Drywall for a 1,200 Sq Ft House

Where the board goes in 1,200 sq ft

• Ceilings: 1,200 sq ft, 27% of the typical one-story total.
• Outside walls: about 141 ft of perimeter at 8 ft, less 12% for windows and exterior doors, is 996 sq ft, 22% of the total.
• Interior walls: 144 linear ft at 0.12 ft per sq ft of floor, boarded on both faces, is 2,304 sq ft, 51% of the total. An open plan has about 108 linear ft and a plan with many rooms about 192.
• Sheets: 4,500 sq ft plus 10% waste is 4,950 sq ft, or 104 sheets at 48 sq ft and 155 at 32 sq ft.

Split the same 1,200 sq ft over two stories with 8 ft ceilings and the smaller footprint has more outside wall per square foot of floor: 1,408 sq ft of it, against 996 on one level. The two-story total is 4,912 sq ft, 113 sheets of 4x12.

The footprint shape, opening share and interior wall density are our planning assumptions, not measured data. For an order, measure room by room with the main calculator.

4x8 or 4x12 for a 1,200 sq ft house

For the typical one-story plan, 4x12 board is 104 sheets and 4x8 is 155: 51 more sheets to carry, lift and fasten for the same 4,500 sq ft. At about 51 lb per 4x8 sheet of 1/2 in regular board, the 4x8 order weighs about 7,905 lb, so a house this size goes on a delivery truck rather than a trailer.

Labor for 1,200 sq ft of house

At the site's national planning range of $1.20 to $2.50 per sq ft of board to hang and finish, the typical one-story plan comes to $5,400 to $11,249 in labor. The open plan's 3,924 sq ft is $4,708 to $9,809, and the many-room plan's 5,268 sq ft is $6,321 to $13,169. Two stories with 9 ft ceilings, 5,376 sq ft, runs $6,451 to $13,440.

Checking 1,200 sq ft against the rule of thumb

Drywall finisher Myron Ferguson, writing in Fine Homebuilding, multiplies living-area floor space by 3.5 for 8 ft ceilings and 3.82 for 9 ft ceilings, and figures the garage separately. For 1,200 sq ft that is 4,200 and 4,584 sq ft; this model gives 4,500 and 4,912 for a typical one-story plan, ratios of 3.75 and 4.09. The U.S. Geological Survey put an average new 2,000 sq ft home at about 6,144 sq ft of wallboard in 2001, about 3.1 times the floor area, which would be 3,686 sq ft here. A garage, a bonus room or vaulted ceilings are not included.

Mud, tape and screws for 1,200 sq ft

For the typical one-story case: about 630 lb of all purpose joint compound (10 pails of 4.5 gallons), 1,665 ft of paper tape (4 rolls of 500 ft) and 4,800 screws.