How can I measure a new house?

Nancy06

I need to measure a new construction house to order the right amount of board to be hang, H/O did not give us the SF.

Darren@Partners

A professional Drywall Contractor will measure the job himself/herself. I've found only one supplier (who also does insulation and gutter) who will measure for rock. But they charge .01-.02 to do so and are likely to be 12 sheets off either way as it is a salesperson doing the measuring. Personally, I'd never let anyone else measure my jobs.

If you are not using a Drywall Contractor and trying to save $, shame on you. Take your plan to Home Depot and brace yourself for the ensuing problems.

PS: This site is for drywall professionals, go to DIYTalk.com

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drywallnflorida

Hire a professional to come and do it right!!

Nancy06

I work for a contractor company, but my boss wants some more ideas about measuring houses, not just blue prints....

Darren@Partners

I always use a tape measure.

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silverstilts

If you don't know how to figure that one out you are in the wrong business. sorry to say it don't take a rocket scientist to figure out simple math...

Custom Drywall Svc.

yup.

Mcex-boarder

Their is no quick easy answer,you to be a pro to understand board counting a house,depending on your region,the board lengths and types vary,8,10,12,14,etc,also their is aqua,or are you using dencshield,you may be using cd board on the ceiling,or 5/8,you need to know where to span your plates when counting,also you do a lot of sheet splitting on a pro board count,if it's vaulted get a pro to count and install,if their is a lot of stairwell work, get a pro,if it's a simple 10 by 10 room in a basement,just measure the walls and ceiling,then get a pro,if it is not done properly the taper will just want more money to fix,get a pro,

Nancy06

Thank you!!!!!

Darren@Partners

A real contractor would have known without asking someone on the internet.

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Bevelation

Up where I am, DW contractors pretty much don't exist. The GC or HO has to find boarders/tapers seperately and they in turn do the take-off.If you order too much board, you can always return it, provided it doesn't get stepped on and dirty. Sometimes leftover board looks like it went through a DDR competition.

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Darren@Partners

Seems to be a trend here to do away with the DC. These penny pinching misers will have their day when it comes to getting somebody to do the warranty work. And the suppliers nail them for .03 more than us.

They're getting their due now anyway. Big bunch of our work is owner/builders (the owners now doing away with the builder/GC). And we charge them extra for it, as now have to educate each client individually vs. working for the same dozen or so builders.

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S&SDRYWALL

square footage x4 /54

1900 on main floor, 1900 basement, 3800sq x4 /54 = I would order about 280 4.5x12 sheets. Take back what you dont use

Whitey97

what the hell...... seriously?

S&SDRYWALL

Been using that equation for years my man!

joepro0000

Nacey,

Use the blueprints, theres a scale on there. Very simple to figure out board count. I do about 5-8 estimated a day on digital prints. Send me the prints, and i'll give you a material count for a small fee.

silverstilts

good advice while you are at it use one of them there metric tapes...and it will all work out

Custom Drywall Svc.

Whitey,

I too utilize the 'formula' method....

BUT,

I in NO way stock a house with it.

However, the formula is useful to cross check your actual physical and plan measurements for bidding and before stocking, etc.....

Trust me, it works......however '4' is not the standard multiplier i use. It depends on the circumstances for the house.

I will not say how i determine what the multiplier i will use is however...i feel i've already said too much as it is!

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D's

I think the GC could rely on the floor SQF x multiplier factor to know if he's getting a fair price. I use that too to give people a ballpark estimate. A drywall contractor needs to get out the tape(I use a measuring wheel) to establish lineal ft x height + ceilings + details + etc... for a quote, and then draw up an accurate board count to stock appropriate lengths of board to minimize waste.

If you go through the "formula" technique enough times you'll develop a pretty good sense of what influences the multiplier. I'm still pleasantly surprised when I ask a builder the floor SQF plus a couple of questions and quickly pick out a number, just to then spend several hours doing the measuring and math and end up with the same number.

D's

Quality1st

From 3.4 for 8ft cut up box structures all the way to 4 for big sheeters with massive heights. 4 is alaways a bit long though.Get it rigjt and you,re alaways within 6 shts.