Drywalling?! Painting & Plastering!??

[Jacob Moore]

I hired a contractor to redo a couple of rooms at a new house. I was to be responsible for the painting. Except the contractor then said painting meant painting and plastering. I got a painting guy to go in and look at the place now that the contractor says it's ready to be plastered and painted, and the painter is shaking his head at all the drywalling. There has been no plastering or taping done. the drywall is stuck up against the old walls, against the ceiling, as is, with no kind of marking or taping or plastering over the seams, over the holes, whatever.

The painter is telling me that that kind of thing is part of drywalling. That he's almost never seen it not done by the drywaller. He says if his guys have to do the taping and first plastering over the drywalling it's going to cost a lot more because they really don't have a lot of experience and it will take longer. In fact, he'd have to subcontract to a drywaller. The second and third plaster coats are fine, they do them all the time, he says. The contractor seems to be saying that all taping and plastering is part of the plaster/painting process. Does anyone have experience with drywalling? Is it normal for the drywaller to just put up the drywall against the frame and do no kind of plastering or taping to meld it against the walls and roof?

If there is an understanding that I'm responsible for painting and plastering is the contractor being reasonable by doing nothing more than he's already done?

I'm supposed to be moving in there in a week, and the painter is telling me that there's no way he can finish in time if his guys have to do the first plaster and taping, so this is really important.

[Bill Waller]

My experience with drywall contractors has been that one outfit hangs the sheetrock. Another company comes in and does the taping and mud work. Then the painter comes in and does his thing. It's ugly, but that's how they have the work divided up.

On one contract, I did find someone who would do the hang and the mud work, but he complained bitterly and I probably paid too much.

On my last contract, I hired a carpenter buddy who was willing to hang and mud, but even he complained. :-(

If you are talking skim coat, that is a whole other story, one of which I am glad to say, I have never experienced.

____________________ Bill Waller New Eagle, PA

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[bambam]

Ouch! Painting means painting.

Generally, drywalling is divided into three parts: boarding (hanging the board), taping (to a specified finish, usually three coats) and sanding. Drywall contractors use different crews for each step.

Costs vary widely, but I pay from $1.20 to 1.35 a square foot. If you're paying that or more, you are paying the going rate for a complete job ... board, tape, and sand to a paint ready finish.

Plastering is an out of use term, at least around here. Goes back to the days of lath walls which were then coated with plaster. Have no idea what it might mean in your context.

I can tell you that in normal construction process, it is up to the drywall contractor to bring the walls to a paint-ready stage. The painter then applies primer, and the drywallers return to touch up the "hits" that become apparent with the primer on. Then, the painters paint.

It is common for a painter to have touch up skills with taping; it is not common for a painter to be effective in taping out a house or a complete room.

I suspect you might be getting a runaround ... but I just don't know.

Not much help, but it may clarify things a bit for you.

Ken.

[Hopkins]

My experience in this is that painters paint. At best the painter may have to repair dings and the like from other trades doing their thing.

Runinng tape and mudding is the job of the drywall contractor. Maybe he subs out one of the two, or has separate crews for each, but it's part of his job.

No builder I've ever dealt with expects the painter to tape and mud. What your painter is telling you is correct.