- Q. Posted by
Pete:
An old drywaller gave me this formula for estimating
the number of 4x12 sheets needed on a job: Take your
floor square footage, multiply by 3.5, then divide that
by 48. Anyone tried this? How accurate is it? Any other
formulas? A.Posted by
Larry:
My rocker uses 3.7 per sq. ft., but buys a
variety of sizes to minimize waste.
Posted by Alan:
If your man can hang at that ratio, he must be
buying the rock himself. I use 4-4.5 per sq. ft.,
to get a quick and dirty budget number, but in my
region (D.C. area), hangers are often
piece-workers. I have seen crews doing a simple
two-bedroom apartment have an immense pile of scrap
left over (they very likely cut up whole sheets
just to get paid for hanging them). But
I’ve also seen crews hang a chopped up
attic addition, with vaulted ceilings, and have no
more scrap left over than you could haul out in a
single trash can.
Posted by Mike:
The 4-4.5 formula works for me also, but
I’m always thinking about how to use even
larger sheets to be more efficient.