Stud Wall Framing Calculator + Cost

Easy to use Construction Materials Calculator

Calculate the amount of studs and plates needed for framing a stud wall.

You can frame (build) walls with studs placed at various distances. The most commonly used distances for stud placing in a wall are 16 inches, 19.2 inches, and 2 feet on centers (O.C.). These stud placings will have to be these distances because of the lengths of the sheathing materials you are going to use to finish the wall.

Your wall will be part of the layout of more walls, and in some cases, your first wall will require a corner stud on each end, and the subsequent walls would have only a corner on one end of the wall to provide backing for internal finishing.

A corner is made up out of two studs nailed together in an L.

If there are walls partitioned of another wall, that will require an additional stud, and sometimes two, depending on the layout.

Plates are the members in a wall that hold studs in place. The bottom plate is a single layer, and the upper plate consists out of 2 layers.

Layout your wall by tacking two plates together so they can't move and mark out the first corner. Then proceed by hooking your measuring tape over the end of the plates, marking the first stud 3/4" less than your required spacing. From there on, continue your layout from this mark at the required on spacing of your studs.