diff --git a/internal/google/sheets/models.go b/internal/google/sheets/models.go
index f7bb5b0..5595685 100644
--- a/internal/google/sheets/models.go
+++ b/internal/google/sheets/models.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package sheets
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 )
 
@@ -134,12 +133,14 @@ func (r rawQueryRowsResult) convertRawValue(cellIdx int, cell rawQueryRowsResult
 	col := r.Table.Cols[cellIdx]
 	switch col.Type {
 	case "boolean":
-		return cell.Raw == "true", nil
+		return strings.ToLower(cell.Raw) == "true", nil
 	case "number":
 		if strings.Contains(cell.Raw, ".") {
-			return strconv.ParseFloat(cell.Raw, 64)
+			return cell.Value, nil
+		} else {
+			val := cell.Value.(float64)
+			return int64(val), nil
 		}
-		return strconv.ParseInt(cell.Raw, 10, 64)
 	case "string":
 		// `string` type does not have the raw value
 		return cell.Value, nil
diff --git a/internal/google/sheets/models_test.go b/internal/google/sheets/models_test.go
index ece4963..f0da3f8 100644
--- a/internal/google/sheets/models_test.go
+++ b/internal/google/sheets/models_test.go
@@ -87,18 +87,28 @@ func TestRawQueryRowsResult_toQueryRowsResult(t *testing.T) {
 				Cols: []rawQueryRowsResultColumn{
 					{ID: "A", Type: "number"},
 					{ID: "B", Type: "string"},
+					{ID: "C", Type: "boolean"},
 				},
 				Rows: []rawQueryRowsResultRow{
 					{
 						[]rawQueryRowsResultCell{
-							{Value: 123, Raw: "123"},
+							{Value: 123.0, Raw: "123"},
 							{Value: "blah", Raw: "blah"},
+							{Value: true, Raw: "true"},
 						},
 					},
 					{
 						[]rawQueryRowsResultCell{
-							{Value: 456, Raw: "456"},
+							{Value: 456.0, Raw: "456"},
 							{Value: "blah2", Raw: "blah2"},
+							{Value: false, Raw: "FALSE"},
+						},
+					},
+					{
+						[]rawQueryRowsResultCell{
+							{Value: 123.1, Raw: "123.1"},
+							{Value: "blah", Raw: "blah"},
+							{Value: true, Raw: "TRUE"},
 						},
 					},
 				},
@@ -107,8 +117,9 @@ func TestRawQueryRowsResult_toQueryRowsResult(t *testing.T) {
 
 		expected := QueryRowsResult{
 			Rows: [][]interface{}{
-				{int64(123), "blah"},
-				{int64(456), "blah2"},
+				{int64(123), "blah", true},
+				{int64(456), "blah2", false},
+				{123.1, "blah", true},
 			},
 		}
 
diff --git a/row.go b/row.go
index 9f33cdf..9e3fb9e 100644
--- a/row.go
+++ b/row.go
@@ -30,13 +30,11 @@ func (c GoogleSheetRowStoreConfig) validate() error {
 
 // GoogleSheetRowStore encapsulates row store functionality on top of a Google Sheet.
 type GoogleSheetRowStore struct {
-	wrapper             sheetsWrapper
-	spreadsheetID       string
-	sheetName           string
-	scratchpadSheetName string
-	scratchpadLocation  sheets.A1Range
-	colsMapping         colsMapping
-	config              GoogleSheetRowStoreConfig
+	wrapper       sheetsWrapper
+	spreadsheetID string
+	sheetName     string
+	colsMapping   colsMapping
+	config        GoogleSheetRowStoreConfig
 }
 
 // Select specifies which columns to return from the Google Sheet when querying and the output variable
@@ -104,10 +102,9 @@ func (s *GoogleSheetRowStore) Count() *GoogleSheetCountStmt {
 	return newGoogleSheetCountStmt(s)
 }
 
