Drywall Mud Calculator

Enter the board area and the finish level and this returns the joint compound needed in pounds and in buckets, broken out coat by coat: the bedding coat that buries the tape, the fill coat, the finish coat and the full skim a level 5 adds. It also gives the joint tape length from the sheet size you hung, the rolls to buy and the screw count. Every coverage rate is an editable input, because manufacturers publish coverage differently and a heavy hand can use half again as much. A second action works backwards from the buckets already in the garage to the area they will finish.

Calculator Type
Measurements In
Switches the board area, the coverage rates, the bucket weight, the tape roll and every figure on the answer.

Enter the board area and the finish level, in whichever unit you work in. The coverage rates below are the defaults most suppliers imply; change them to whatever is printed on your pail.

Walls and ceilings together, the same figure you worked the sheets out from.
Only used for the tape length and the screw count. Longer sheets mean fewer joints to tape. The 4 ft wide sheets are the North American board; the 1200 mm sheets are what a metric merchant stocks, and their shorter perimeter means less tape per square metre.
Bedding the tape into the joints and the first pass over screw heads and beads. Leave it blank for the standard 5 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 2.44 kg per 10 sq m.
Leave it blank for the standard 4 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 1.95 kg per 10 sq m.
Leave it blank for the standard 3.5 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 1.71 kg per 10 sq m.
Only used at level 5, and over the whole board area rather than the joints. Leave it blank for the standard 6 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 2.93 kg per 10 sq m.
Compound left in the pan and the bucket, and what goes on the floor. Ten percent is light for a first job.
Ready-mixed compound comes in a 4.5 gallon pail at 61.7 lb, a 3.5 gallon pail at 50 lb and a 1 gallon pail at about 13 lb, and setting-type powder in 18 and 25 lb bags. Leave it blank for the 61.7 lb pail.
Paper tape is sold in 75, 250, 300 and 500 foot rolls, or 23, 76, 91 and 150 metre rolls. Leave it blank for a 250 ft roll.
About 32 on a wall sheet over 16 inch framing: field screws at 12 inches with closer spacing round the edges. Ceilings take more, and a single-ply wall screwed at 16 inches takes fewer.
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Measurements In
Switches the board area, the coverage rates, the bucket weight, the tape roll and every figure on the answer.

The other direction: compound already bought, and the board area it will finish.

Part buckets are fine, so 2.5 means two full ones and a half.
Ready-mixed compound comes in a 4.5 gallon pail at 61.7 lb, a 3.5 gallon pail at 50 lb and a 1 gallon pail at about 13 lb, and setting-type powder in 18 and 25 lb bags. Leave it blank for the 61.7 lb pail.
Bedding the tape into the joints and the first pass over screw heads and beads. Leave it blank for the standard 5 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 2.44 kg per 10 sq m.
Leave it blank for the standard 4 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 1.95 kg per 10 sq m.
Leave it blank for the standard 3.5 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 1.71 kg per 10 sq m.
Only used at level 5, and over the whole board area rather than the joints. Leave it blank for the standard 6 lb per 100 sq ft, which is 2.93 kg per 10 sq m.
Compound left in the pan and the bucket, and what goes on the floor. Ten percent is light for a first job.
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