How to start a drywall business

Repairs after a plumber or electrician opens a wall are steady work. Tell those trades you exist.

Some states cover drywall under contractor licensing, often above a dollar amount, and remodel work can need a permit that your customer or the general contractor pulls. Our general contractor licensing guide shows how each state treats contractor work.

The EPA's lead rule covers paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied facilities built before 1978, and it lists remodeling and repair among covered activities. Small interior jobs that disturb six square feet or less of paint per room are an exception, but demolition of painted surfaces is always covered. If you open walls in older homes, get your firm certified.

The EPA also suggests an asbestos inspection by an accredited professional before remodeling a home, since remodeling can disturb building materials. Old joint compound and textured ceilings are places to ask before you sand.

The SBA lists the launch steps in this order: pick a location, choose a structure, choose a name, register, get federal and state tax ID numbers, apply for licenses and permits, open a business bank account, and get insurance. For a drywall business working out of a truck, the location is usually your home address and the area you will serve.

• Structure. A sole proprietorship is the simplest. An LLC keeps the business separate on paper. Ask an accountant which fits your state and your plans.
• Tax ID. The IRS gives out an employer identification number (EIN) online, and says you never have to pay a fee for one. Websites that charge for an EIN are not the IRS.
• Self-employment tax. The IRS lists the self-employment tax rate as 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. Income tax comes on top, so set money aside from every job.
• Bank account. Open it before the first payment lands, so every dollar in and out is easy to find at tax time.

Your name goes on the truck, the invoices, the Google profile and the yard signs, so pick it once. The free drywall name generator gives 36 ideas for your town and style, each with a domain idea, and lists the checks to run before you commit: your state's business name search, a federal trademark search and the domain itself.

The SBA describes general liability insurance as cover for financial loss from bodily injury, property damage, medical expenses and defending lawsuits. It says businesses with employees are required to carry workers' compensation, unemployment and disability insurance, and some states ask for more.

Dust in the rest of the house, damaged floors and falls from stilts or ladders are the claims. Ask your agent about general liability, commercial auto, and workers' compensation once you hire.

No total here on purpose. What you spend depends on what you already own, new or used, and how much work you plan to take on. Price your own list with a local supplier, then put the numbers in the startup cost table of the free business plan generator, which adds them up for you.

• Drywall lift, T-square, knives, rasps and a screw gun
• Taping knives, mud pans, a banjo or automatic taping tools
• Sanding poles or a sander with dust collection
• Stilts or a rolling scaffold, ladders
• Plastic sheeting, floor protection and a shop vacuum

Hand tools are inexpensive. Automatic taping tools and a dust-collecting sander are the larger items, and pay off on volume work.

For new work, price by the board or by the square foot of wall and ceiling, with the finish level spelled out. For repairs, price by the job with a minimum, since a small patch takes multiple visits for coats to dry. The free labor rate calculator sets your hourly cost and the markup calculator covers material.

• Plumbers, electricians and restoration companies. They open walls and need someone to close them.
• Remodelers and builders. Steady hang-and-finish work.
• Homeowners with a patch. Instant quotes answer "how much to fix a hole".
• Property managers. Move-outs leave holes.

Take a deposit on larger jobs and collect the balance at the final coat with pay at the door. For builders, invoice by stage. Ask homeowners for the review.

Hire a hanger or a finisher, whichever you are not, and keep dust control the same on every job.