Stud Count Calculator
Enter a wall length and stud spacing and get the stud count — with an allowance for corners and partitions — plus the linear feet of top and bottom plate.
plate = 20′ × 3 rows = 60 ft
A stud wall is a row of vertical studs spaced a fixed distance apart on centre, capped by plates top and bottom. The count starts with the spacing: divide the wall length by the on-centre spacing — `16 in` or `24 in` are the usual choices — and add one, because a wall of `n` bays needs `n + 1` studs to close both ends. A `20 ft` wall at `16 in` on centre is `15` bays, so `16` studs before anything else.
Real walls need more than the evenly spaced studs. Each corner takes extra studs to form a nailing surface for drywall, partitions that tee into the wall need a stud or a channel where they land, and every window and door adds a pair of king and jack studs plus cripples. Rather than guess, the tool lets you add a lump allowance for those corners and intersections on top of the on-centre count.
Plates are counted by length, not by the stud. A conventional wall has a single bottom plate and a doubled top plate — three plate lengths in all — so the plate stock is the wall length times three. Enter the wall length, pick the spacing, and set an allowance for corners and partitions; the tool returns the stud count and the plate linear feet. It does not add the king, jack, and cripple studs around specific openings — lay those out per opening.
studs = ceil(20 ft ÷ 16 in) + 1 + 2 = 15 + 1 + 2 = 18
plate = 20 ft × 3 (single bottom + double top) = 60 ft