How Many Studs for a 12x16 Shed?
Studs to buy
62 studs
56 ft of wall around a 12 by 16 shed, 8 ft tall, 16 in on center, 4 corners, one 3 ft door, 10 % waste.
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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.
- Wall length56 ft
- Wall height8 ft
- Stud spacing16 in on center
- Doors and windows1 opening
- Average opening width3 ft
- Corners4 count
- Partition intersections0 count
- Waste allowance10 %
Studs to buy62 studs
| Wall area | 448 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Field studs | 43at 16 in on center |
| Positions the openings remove | -2 |
| Cripples above and below | 33 per opening |
| Corners and tees | 8two extra at each |
| Kings and jacks | 4four per opening |
| Studs before waste | 56 |
| Rule of thumb check | 56one stud per foot of wall |
| Plate stock | 168 ft11 at 16 ft, bottom plate and double top |
| Header stock | 7 fttwo plies, opening plus 6 in of bearing |
| Sheathing | 14 sheets4 by 8, gross wall, no openings taken off |
The material list this produces
| Studs at 8 ft | 62 |
|---|---|
| Plate stock, 16 ft lengths | 11 |
| Sheathing, 4x8 sheets | 14 |
| 16d framing nails, lb | 10 |
| Header stock, ft | 7 |
Stud spacing compared
The same 56 ft of shed wall at four spacings. On a shed this size the fixed studs are a much smaller share than they are on a small one, so the spacing finally buys something worth having.
| Stud spacing | Studs to buy | Field studs | Studs before waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 in on center | 77 studs | 57 | 70 |
| 16 in on center | 62 studs | 43 | 56 |
| 19.2 in on center | 54 studs | 36 | 49 |
| 24 in on center | 47 studs | 29 | 42 |
What else matters here
Sixty two studs and 168 ft of plate stock, which is three feet of plate for every foot of wall: one bottom plate and a doubled top plate.
This is the size where the spacing question starts paying. On an 8 by 8 shed the fixed studs, the corners and the door framing, are such a large share of the count that widening the spacing barely moves the total. Here there is enough plain wall between the corners for it to matter, and the table shows the difference across the four spacings.
That is a reason to ask the question, not a reason to answer it yourself. What spacing you may use is set by what the wall carries, the stud size, the local code and what the sheathing and siding need behind them, and a shed wall that is holding up a roof with a snow load on it is not a free choice. Work out what is allowed first and use the table to price it, rather than the other way round.
What this calculator assumes
- Studs are counted position by position: the field studs at your spacing, minus the positions the openings take out, plus the cripples that go back above and below them, plus two extra at every corner and every partition tee, plus a king and a jack on each side of every opening.
- A corner is counted as three studs and a partition tee as three, which is the traditional way. A California corner or a ladder tee uses two plus blocking and saves a stud at each one.
- Cripples are counted as whole studs because they are cut from stock. If you are nesting cuts carefully you will use fewer, and the waste line is where that shows up.
- Plates are one bottom plate and a double top plate, so three times the wall length, and they are priced in 16 ft lengths.
- Headers are figured two plies deep at the opening width plus six inches of bearing. Span, load and species decide the header depth, and that is an engineering question rather than a takeoff one.
- The rule of thumb line is the old one stud per foot of wall at 16 inches on center. It is there as a sanity check, not as the answer.
Questions people ask
How many studs for a 12x16 shed?
62 for the 56 ft perimeter at 16 in on center with one 3 ft door, including a ten percent waste allowance.
How much plate stock for a 12x16 shed?
168 ft, which is three times the 56 ft perimeter, because the wall has one bottom plate and a doubled top plate.
Is 24 in on center worth it on a shed this size?
It saves more here than on a small shed, because the fixed corner and door studs are a smaller share. Whether you may use it is a question of load, stud size and local code.
The framing calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.