ContractorHandbook

How Much Drywall for 300 Square Feet?

Drywall sheets

11 sheets

300 square feet of board, 4 by 8 sheets, ten percent waste.

It does not stop at a number.

When the figures look right, the drywall material list downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.

waste10%wall and ceiling area, sq ftone sheet, 4 by 8 is 32 sq ft, 4 by 12 is 48area with waste / sheet size = sheets
Sheet size decides everything downstream. Longer sheets mean fewer sheets and fewer butt joints to tape, which is why the compound, tape and screw counts on the page all move when you change it.

How that number is worked out

These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.

  • Total area to cover300 sq ft
  • Sheet size4 x 8 ft, 32 sq ft
  • Waste allowance10 %

Drywall sheets11 sheets

Area with 10% waste330 sq ft
Sheets at 32 sq ft11
Joint compound, 4.5 gal buckets1
Joint tape126 lf
Screws352 (about 2 lb)
Corner bead, rough guess20 lf

The material list this produces

Drywall sheets11
Joint compound, 4.5 gal buckets1
Joint tape, linear ft126
Drywall screws, lb2

Sheet size compared

Longer sheets mean fewer butt joints and less taping. Same area, three sheet sizes.

Sheet sizeDrywall sheets
4 x 8 ft11 sheets
4 x 10 ft9 sheets
4 x 12 ft7 sheets

What else matters here

Eleven sheets, one bucket of compound, 126 feet of tape. Three hundred square feet is a small bedroom, a large bathroom or one wall of a basement, and it is the size where the whole order fits in one trip.

If any of it is a bathroom, the board changes. Moisture resistant board, the green stuff, belongs on bathroom walls away from direct water. It does not belong in a shower or a tub surround, where the right material is a cement or foam tile backer, because green board is paper faced and paper behind tile in a wet area eventually fails.

The other place it earns its keep is a laundry room or a basement wall that will never be soaked but will be damp. Paperless board with a fiberglass mat face is better again and costs a little more, and it is worth it anywhere mold would be expensive to find later.

What this calculator assumes

  • Joint compound is figured at one 4.5 gallon bucket per 475 sq ft of board for a full three coat finish. A level 5 finish uses more.
  • Tape is figured at 380 linear feet per 1000 sq ft of board, screws at 32 per sheet for 16 inch on center framing.
  • Longer sheets mean fewer butt joints, which is less taping and a flatter wall. Use 12 footers where they will fit through the door.

Questions people ask

How many sheets of drywall for 300 square feet?

Eleven sheets of 4 by 8 with a ten percent waste allowance, which covers 330 square feet of board.

Can I use green board in a shower?

No. Moisture resistant board suits damp walls but not wet ones. A tub or shower surround needs a cement or foam tile backer behind the tile.

How much joint compound for 300 square feet?

One four and a half gallon bucket, figured at one bucket per 475 square feet of board for a three coat finish.

Different numbers?

The drywall calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.

Other common sizes