Hanging and Finishing Drywall

[Dennis_Kuhn]

Has anyone received a price for hanging and finishing drywall lately?  I know it can very greatly, but I recently got a price of $1.00/s.f.  to do my whole house which seems high to me.  If you have looked into recently let me know what prices you have received.

[Dennis_Kuhn]

I mean I know it can vary greatly.  

[Amanda_931]

I've no idea what prices are like these days.  But you are probably being charged for the fact that they are bringing in props and scaffolds to do the ceilings--and for the fact that the next job is next door to the last one.

It really does sound like one of the things you should try to get out of hiring someone to do.

[hobbiest]

A good friend of mine, who is a hanger, says that in San Diego, hangers are getting around 40 cents per square.  that is just to hang...but San Diego too.  $1.00 a square foot doesn't sound that bad, but make sure that it is done in a timely fashion.  If that includes materials, take it!  Here in Southern OR, sheetrock runs $6.50 a sheet for 1/2 4 by 8.  Thats about 20 cents a foot right there.  If you do decide to go with them, make sure you don't give them all the money until the job is done...and done right.

[Okie_Bob]

$1.00 per square foot? That sounds awfully high to me! That's $32 per sheet of sheetrock!
One of the best things about this site, in my opinion, is that you can get help with any aspect of building your cabin. And since most of us are amatuers with little experience in the building trades, that is no little thing.
Last Saturday, my son and I hung a 10' high by 24' long interior wall with 1/2" sheetrock in a couple of hours with no prior experience. One door and about 7 electrical cutouts. Not a one man operation but, easy for two men.
I'm not saying we did a professional job by any means but, we learned a heck of a lot and it looks pretty good and we can cover up the few little mistakes we made and if we had to tear it all out and do it over, it wouldn't kill my budget!
I'm just trying to say that hanging sheetrock is not rocket science any more than most of the other aspects of building a cabin.
The people on this site are so willing to answer any question, regardless of how dumb they may be. And most of us are doing this from scratch, for the first time. Course that doesn't apply to John, Glenn or Jonsay and a few others.
Now if you are in a hurry, or just don't have time, maybe you should hire professionals to do the job. But, if you take it slow and easy I don't think there is anything you can't do yourself and say a huge amount of money.
After all,  most of us are building cabins, etc and not necessarily show places and the only one we have to satisfy are ourselves.
Bottom line? Hang that sheetrock yourself and save a ton of money. If it looks terrible and you can't fix it, hire a pro to come do it over. It won't bust your budget and you'll be proud of the job when finished. I get more satisfaction learning the various trades and seeing the finished parts of the project and being able to say...I did it all myself!
I'd pay plenty if this site wasn't free, to have access to some of the greatest people in the world to walk me thru things I never dreamed I could do myself!
Thanks again, John, Glenn, Jonsay and all the others that never hesitate to answer my stupid questions!

[glenn-k]

I'm not a big Sheetrock fan but have done some and being a lazy guy I have a couple points to bring up, Bob.

You can fasten it to the wall with the normal methods or if you have a 1" crown roofing stapler it will fasten it fast and only leave a small line in the rock to fill.  You may have specs or some reason not to do this but it works great.  Another contractor showed me.  I used 2" staples.  

Another thing is to use the netting pre-glued tape on the joints instead of paper- much faster - goes on first then joint compound over it rather than that paper mess.

Many times after it's dry a wet sponge will smooth irregularities rather than sanding - no dust.  Use a narrow knife- 6 or 8" on joints the first time or two- a wide flexible one -12" the next or last time.  There may not be any or much sanding.  

Always texture where you can - you don't have to be anywhere as neat with the joints as you do with a smooth job.  A small Goldblatt or other splatter gun will do the trick.  Turn the air pressure way down on the compressor regulator to make larger splats.  Thin the compound to milkshake consistency or a little thicker.  You can leave it as is, or let it dry a few minutes or longer and knock the tops off with a wide joint knife quickly for a professional looking job.  I like to do it when a little wet to make some large flat splotches.  I like this look much better than the professional machine made polka dot splotches.

[jraabe]

Another technique used by the lazy owner builder is to eliminate all the edge taping by using thin battens to cover the joints. You can lay out a pleasant pattern with your panels (perhaps horizontal on the bottom with a wider horizontal batten at the 4' level and narrow verticals above). This eliminates the filling and sanding from all but the interior screws.

Such panels also open up possibilities for uses of color and texture (wallpaper, prefinished panels, etc).

[vojacek]

due to the cheap cost of labor in our parts, sheetrock is one thing we have considered contracting. our friend had his large trailer done in one day!!  he claimed it would of cost the same to do it himself. there's a guy calling me back, i'll post with some prices when i get them.

