Free tool
Wall framing quantity calculator
Studs and plates for a wall from its length and the stud spacing on your drawings, in feet or metres. You add the extra studs your details need and your waste; the counting rules are written out below.
Corners, wall intersections, king and jack studs at openings, blocking: count them from the drawings.
Studs to buy
11
10 on layout + 0 extra + 1 waste
Plates: 36 ft in total, 3 pieces of 12 ft
A quantity tool, not a design one. It counts studs on a layout at the spacing you enter and works out plate length. It does not size studs or headers, choose a spacing, or say whether a wall meets code: those come from the drawings, the engineer and your building code. Have an estimator check the count.
The arithmetic, in full
Studs on layout. Studs = wall length ÷ spacing, rounded up, plus one for the end. A 12 ft wall at 16 in is 144 ÷ 16 = 9 spaces, so 10 studs. When the length is an exact multiple of the spacing, the last mark is the end stud and is not counted twice.
A part space. A 10 ft wall at 16 in is 120 ÷ 16 = 7.5 spaces. The half space still needs a stud at the end, so it rounds up to 8 spaces and 9 studs.
Extras and waste. Add the studs you counted for corners, intersections and openings, then the waste, rounded up. The 12 ft wall with 6 extra studs at 10% waste is 10 + 6 + 2 = 18 studs.
Plates. Plate length = wall length × number of plates. Three plates on the 12 ft wall is 36 ft: 3 pieces of 12 ft stock.
Metric. A 3.6 m wall at 400 mm is 9 spaces and 10 studs, with 10.8 m of plate for three plates.
What each input means
- Wall length
- Overall length of the wall, in feet or metres, measured along the plate.
- Stud spacing
- On-centre spacing from the drawings. Feet work with inches, metres with millimetres.
- Extra studs
- Every stud beyond the layout that your details call for. Whole numbers; negative values are treated as zero.
- Waste
- Allowance for split, crooked or miscut studs, as a percent, rounded up to whole studs.
- Plates and stock length
- How many plates run the length of the wall, and the length you buy them in.
Frequently asked questions
- How many studs do I need for a wall?
- Divide the wall length by the stud spacing, round up, and add one for the end. A 12 ft wall at 16 in on centre has 9 spaces and 10 studs on layout. Then add the studs your drawings show at corners, intersections and openings, and your waste allowance.
- Why does the calculator not add studs for corners and openings?
- Because how many depends on how your drawings detail them, and a guessed number is worse than one you count. Corner and intersection details, king and jack studs, cripples and blocking all vary. Count them from the drawings and enter the total as extra studs.
- What spacing should I use?
- The spacing on your drawings. It depends on the load, the stud size, the sheathing and the building code, and this tool does not choose it. The common spacings are offered as options so you can match what is specified.
- How are plates worked out?
- Plate length is the wall length times the number of plates, for example three for a bottom plate and a double top plate. Pieces are that length divided by your stock length, rounded up. Joints and short offcuts can need one more piece than that.
- Does this check my wall meets code?
- No. It counts material from the dimensions and spacing you enter. Stud size, spacing, headers, bracing and fastening come from the drawings, the engineer where there is one, and the local building code, and an estimator should check the quantity before ordering.
Getting it into a priced estimate
Put the stud and plate counts on the estimate as material lines with your supplier's prices, and the framing labour beside them. Every quantity on a BuildersBridge estimate stays editable, so a revised drawing is an edit to the lines.
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