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Carpentry · studs · boards
How much timber and plasterboard for a stud wall?
Verticals at 600 and noggins at 1200 — the spacing the old internal sheet used on every room — plus plates, plasterboard and the fixings.
1
Measure it
Every box has its own unit next to it.
Change the unit beside any box and the number converts. The (i) beside each question says what the box wants and where the figure usually comes from. Anything marked per cent is a percentage of the quantity above it.
2
Check the rates
Rates and assumptions used
These are the figures the calculator works to. Change any of them and the order list updates — your merchant’s pack sizes and your own waste allowances beat the defaults every time.
How this one works
Studs = wall length ÷ centres + 1
Plates = wall length × 2 (head and sole)
Noggin rows = height ÷ noggin centres − 1
Boards = net area × sides × (1 + waste %) ÷ sheet area
The figures the calculator works to. Every one can be changed in step 2, and your merchant’s pack sizes and your own waste allowances beat these defaults every time.
Rate
Default
Why
Board size
2.88 m²
2400 × 1200.
Screws per board
35 no.
At 300 mm centres on the studs.
Scrim per board
9 m
Two long edges and an end.
Acoustic roll
5.9 m²
A standard roll of mineral wool.
A worked example
With the defaults the page opens on:
How long is the wall? 4.5 metres
How tall is it? 2.4 metres
Door or opening to take off? 1.9 square metres
What centres are the studs at? 600 millimetres
How far apart are the noggin rows? 1200 millimetres
Which plasterboard? 12.5 mm standard
Board one side or both? Both sides
Spare for cuts 10 per cent
Framing
Studs: 9 no.— at 600 mm centres
Stud timber: 21.6 m
Head & sole plate: 9 m
Noggin rows: 1 rows — at 1,200 mm
Noggin timber: 4.5 m
Total CLS / carcassing: 35.1 m— order in 2.4 / 3.0 / 4.8 m lengths
Boarding
Net wall area: 8.9 m² — L × H − opening
Board area: 17.8 m² — 2 sides
Board waste: 10 %
Plasterboard: 7 sheets— 12.5
Drywall screws: 245 no. — about 0.2 × 1000 box
Scrim tape: 63 m
Acoustic insulation: 2 rolls — if it is a sound-rated wall
Change any figure above and every line recalculates; the small print under each row is the sum that produced it.
Questions people ask
How many studs for a stud wall?
Wall length ÷ centres + 1. A 4.5 m wall at 600 mm centres needs 9 studs; at 400 mm centres, 13.
400 or 600 mm centres?
400 mm where the wall carries anything or is being tiled; 600 mm otherwise. The noggin rows default to 1200 mm so one lands on the board joint.
How many plasterboards?
Net area × sides × waste ÷ sheet area. The total timber row is shown as the sum of the studs, plates and noggins above it.
Read before you order. These work out quantities, not structural design — spans, lintels, rebar and foundation depths need an engineer and Building Control sign-off. Waste allowances are defaults, not promises: awkward cuts, long runs and bad weather all eat more than 5%. Where a merchant sells whole packs, the figure is rounded up to whole packs.
