Drywall cost calculator

Drywall is priced by the square foot of board on the walls and ceilings, hung, taped, mudded and sanded ready for paint. Three guides agree closely on the installed price:

The combined low is the middle of the three lows, the high the middle of the three highs and the typical the middle of their midpoints. Most of it is labor. HomeAdvisor puts standard board at $0.40 to $0.50 a sq ft, and Bob Vila puts a sheet at $12 to $20, so materials are only about a fifth of the price. Bob Vila splits the labor into hanging, $0.15 to $0.65 a sq ft, and finishing, $0.50 to $1.15.

As whole jobs, Fixr's typical project is about $2,000 for 1,000 sq ft of board, HomeAdvisor's average is $2,104, and Thumbtack's national range is $1,235 to $3,992.

Contractors price the board, not the floor. For one room, add up the walls and the ceiling:

• Walls. The distance around the room times the ceiling height: 2 × (length + width) × height.
• Ceiling. Length × width.
• Sheets. Divide the total by 32 for 4 × 8 ft sheets, or by 48 for 4 × 12 ft, and add about 10% for cuts.

A 12 × 12 ft bedroom with 8 ft ceilings has 384 sq ft of wall and 144 sq ft of ceiling, 528 sq ft in all, about 19 sheets with waste. Leave the doors and windows in the count. The board is cut around them, and the offcuts are rarely usable.

All at 8 ft ceilings except the garage, standard board and a Level 4 finish, at the US average. A garage that needs fire-rated board on the wall shared with the house costs more on that wall.

The board and the finish change the rate more than anything else.

Board prices are the gap between standard and the special board in Fixr's installed prices and HomeAdvisor's material prices, averaged. Finish levels come from Bob Vila's labor prices. Level 0 is board screwed up with no tape. Level 3 has two coats on the seams and suits garages or walls getting heavy texture. Level 4 is the usual finish for painted walls. Level 5 adds a thin skim over the whole surface, which hides joints under strong side light. Texture prices average HomeAdvisor and Bob Vila; hand-troweled textures cost more than spray.

Fixr lists installed prices for the less common boards too, which the calculator does not price but which are worth knowing when a plan calls for them:

Thickness matters as well, and Bob Vila notes the price rises with it. Half-inch board is the standard for almost every wall. Quarter-inch sheets, about $10 to $12 each, are mostly used for repairs over existing walls. Three-eighths-inch sheets, up to about $15, fit where half-inch is too thick. Five-eighths-inch is the heaviest and is used mostly for soundproofing.

Other things push a quote up even at the same square footage:

• Ceilings. Board overhead is slower and harder to hang and finish than board on a wall.
• Tall walls and stairwells. Anything above about 9 ft means scaffolding or stilts and more seams.
• Corners, arches and openings. Bob Vila notes finishing materials go up with more corners and special cuts, because every outside corner needs bead.
• Small rooms. Bob Vila notes a bathroom costs less in total but more per square foot, and a minimum fee can exceed the work.
• Occupied homes. Covering floors, moving furniture and controlling dust in a lived-in house takes time a new build does not.

Repairs are priced by the job, not by the foot. HomeAdvisor's average repair is $613, with most between $296 and $930.

All from HomeAdvisor. Small jobs hit the minimum: Thumbtack says many drywall companies charge $100 to $150 to show up, and Bob Vila puts a small patch at about $100. If you have several holes, get them done on one visit. HomeAdvisor says handypeople charge about $60 to $90 an hour for small cracks, holes and dents, and drywall installers $50 to $100 an hour, so a pro who can patch, wait and come back for the second coat on the same trip saves you money. Painting is extra; HomeAdvisor says matching paint and texture can add $150 to $900.

An owner is finishing a 12 × 12 ft bedroom with 8 ft ceilings in a basement remodel. Standard board, a Level 4 finish, no texture.

• Area. Walls 2 × (12 + 12) × 8 = 384 sq ft, plus the 144 sq ft ceiling, 528 sq ft. About 19 sheets with waste.
• Hang and finish. 528 × $1.50 / $2.50 / $3.50 = $792 / $1,320 / $1,848.
• Total. $792 to $1,848, with $1,320 typical at the US average.

Add a knockdown texture and the typical climbs by about $568. Switch to a Level 5 finish because the room has a big window that throws light across the walls, and the typical rises by about $172 more. If the room were a bathroom instead, moisture-resistant board on the walls would add a little, and the smaller size would push it toward the minimum fee per square foot. In a state where construction wages run above the national median, the labor share goes up. Enter a ZIP in the calculator to see it.

Patching a small hole is a fair do-it-yourself job; HomeAdvisor notes a repair kit costs $10 to $30. Hanging whole rooms is harder than it looks. A sheet of half-inch board weighs enough that ceilings need two people or a rented lift, and the finishing is where amateurs show: visible seams, ridges at the corners and screw heads that pop through the paint. Many homeowners hang the board themselves and pay a finisher for the tape and mud.

• Asbestos. Joint compound and popcorn texture in homes built before about 1980 can contain it. HomeAdvisor puts a test at about $500 and removal at $7 to $15 a sq ft. Test before you sand or tear out.
• Lead paint. Painted walls from before 1978 may have it. HomeAdvisor puts an inspection at about $300.
• Permits. Small repairs need none. Finishing a basement or replacing whole walls often needs a permit and an inspection of the framing, wiring and insulation before the board goes up.
• Get comparable quotes. Ask each pro for the square feet, the board, the finish level and whether texture, primer, tear-out and debris removal are included.

• Measure the board. Walls plus ceilings, then sheets with waste. Price hanging and finishing separately if you sub either out.
• Price the finish level by name. Level 4 and Level 5 are different jobs. Write the level on the estimate so nobody argues about it under a lamp later.
• Charge for access. Tall ceilings, stairwells and scaffolding slow you down. Price them as their own line.
• Set a minimum. A patch takes three trips for mud to dry. Charge for the trips, or bundle patches into one visit.
• Know the margin. Our profit margin calculator shows the price that keeps it.

The "Save as an estimate" button above puts each part on its own line. Send it from Koira and the customer can approve it and pay a deposit on their phone.