Shiplap · walls
How many shiplap boards do I need?
Type in your wall, pick a board width, and everything updates as you go: the rows, the boards, the budget and a shopping list you can copy straight into your notes app. No calculate button, no sign-up.
- Live 2D preview
- Feet or metres
- Shopping list included
Your wall in three answers
Corner to corner, along the floor.
Floor to ceiling, at the tallest point.
How long the boards are at the store. Longer boards mean fewer joints.
No calculate button — the numbers follow your typing.
Wall preview
Final row needs cutting, leftover width: 4.63 in
12 ft × 8 ft = 96 sq ft total.
What you need
10% waste includedBoard rows
18rows
5.38 in face each
Total linear
216 ft
96 sq ft covered
Boards to buy
30boards
about 10 packs of 3 · exact fit
30 boards needed with cutting waste. Each board covers 5.38 in once the reveal is taken off.
18 rows, 216 ft of board, 30 boards to buy.
Your shopping list
30 boards (about 10 packs) · 96 sq ft · 10% waste built in
- 1
Buy 30 8ft 1x6 shiplap boards (about 10 packs of 3)
- 2
Buy 1 box of 1.5-inch 18-gauge brad nails
- 3
Buy 2 tubes of Liquid Nails construction adhesive
30 boards needed with waste, and 10 packs of 3 covers it exactly. Always round up — a second trip costs more than a spare board.
What will it cost?
Pop in the shelf price. 30 boards (about 10 packs of 3) at the store.
- Shiplap boards30 × $12.98 each
$389.40
- Brad nails1 box × $9.98
$9.98
- Construction adhesive2 tubes × $6.48
$12.96
Project total
Fixings: $22.94 · $4.30 per sq ft
$412.34
Excludes paint, caulk, primer and tools. Prices are estimates you can edit above.
How this calculator thinks
Three numbers decide everything else. Change any of them and the whole page redoes the maths instantly.
- 1
Rows first
Wall height divided by the visible face of one board. A 1x6 with a nickel gap shows 5-3/8 in, so an 8 ft wall gives 18 rows with a 4-5/8 in rip cut at the top.
- 2
Then length
Every row is as long as the wall, so rows × wall length = the linear feet you have to buy. This is where people get caught out: a 12 ft wall eats 12 ft of board per row.
- 3
Then waste
Full boards are reused across rows, offcuts get counted, and 10% is added on top for the mistakes nobody plans for. The result rounds up to whole boards — the pack count is shown because stores often bundle them.
Buying shiplap without a second trip
Small habits that save a 40-minute drive to the store.
- Open two packs and mix the boards before you nail — shiplap is a natural product and dye lots vary.
- Store boards flat in the room for 48 hours. They will shrink a little, and 1/8 in gaps turn into 1/4 in gaps once the heating is on.
- Keep one unopened pack until you see the last row go up. Replacing a single board later almost never matches.
- Use 1-1/2 in 18-gauge brads into studs plus a bead of construction adhesive on the back — adhesive is what stops the rattle.
- Mark studs with painter tape before the first board goes up. You will not find them again through 5/8 in shiplap.
Questions people actually ask
The things we get emailed about most, answered without a single engineering term.
How many shiplap boards do I need for a normal wall?
A typical 12 ft by 8 ft wall with 1x6 boards and a nickel gap needs 18 rows and 30 boards with 10% extra for cuts (about 10 packs of 3). The calculator above gives you the exact number for your wall, so you do not have to trust a rule of thumb.
How do I work out the number of rows?
Divide the wall height by the amount of board face you actually see. A 1x6 measures 5-1/2 in across, not 6 in — the number on the tag is nominal, not a tape-measure number. Take the 1/8 in nickel gap off and you are at 5-3/8 in, so an 8 ft wall is 96 ÷ 5.375 = 17.9, which rounds up to 18 rows. Trust the nominal 6 in instead and you will plan 16 rows and come home one row short.
Should I add a waste factor to shiplap?
Yes — 10% is the sweet spot for a plain rectangular wall. Go to 15% if the wall has outlets, a window, a door or outside corners, because every one of those means a notch or a short piece. The waste factor lives in the advanced options and only affects the shopping list, not the rows.
Does the gap between boards change how much I buy?
Less than you would think, but yes. The reveal is taken off every board's coverage, so on a tall wall it can be the thing that pushes you into one more row. On a standard 8 ft wall both a flush joint and a nickel gap land on 18 rows with 1x6 — the difference shows up on longer runs, which is exactly why the calculator does the subtraction instead of you.
Can I use this for a whole room?
Run one wall at a time, note the board count, then run the next wall and add the numbers up. Buying one wall at a time keeps the maths simple and helps you keep dye lots together — the same reason we round every wall up rather than down.