Drywall for a 1,500 Sq Ft House

Where the board goes in 1,500 sq ft

• Ceilings: 1,500 sq ft, 27% of the typical one-story total.
• Outside walls: about 158 ft of perimeter at 8 ft, less 12% for windows and exterior doors, is 1,113 sq ft, 20% of the total.
• Interior walls: 180 linear ft at 0.12 ft per sq ft of floor, boarded on both faces, is 2,880 sq ft, 52% of the total. An open plan has about 135 linear ft and a plan with many rooms about 240.
• Sheets: 5,493 sq ft plus 10% waste is 6,042 sq ft, or 126 sheets at 48 sq ft and 189 at 32 sq ft.

Split the same 1,500 sq ft over two stories with 8 ft ceilings and the smaller footprint has more outside wall per square foot of floor: 1,574 sq ft of it, against 1,113 on one level. The two-story total is 5,954 sq ft, 137 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 1,500 sq ft house

For the typical one-story plan, 4x12 board is 126 sheets and 4x8 is 189: 63 more sheets to carry, lift and fasten for the same 5,493 sq ft. At about 51 lb per 4x8 sheet of 1/2 in regular board, the 4x8 order weighs about 9,639 lb, so a house this size goes on a delivery truck rather than a trailer.

Labor for 1,500 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 $6,592 to $13,733 in labor. The open plan's 4,773 sq ft is $5,728 to $11,933, and the many-room plan's 6,453 sq ft is $7,744 to $16,133. Two stories with 9 ft ceilings, 6,511 sq ft, runs $7,813 to $16,277.

Checking 1,500 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 1,500 sq ft that is 5,250 and 5,730 sq ft; this model gives 5,493 and 5,992 for a typical one-story plan, ratios of 3.66 and 3.99. 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 4,608 sq ft here. A garage, a bonus room or vaulted ceilings are not included.

Mud, tape and screws for 1,500 sq ft

For the typical one-story case: about 769 lb of all purpose joint compound (13 pails of 4.5 gallons), 2,032 ft of paper tape (5 rolls of 500 ft) and 5,868 screws.