Live wall diagram
Drawn from your wall length, spacing, wall ends and openings — not a stock image.
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Australia Frame Calculator
A production-grade stud wall calculator built for Australian timber framing: enter your wall length, height, stud spacing, corners and openings to get an exact stud count, cut length and top/bottom plate timber, plus a live wall diagram that redraws itself from your own numbers.
Studs to buy
25 studs
Field studs (on-centre)—
Corner studs (+2 per corner)—
Opening king + jack studs—
Stud cut length—
Top & bottom plate timber—
Stud count breakdown
Where the total stud count comes from.
How to Calculate How Many Studs You Need
Framing a wall comes down to four numbers: how many field studs the stud spacing calls for, how many extra studs each corner needs, how many extra studs each door or window opening needs, and a waste allowance for cutting mistakes and damaged timber, the same take-off method used by Australian frame-and-truss suppliers.
Step 1 — Field studs from stud spacing
Convert wall length to millimetres, divide by your spacing (450mm centres is common for load-bearing MGP pine under AS 1684; 600mm is common for single-storey or non-load-bearing walls), then add 1 for the stud that starts the run.
Step 2 — Add corner studs
Each corner needs a 3-stud post so both intersecting walls have sheeting and plasterboard backing, 2 studs more than the field stud already counted at that end.
Step 3 — Add opening studs
Every door or window opening needs 2 full-height king studs and 2 shorter jack studs that carry the lintel's (header's) load down to the bottom plate, 4 studs per opening. Short noggings above the lintel are typically cut from stud offcuts.
Step 4 — Round up for waste
Add 5-10% on top of the raw total to cover bowed or split timber, cutting errors, and last-minute layout changes, then round up to a whole stud.
field studs = floor(wall length in mm ÷ stud spacing) + 1
corner studs = corners × 2 · opening studs = openings × 4
studs to buy = ceil((field + corner + opening) × (1 + waste%))
stud cut length = wall height − (bottom plate 45mm + doubled top plate 90mm)
corner studs = corners × 2 · opening studs = openings × 4
studs to buy = ceil((field + corner + opening) × (1 + waste%))
stud cut length = wall height − (bottom plate 45mm + doubled top plate 90mm)
Worked example
A 6 m wall, 2.4 m tall, framed at 450mm centres with corners at both ends and one door opening: field studs = floor(6000 ÷ 450) + 1 = 14. Corners add 2 × 2 = 4. The opening adds 4 more. That's 22 studs before waste; with a 10% allowance, ceil(22 × 1.10) = 25 studs. Each stud is cut to 2400mm − 135mm = 2265mm. The three plate runs need 6 m × 3 = 18 linear metres of timber, or four 4.8 m lengths after a small seam allowance.
Types of Studs in a Timber-Framed Wall
Every timber-framed wall is built from a handful of member types, each doing a different structural job. The diagrams below highlight one member at a time against the rest of the same opening, drawn in scale to real AS 1684-style framing, not stock photography.
Common (Field) Stud
The full-height stud repeated at every spacing mark — 450mm or 600mm apart — that makes up most of a wall.
King Stud
Full-height studs on both sides of an opening, running plate to plate, that the lintel (header) hangs from.
Jack Stud
Shorter studs fixed to the inside of each king stud, cut to the opening height, that carry the lintel's load to the bottom plate.
Noggin (Cripple Stud)
Short filler pieces above a lintel (and below a window sill), on the same layout as the field studs but cut shorter.
Corner Post (3-Stud Corner)
Three studs grouped where two walls meet (plan view above), giving sheeting and plasterboard backing on both faces.
Partition T-Post
Where an internal wall meets a continuous wall, extra studs form a "T" so both sides of the junction have plasterboard backing too.
Frequently asked questions
How many studs do I need for a wall?
Field studs from wall length ÷ spacing + 1, plus 2 per corner and 4 per opening, then round up 5-10% for waste.
What stud spacing does Australian framing use?
450mm centres for load-bearing MGP pine under AS 1684; 600mm is common for single-storey or non-load-bearing walls.
How many extra studs does a corner need?
A standard 3-stud corner adds 2 studs beyond the field stud already counted.
How many studs does an opening add?
4: two full-height king studs plus two jack studs. Noggings above the lintel are usually cut from offcuts.
What thickness do you assume for the plates?
45mm bottom plate and a doubled 90mm top plate, standard for load-bearing MGP framing.