[jraabe]

Drywall is one of the things you should consider farming out.

When I built my house, my builder and I thought the drywaller's bid was too high so we did much of it ourselves farming out the more tricky finishing (I wanted smooth wall with no texture).

In the end (after paying the builder for his time) I saved like $50 and it took a lot longer.  

(Note: that price included the chiropractor bill for fixing my back after lifting 12' long panels of drywall!)

[DavidLeBlanc]

When my dad converted the attached garage to a family room/4th bedroom, he hung the rock himself (the reasonably brainless, grunt work part) and contracted out the finishing (the reasonably skilled "experience counts" part). Ended up looking great.

[vojacek]

$0.51/sq.ft. for labor and materials. lowes has 1/2"sheet for $5.74  

[Okie_Bob]

See, my point proven!!!! All you have to do is mention a problem and like magic, before you can log off you have several great suggestions on a cheaper, easier, better way to do something!!!
This is the best website on the internet and I still can't belive it's free!!!! I'd gladly pay for access..well, a little bit...don't go crazy on me John!!

[glenn-k]

I have one more for you, Bob.

When doing ceilings make a wood tee with a cross piece on top about 3 1/2' or so long.  Make the long part of it about 1/2" to 1" longer than the distance from the finished Sheetrock to the floor.  Grab the Sheetrock on one arm -throw it up into place on the ceiling and take your other arm and throw the prop under the Sheetrock and shove it home.    The prop being a little longer than the space you are pushing it into will force the Sheetrock tight against the ceiling and you can nail it up at your leisure.  

If you are a little bit wimpy and can't do it by yourself, I guess it is OK to use a helper.  You can then both nail it up at your leisure.

[Okie_Bob]

Ok Glenn, call me a wimp.....go ahead, I can take it!

Actually, I'm waiting on a bid for the sprayed in insulation before continuing with the sheetrock. Even going to ask what the same guy would charge to hang it for me...see, even I wimp out once in awhile. But, it is close to 100 evey day now and humidity has been awful as well. Guess I'm getting old. Hopeing to finish this dang garage so I can start on the cabin and see how much I can get done before fall. Plus it would be nice to go fishing once in awhile and let the young guys do the grunt work for a change!
BTW...where is that Gouna hunter from down under? Wasn't he talking about coming up topside this summer to help us all out?

[glenn-k]

Jonesy may be busy trying to figure out the best barbecued Goanna recipe, after seeing my rattlesnake barbecue with one of his mates from down under.

We met Luke from Melbourne at dinner in a local hostel cafe.  We came to the cabin and we had a great time- he does stamped concrete and concrete work down there, and unfortunately had to go back a couple days ago.  He also said he will be back with family in about a year.

[Okie_Bob]

Glenn, did you mean that Jonsay was at your place in CA? Wasn't sure if you meant Jonsay or if Luke is someone else? Bet you had a great time regardless and hope you convinced him to give up on the goanna and converted him to rattlesnake?
Course some good old pork ribs smoked over hickory and mesquite would have worked too. With enough beer, anything is edible! Not that I'm a drinking man but, do enjoy a frosty one on occasion after a hard day smoking meat!

[glenn-k]

Not Jonesy,  -another guy from Australia - he talked funny so our family befriended him-.  

We went for dinner at the hostel because it is cheap there and they have good chefs.  That is where we met Luke.  He gave me a kangaroo leather hat-- I gave him a Cob Builders Handbook- cultural exchange you know.

[hobbiest]

I just finished about 600 of my 800 square foot house in drywall...not my first time, with a friend who is a drywall contractor, and the most important part to have help on is the lid.  Two guys, who can reach the cieling, can install lids three times as fast as one person.  Even if that one person has a lid jack (special for the job, rental).  Walls aren't so bad, but even at 25 years old, I was feeling some pain after a few days of part time work on it.  Then the finishing came.  Most important part, if you are using paper tape...don't fool around.  Put the mud up, lightly press the tape on enough to hold it there, then one pass down one side, one down the other.  A perfect taped seem will look like there is no mud on top of the tape.  If you push too much mud out from behing the tape, that is when you get bubbles.  Let the mud dry well, and like Glenn said, use a 12 inch knife for the second and third coats.  Third coat should be feathered enough to where you don't need much sponging.  It is definately an area where I would consider hiring the work out in the future.  Just takes a while for all of that mud to dry!  Ofcourse, I am so stubborn that I never hire anything out!  Oh well...just takes me longer than I thought!  You can do it...I just kind of feel that if that price inludes the materials, you would be ahead by hiring it.  How many feet of rock are we talking?