Walls, Ceilings & Lighting Guides

Guides for inside the home: hanging and finishing drywall, painting and wallpapering rooms, insulating walls and attics, putting in a drop ceiling and planning lighting. Learn which materials suit each room, how many coats or inches you need and how to light a room well. Each guide links to the calculator that works out sheets, gallons, rolls, bags or lights.

Open the Walls, Ceilings & Lighting calculators

Walls, Ceilings & Lighting calculators

Drywall calculatorDrywall sheets, mud, tape and screws for walls and ceilings.Paint calculatorGallons of paint for walls, ceilings and trim, with coats and doors.Wallpaper calculatorRolls of wallpaper and strips per wall, with the pattern repeat.Insulation calculatorBatts, spray foam and the R-value of a whole wall, layer by layer.Blown-in insulation calculatorBags of blown-in fiberglass or cellulose to reach your attic R-value.Drop ceiling calculatorCeiling tiles, main tees, cross tees, wall angle and hanger wire.Recessed lighting calculatorHow many recessed lights a room needs and how far apart to space them.Lumens calculatorLumens a room needs, plus watts and lux, by room type.