Plywood Calculator
How many sheets of plywood or sheet goods you need for an area, with sheet size and waste allowance.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Area length, Area width, Sheet size, Waste allowance, Cover both faces (two layers)
- What you get
- Whole sheets before waste, Sheets to buy, Total area of sheets bought, Offcut area
- Formula shown
- Yes, every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Plywood Calculator
- 1 Enter Area length (ft)
- 2 Enter Area width (ft)
- 3 Enter Sheet size
- 4 Enter Waste allowance (%), Ten percent for a simple rectangular layout, fifteen to twenty for doorways, alcoves or a diagonal layout.
- 5 Enter Cover both faces (two layers), For a floor laid in two layers, or a panel finished on both sides.
- 6 Press Calculate. You get Whole sheets before waste, Sheets to buy, Total area of sheets bought, Offcut area, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
- 7 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
Subfloor for a 12 by 10 room
120 square feet of subfloor in 4 by 8 sheets.
You enter
- Area length
- 12 ft
- Area width
- 10 ft
- Sheet size
- 1
- Waste allowance
- 10%
- Cover both faces (two layers)
- No
You get
- Whole sheets before waste
- 4
- Sheets to buy
- 5
- Total area of sheets bought
- 160.00 sq ft
- Offcut area
- 40.00 sq ft
Four sheets before waste, five to buy.
Cabinet backs in 5 by 5
60 square feet of cabinet backs in 5 by 5 Baltic birch.
You enter
- Area length
- 10 ft
- Area width
- 6 ft
- Sheet size
- 2
- Waste allowance
- 15%
- Cover both faces (two layers)
- No
You get
- Whole sheets before waste
- 3
- Sheets to buy
- 4
- Total area of sheets bought
- 100.00 sq ft
- Offcut area
- 40.00 sq ft
A 5 by 5 sheet is 25 square feet, so 60 square feet is three sheets with waste.
Workbench top in two layers
A 8 by 4 bench top laminated from two layers of 4 by 8 sheet.
You enter
- Area length
- 8 ft
- Area width
- 4 ft
- Sheet size
- 1
- Waste allowance
- 10%
- Cover both faces (two layers)
- Yes
You get
- Whole sheets before waste
- 2
- Sheets to buy
- 3
- Total area of sheets bought
- 96.00 sq ft
- Offcut area
- 32.00 sq ft
Two layers double the area, so the two layer toggle matters here.
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Frequently asked questions
How many sheets of plywood do I need for 120 square feet?
Should I count plywood thickness as the nominal or actual size?
How much waste should I allow on sheet goods?
When should I use a 5 by 5 sheet instead of a 4 by 8?
Terms used here
Short, plain-language definitions of the words this calculator uses.