-// Close cleans up all held resources like the scratchpad cell booked for this specific GoogleSheetRowStore instance.
-func (s *GoogleSheetRowStore) Close(ctx context.Context) error {
-	_, err := s.wrapper.Clear(ctx, s.spreadsheetID, []string{s.scratchpadLocation.Original})
-	return err
+// Close cleans up all held resources if any.
+func (s *GoogleSheetRowStore) Close(_ context.Context) error {
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (s *GoogleSheetRowStore) ensureHeaders() error {
@@ -156,30 +153,19 @@ func NewGoogleSheetRowStore(
 	}
 
 	config = injectTimestampCol(config)
-	scratchpadSheetName := sheetName + scratchpadSheetNameSuffix
 
 	store := &GoogleSheetRowStore{
-		wrapper:             wrapper,
-		spreadsheetID:       spreadsheetID,
-		sheetName:           sheetName,
-		scratchpadSheetName: scratchpadSheetName,
-		colsMapping:         generateColumnMapping(config.Columns),
-		config:              config,
+		wrapper:       wrapper,
+		spreadsheetID: spreadsheetID,
+		sheetName:     sheetName,
+		colsMapping:   generateColumnMapping(config.Columns),
+		config:        config,
 	}
 
 	_ = ensureSheets(store.wrapper, store.spreadsheetID, store.sheetName)
-	_ = ensureSheets(store.wrapper, store.spreadsheetID, store.scratchpadSheetName)
-
 	if err := store.ensureHeaders(); err != nil {
 		panic(fmt.Errorf("error checking headers: %w", err))
 	}
-
-	scratchpadLocation, err := findScratchpadLocation(store.wrapper, store.spreadsheetID, store.scratchpadSheetName)
-	if err != nil {
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("error finding a scratchpad location in sheet %s: %w", store.scratchpadSheetName, err))
-	}
-	store.scratchpadLocation = scratchpadLocation
-
 	return store
 }
 
diff --git a/row_test.go b/row_test.go
index a76e063..fc138c8 100644
--- a/row_test.go
+++ b/row_test.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func TestGoogleSheetRowStore_Integration(t *testing.T) {
 		GoogleSheetRowStoreConfig{Columns: []string{"name", "age", "dob"}},
 	)
 	defer func() {
-		deleteSheet(t, db.wrapper, spreadsheetID, []string{db.sheetName, db.scratchpadSheetName})
+		deleteSheet(t, db.wrapper, spreadsheetID, []string{db.sheetName})
 		_ = db.Close(context.Background())
 	}()
 
diff --git a/stmt.go b/stmt.go
index ad66545..ff2cddc 100644
--- a/stmt.go
+++ b/stmt.go
@@ -549,36 +549,24 @@ func (s *GoogleSheetCountStmt) Exec(ctx context.Context) (uint64, error) {
 		return 0, err
 	}
 
-	formula := fmt.Sprintf(
-		rwoCountQueryTemplate,
-		getA1Range(s.store.sheetName, defaultRowFullTableRange),
-		selectStmt,
-	)
-
-	result, err := s.store.wrapper.UpdateRows(
-		ctx,
-		s.store.spreadsheetID,
-		s.store.scratchpadLocation.Original,
-		[][]interface{}{{formula}},
-	)
+	result, err := s.store.wrapper.QueryRows(ctx, s.store.spreadsheetID, s.store.sheetName, selectStmt, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
-	if len(result.UpdatedValues) == 0 || len(result.UpdatedValues[0]) == 0 {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("error retrieving row indices to delete: %+v", result)
-	}
 
-	raw := result.UpdatedValues[0][0].(string)
-	if raw == naValue || raw == errorValue || raw == "" {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("error retrieving row indices to delete: %s", raw)
+	if len(result.Rows) != 1 || len(result.Rows[0]) != 1 {
+		return 0, errors.New("")
 	}
-	return strconv.ParseUint(raw, 10, 64)
+
+	count := result.Rows[0][0].(int64)
+	return uint64(count), nil
 }
 
 func newGoogleSheetCountStmt(store *GoogleSheetRowStore) *GoogleSheetCountStmt {
+	countClause := fmt.Sprintf("COUNT(%s)", rowIdxCol)
 	return &GoogleSheetCountStmt{
 		store:        store,
-		queryBuilder: newQueryBuilder(store.colsMapping.NameMap(), []string{rowIdxCol}),
+		queryBuilder: newQueryBuilder(store.colsMapping.NameMap(), []string{countClause}),
 	}
 }