Is This A Reasonable Price for a Quality Drywall Job?

[BAN]

I am in the process of finishing my basement. To this point, I have done pretty much everything so far - framing, plumbing, electrical, insulation, etc. I am now looking to hire out the drywall hanging and finishing.

Since I have invested so much time and effort to this point, my main goal is to get a top quality finish job. For this reason, I am not looking for the cheapest hanger/finisher but certainly not the most expensive either.

I came across a remodeling service in my area

which guarantees and supervises the entire drywall job. They use their own, carefully selected crews to do the job which includes a complete skim coat. I was impressed with the supervisor when he came out. Basically, I pay nothing up front and then only when I am completely satisfied with the finish job. He personally insures that the walls are "perfect" in his words.

When he came out, he was impressed with my framing job (straight, plumb, all blocking in place, etc.). He indicated he definitely would consider that in his estimate.

Here is his initial estimate (haven't received the final estimate yet). He indicated he typically gets around $10 per board to hang and $10 per board to finish (not including the drywall which was already purchased). At approximately 100 sheets (including waste), that comes to $2000. His best guess for my cost (before working the final numbers) was between $2500 and $2700 for the job. That comes to between .78 and .84 cents per square foot.

Does this sound reasonable? I know I can get it done much cheaper as a "side job", but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk.

Thanks

[BRAVO52]

In my area, they charge $1 per/ft. I'd say you have a pretty good estimate (Not knowing what is included). If it was for my house, and the estimate was to have the wall complete to the paint, I'd take it.

v/r Bravo

[Manny Davis]

[e-mail] (BAN) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Oh? Ask if the job will look good with a droplight held against the wall.

He's lying.

How the hell can anyone here know? Depends what the walls look like when he's done. Guys that do first class drywall work are rare. If he skim coats everything and he ain't afraid of the droplight test, then it probably is worth it.

[ConRes]

I would say that's not a bad price at all. I paid just under 800 to do a large bathroom and closet. I had all the framing complete and drywall stocked. End product was excellent - not that it could be compared from my job to yours.

[Jules Beaudoin]

Would you please tell me more about the drop light test?

[Chief]

you DO NOT skimcoat drywall you skimcoat blue board with plaster.

now that he has gained your confidence the hook is in! now he will reel you in.

all depends, is he installing drywall with joint compound OR blueboard with plaster?

risk? for drywall? but you did the framing,electrical and plumbing on your own. go figure...................what risk?

[John Smith]

From

The USG Decorative Interior Finish System may be applied to many types of plaster substrates.

Veneer Plaster-Where it is to be applied to a veneer plaster system, the plaster base substrate may consist of IMPERIAL®

Brand Gypsum Base, DUROCK® Brand Cement Board, FIBEROCKT Brand Abuse-Resistant Panels, concrete masonry or

monolithic concrete. Board products must be hung in accordance with specifications, joints taped with IMPERIAL® Brand Glass

Fiber Mesh Tape or SHEETROCK® Brand Joint Tape (depending on application conditions), and surface coated with IMPERIAL®

Brand Basecoat Plaster or DIAMOND® Brand Veneer Basecoat Plaster. DUROCK Brand Cement Board must have USG Plaster

Bonder applied to joint areas before the application of joint treatment. Joint treatment must consist of SHEETROCK Brand Joint

Tape and SHEETROCK® Brand Setting-Type Joint Compound (DURABOND® or EASY SANDT). Then entire surface of joint-treated

panels must be treated with a continuous film of USG Plaster Bonder before application of basecoat plaster.

[BAN]

I probably have my terminology wrong. On the final pass, they skim the entire wall with joint compound and float the entire surface.

I understand that he could be feeding me a line. My question really was... if he delivers a top quality job as promised, is his price reasonable?

For what it's worth, he encouraged additional estimates and offered reference jobs so I can see his work first hand. No payment is required until I am satisfied with the job.

I don't know what else you would expect him to tell me. I'm not sure why the replies on these boards are always so cynical.

[bambam]

I'm a contractor in Canada. Skimcoating is not a usual practice here and adds to the cost.

Here, I pay $1.15 to 1.24 a square foot -- includes board, taping and texturing.

Do check the references. Do get a contract in writing. The no payment required is common practice -- if you don't pay, he can place a lien on your home.

I wouldn't expect him to tell you anything else. If you spend ten minutes on his currrent project, you'll know whether or not he's a pro.

As to the cynical replies ... I dunno either. There're a few folks here who figure all contractors are crooks ... and never miss a chance to warn others against all potential pitfalls.

Life's too short.

Ken.

[Jon Endres, PE]

Company I used to work for always estimated $1.50 a square foot to hang and tape on large commercial jobs. That included the materials. No paint, no "skim coat".

JE

[Phisherman]

I believe you are refering to placing a trouble light against the wall, stand back from the light against the wall, and you will see all the defects. Works great.

[mark Ransley]

Sounds like a good deal

[v]

Hooboy, what a crock of shit this sounds like.

"Guarantees" and "supervises" the "enitre" job? Wow, like nobody else does that? ANY contractor has to "supervise" the work they contracted to do. ANY contractor has to guarantee their work, whether they say so or not. And the "entire" job - what other contractor gets to NOT do the entire job they were hired to do? And that "carefully selected" crew thing - you BELIEVE that? Because it said so on a web site.

Which gets me to another thing: most of these "services" are just a marketing service that adds markup to the job; the various contractors kick back a portion of the cost to the web "service", so they price accordingly. Can't you find a drywaller who is NOT on line?

-v.

[Steven]

In the south US, I pay .17/ft to hang and .26/ft for a "A" finish. Slick ceiling add .15/ft to the finish price. This is for QUALITY work.

I agree. It is very tiring. Most of the cynical responses from these guys are more abusive to the response than informative to the original poster.

[Kevin]

Sounds like you put alot of effort into this job, and sounds like you are a perfectionist. I recognize the symptoms. My advice, do it yourself. It's not that hard, and you control the quality you are willing to live with. I I did my basement, really makes you appreciate straight framing :)

Lots of good lessons learned.

[David]

What you described is skimcoating which he will only tape and mud (and re-mud) and sand joints. He's not lying when he said he'll take good framing into consideration but what he means is that he won't charge extra or choose not to accept job for bad framing. I'm in baltimore/washington area and around here that price is GREAT if it's for good work. To be honest, I think the price is a bit low (even for non-complicated hangs) and the "don't pay anything up front and nothing till you are completely satisfied and walls will be perfect line" is a bit odd. There's nothing wrong with a reputable contractor taking a deposit and a draw schedule. Perfect walls will be nice, I've yet to see them on any job though. I settle for excellent and let the painters make them perfect. Even with the spot light you can't see everything till the first coat of paint is on the wall.

Take him up on his offer to see a job and call a few references then book the guy.

Take him up on his offer to

[Rob]

That sounds about right. My brother paid $17 a sheet(not including materials) to a couple of guys who did it on the side. They did a pretty good job but there's a couple of places where he had to touch up. Couple of local companies were charging $19-20 a sheet. This is in Northern Virginia...

[Steven]

What size "sheet"... 4x8, 4x12, stretcher, etc.??

[Lake]

$21-$24 a sheet (12 foot sheets) all day long in north San Diego County... Try writing some drop light test non-sense into a contract and you will be doing it yourself...

[Rob]

4x8 sheets for a basement remodel. For an extra charge they even carried them down to the basement from the garage.