Plywood and Sheet Goods Calculator
Enter a floor, a wall or a typed area and pick a sheet size to get the sheets of plywood or any panel, by area or by laying out rows, rounded up once.
Estimates for planning, not professional advice. Read the full notice.
The drawing did not open. Length and width are still here.
Area: shape and size
Skip the drawingDrag a round corner to move it. The small hollow diamond on a side is its curve handle: drag it across the side to curve the side (it is not a corner). To add a corner (a new point), tap the side itself, then choose Add a point here. Tapping a corner or a side opens its actions. Drag empty space to move the view; pinch, or Ctrl and the mouse wheel, to zoom. The keys are listed under Keys.
Keys
- Tab
- next corner; each says how far it is from corner 1
- Arrow keys on a corner
- move it one square; ten with Shift; 1/16 in with Alt
- Delete or Backspace
- remove the corner; its two sides join in one straight side
- + on a corner
- add a corner halfway along the next side
- Arrow keys on the drawing
- move the view; farther with Shift
- + and - on the drawing
- zoom in and out
- 0 on the drawing
- show the whole shape
- Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac)
- undo, except inside a typed field (it keeps its own)
- Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y
- redo
- Escape while dragging
- put it back where it was
- Enter on a corner or side
- go to its actions
- Escape in the actions
- close them and go back to the drawing
The drawing did not load. Check your connection and try again.
- Area
- 192 ft²
- Perimeter
- 56 ft
- Cut-out edges
No area until the shape is fixed.
Estimate for planning, from what you entered and the product data shown. Check product labels and your supplier before you buy.
Shape: Rectangle Change
Sides
Corners
Cut-outs
Feet and inches, like 12' 6"
Example: a 12 ft by 16 ft floor
7 4 × 8 ft sheets
- Area of the floor 192 ft²
- Sheets with no waste 6 sheets
- Sheets with the waste, before rounding 6.6 sheets
- Rows of sheets across the floor 3 rows
- Sheets counted by layout, no waste 6 sheets
Your project
Enter a size to see your total.
Each product is rounded up once for the whole project, so the total can be less than the items bought alone added together. A line counted from a cut layout (sheets, boards or tiles laid out piece by piece) is counted for each item and added.
Shopping list
| Item | Size | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Plywood sheets | 4 × 8 ft sheet | 7 |
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Worked example: a 12 ft by 16 ft floor
Show the working
- Area: length times width 16 ft × 12 ft = 192 ft²
- Add the waste allowance, once 192 ft² + 10 % waste = 211.2 ft²
- Divide by the area of one sheet 211.2 ft² ÷ 32 ft² = 6.6 sheets
- Round up once, to whole sheets 6.6 sheets = 7 sheets
Assumptions
The figures behind the example. Sourced figures link to their source below; a default is a starting value to check against your label or supplier.
| Assumption | Value | Details and changes |
|---|---|---|
| Waste allowance | 10% | |
| Default An example allowance for cuts and breakage, added once. Change it for your own job. | ||
| Sheet size | No default | |
| Default Choose the size your supplier sells from the list above the result. Check your label or supplier. | ||
Feet and inches, like 12' 6"
Sheets by floor size
Sheets of 4 × 8 ft and 4 × 10 ft for floors of different sizes, with and without the waste allowance
| Floor | 4 × 8 ft, no waste | 4 × 8 ft, with waste | 4 × 10 ft, with waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 8 ft | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 10 × 12 ft | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 12 × 16 ft | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| 16 × 20 ft | 10 | 11 | 9 |
Each row is the area method, worked on its own at the waste allowance in the assumptions. A floor that is an exact number of sheets needs no extra sheet until the waste is added.
Questions
How many sheets of plywood do I need for a floor?
Enter the floor's length and width and choose the sheet size. The calculator divides the floor area, plus your waste allowance, by the area of one sheet and rounds up once. A floor that is exactly a whole number of sheets, such as 12 ft by 16 ft on 4 × 8 ft sheets, is that whole number until waste is added.
Can I use it for roof sheathing?
Type the roof's area with Draw a shape or work it out on the roof square footage calculator first. The area method then counts the sheets for that area. The calculator counts sheets only and gives no spans or fastening.
Is the count the same for OSB?
Yes. The count depends on the area and the size of the sheet, so the same sheets of OSB or any other panel of the same size come to the same number.
What is the difference between counting by area and by layout?
Area divides the total area by one sheet. Layout lays rows of sheets across the shorter side and cuts each row from sheets of the chosen length, so it never gives fewer sheets than the area count. The calculator orders the larger of the two.