², studs go at 600 mm centres, and a wall takes about 28 screws per board.
Advanced settings
Area to board
10.8 m²
- Drywall boards
- 5
- Metal profiles (track + studs)
- 29.6 m → 10 Profile bars
- Drywall screws
- 140 pz → 1 boxes
- Joint compound
- 9.5 kg → 1 × 25 kg
- Joint tape
- 13 m → 1 rolls
Standard trade estimates for galvanized steel framing and 12.5 mm boards. Stud spacing 600 mm; ~28 screws per 1200×2400 board on walls. Joint compound covers taping and first passes — skim coat for Level 4/5 is extra. Verify against your supplier for fire-rated or acoustic systems.
How it works
| Size | Area | In square feet | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1200 × 2000 mm | 2.40 m² | 25.83 sq ft | European standard, the common one |
| 1200 × 2500 mm | 3.00 m² | 32.29 sq ft | tall walls, fewer horizontal joints |
| 1200 × 3000 mm | 3.60 m² | 38.75 sq ft | floor to ceiling with no joint |
| 1250 × 2000 mm | 2.50 m² | 26.91 sq ft | Knauf and German-speaking markets |
| 1250 × 2500 mm | 3.13 m² | 33.64 sq ft | — |
| 1250 × 3000 mm | 3.75 m² | 40.36 sq ft | — |
| 1200 × 2400 mm | 2.88 m² | 31.00 sq ft | British format (8 ft) |
| 1200 × 2600 mm | 3.12 m² | 33.58 sq ft | British format |
Thickness is the number that does not change: 12.5 mm is the standard board for walls and partitions everywhere, with 9.5 mm kept for curved work and 15 mm or more for fire and acoustic build-ups. What changes is the size, and it changes by supplier — Knauf sells 1250 mm wide where much of Europe standardises on 1200. Measure what is actually on the pallet before ordering: on a 4 × 2.7 m wall boarded one side, a 1200 × 2000 board needs 5 sheets while a 1200 × 3000 needs 4 — fewer boards, but also fewer horizontal joints to tape, which is where the finish is won or lost.
| Item | 4 × 2.7 m partition, boarded both sides |
|---|---|
| Surface to board | 21.6 m² |
| Boards 1200 × 2400 | 9 (10% waste included) |
| Track and studs | ~35 m → 12 bars |
| Screws | ~250 |
| Joint compound | ~19 kg → 1 bag of 25 kg |
How to size studs (montanti): for a run of length L at spacing S (usually 0.60 m), vertical studs ≈ ceil(L ÷ S) + 1 (one at each end). Add top and bottom tracks the same length as the wall, plus extra for door/window openings (king studs and headers). A 4 m wall at 600 mm centres needs about 8 studs plus track — the calculator already rolls this into profile metres; edit spacing in advanced for 400 mm tile backing or UK 625 mm sheets.
Waste factor: always add 10% on boards for cuts, and 10–15% on compound and screws for first-time installers. Ceilings and L-shaped rooms waste more than flat partitions. This tool sizes walls (single or double face) and simple drop ceilings; cavity insulation m² appears when checked. Skim for Q4/Q5 and fire-rated Type F boards are not included — edit consumption fields to match your system. Screws and drywall screws packs round up quickly once you include waste.
The screws are where most first jobs quietly go wrong. Driven a fraction too deep, a screw tears through the paper face and from that moment holds almost nothing — the board is carried by the paper, not by the gypsum — so it has to dimple the surface without breaking it, which is what the depth-setting nose on a drywall driver is for. The joints follow the same logic of restraint: three thin coats, each wider than the last and feathered out, rather than one thick one. And check the result in raking light from a lamp on the floor, not standing square to the wall, because that is how the finished room will show it. The boards are only half the job: once they are up and the joints are done, the wall needs a fixative and then paint, and new plasterboard drinks noticeably more than a previously painted surface.
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Frequently asked questions
How many drywall sheets for a 12 m² wall?+
One side only: 12 ÷ 2.88 = 4.17 → 5 sheets with 10% waste. Both sides of a partition: 24 m² boarded → ~10 sheets. Door openings reduce area — subtract openings or measure net surface.
How do I calculate studs (montanti)?+
Studs ≈ ceil(wall length ÷ spacing) + 1. At 600 mm centres a 4 m wall needs about 8 studs, plus top and bottom track equal to the wall length, plus extras around openings. Tighter spacing (400 mm) for heavy tile backing increases the count.
What waste factor should I use?+
10% on boards is standard for rectangular walls; use 12–15% on ceilings, angled cuts or first DIY jobs. Compound and screws also need a buffer — leftovers store; running short mid-finish is worse.
How much joint compound per m²?+
Taping and bedding joints typically uses 0.6–1.0 kg/m² of installed board area; we default 0.8 kg/m². A full skim for paint-ready Q4 finish can double that — budget extra or use the decorative kg/m² tools for skim coats.
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