Three easy Steps

Drywall Pricing

Pricing drywall for a home improvement project or remodel involves more than just the sheets of drywall. Unless you’re very experienced at cutting, hanging, mudding and finishing drywall, you should not take on this project yourself. If you hang the drywall wrong, meaning there are several gaps or the edges don’t line up, you will wind up using more drywall mud than normal to compensate for your mistakes.

Unsightly bumps from uneven mudding and sanding will definitely be noticeable and take your resale value down a few notches. Improper drywall installation can also cause the tape to separate and the paint to bubble where the mud was not correctly applied or completely sanded and finished. You also don’t want drywall nails popping through your finished, painted wall.

To calculate the amount of materials you will need, you have to know how much square footage you are covering. This is a basic ‘length times width’ formula. Just measure each wall’s height and width and then add them all together. This will give you your overall square footage.

Main Drywall Costs

Drywall sheets: Drywall is a pretty inexpensive material. Your real expense is experienced, professional labor. 4 x 8 sheets generally cost about $4.50 to $6.00 a sheet for 3/8” or 1/2” thickness. If you are working on a commercial space, like adding an apartment to your home or dry walling an outside wall you will need to use fire code drywall which is 5/8” thick and costs about $2 to $3 more per sheet. You should also check on whether or not you’ll need a permit so you don’t wind up paying later. For bathrooms, kitchens and basements in flood or high moisture zones, you’ll want to consider moisture resistant drywall. That will cost about $1.50 to $2.50 a sheet more than your standard drywall sheet.

Mud: Mud generally runs about $12 per gallon with one gallon covering approximately 100 square feet if you hung the drywall correctly with no gaps.

Tape: For drywall tape, you need to know how many seams and the approximate length per seam. The tape costs about $6.50 per roll and covers about 300 linear feet, so you won’t be too far off if you miscalculate on this item.

Screws: Usually, you need about 30 drywall screws per sheet. Screws are prices at about $3.50 per pound. Again, this is a pretty inexpensive item, so don’t worry too much if your calculations are off.

Things to Remember!

While drywall and the other necessary materials are pretty inexpensive, they can cost you more if you don’t use them efficiently and correctly. That is just one reason it is better to hire a professional. Keep in mind, drywall prices vary according to the economy, where you live and whether or not you live in an urban area (typically more expensive). A great way to budget projects like this is to overestimate your costs by about 20% so you’re covered for errors or unexpected expenses.