but drywall seems like a lot of work when a pro could come in and have it done in a day

Just so you start off your project with some form of time consumption knowledge.

Lot of old homes and old mud/lath walls in PA, lead paints? aesbestos ceiling tiles?????????

No drywall pro can do it in a day. It will take multiple return trips, and thats after very careful demo. Youll also be looking at flooring and a skilled carpenter and finding matching blending coatings and trims.

If one looks close at youre pics youve got a myriad of things to consider and understand so you can better understand quotes, structural concerns with removal of walls, current and new FWT ( finish wall thickness) the resulting flooring repairs, texturing, blending, level 3.4.5 finishes. Current tile ceiling material, removal/replacement of crown, base, heaters...window casings/trims etc etc.

A big small job that may not be worth touching in the event you dont hire correctly by hiring someone who tells you A Day.. that will be youre first sign youre talking to the wrong handyman. Think hard on blending new with old and the type crafstman/woman you will need and give them a week to 2 weeks at Min. Id have A budget of 5K-10K in mind and it is true I do not know the level of hands on skill you have or tooling. Every now and again Im pleasnatly suprised by the skills of A DIY homeowner.....- best

I can't comment on costs since that's a very regional factor.

But here are a couple of general comments.

Is there a reason that you are removing the existing drywall/plaster on walls that are staying (eg. to insulate or rewire or something)? If not, consider just putting another layer of drywall over top or skim coating the existing walls to get rid of the texture. Ripping it all out and disposing of it is a huge amount of work and mess.

That one section of ceiling looks like removable ceiling tiles. You may not be able to just drywall over that section if something behind the tiles needs to remain accessible. For example, you can't bury electrical junction boxes behind drywall.

"but drywall seems like a lot of work when a pro could come in and have it done in a day"

At least a day and a half. I'd say $99

Greg -

In the smaller room, we want to put some insulation behind the drywall. We don't want to drywall over the top because then it would be a different thickness when it merges with the drywall in the bigger room. The existing wall also has a very bumpy texture to it and may mess with drywall over top.

The section of ceiling that looks like ceiling tiles are actually tiles that are glue'd up. The are not removable. There is nothing above them. We would be pulling that section down so that when the wall between the rooms is down, it can merge into one seamless room.

Geoffrey -

I would be working on this in my spare time otherwise. It would probably take me weeks to get it all done and I don't think my wife would appreciate that too much. Pro's would be much faster.

What is your $99 figure for? Seems very low so I must be confused here...

Tundra - Sorry, I didn't see your comment when I was replying.

Nobody has told me a day. I just used that as a figure of speech knowing that a pro can do it much faster than I can. The current finish is actually just a weirdly textured piece of wallboard. Wall is non load bearing and the flooring runs under it. It may need to be sanded a bit and refinished in that area, but I am not too concerned about that. I would pull down the trim and crown and put back up. For the drywall finish - I am just looking for something that is ready for me to paint - I'm guessing that is level 4?

@JK well there is a lot more to it than say what one of the above posters has mentioned. If my above explanations dont make sense ill try to clarify.

Im glad you are undesrstanding of what it MAY actually take. The level at which you are expecting in finished details will determine cost/outcome and the quailty of the persons work you choose to hire. If you are a skilled DIY or just want to dig in and try it....along the way as you move fwd only then will many of my points mentioned above come to make sense.

Yes a level 4 is paintable, you can expect to see some artifacts in the finish and in some states it can be called a skip trowel (level 3/4) Level 5 being perfectly smooth and zero artifacts after prime/painted properly.

-Best

Littlebug - I can confirm that I was confused. Now that you say it was a joke it makes more sense to me.

Tundra - Thank you for the info. I had a contractor come in and he quoted almost $6,000 to remove the non load bearing wall, move 2 outlets, and drywall everything. In that situation, I would still be demo'ing the existing floor and ceiling finishes except for the wall that he would take out. That just seemed like a lot to me.

So I thought I would see how much I would save if I did it myself with just a bit of help. I have an electrician coming next week to take a look and give me a quote but after a little conversation said it should be under $500 to move the outlets. At this point I am just looking for a ball park on what drywall may cost (until I can get someone in to tell me for sure.)

In your area (MN?) what would you charge for the above drywalling? Based upon the demo work being done, trim and crown handled by me, and 1/2" drywall at level 4?

Also, what would be your recommendation for the baseboard heat when I am demo'ing - Should I leave the finish behind the heaters and have the new drywall just merge with that?

So the big room's walls have already been redone at some point and would be staying?

Before you rip out the plaster in the smaller room, take down Wall C to make sure that there won't be a misalignment with the bigger room. Maybe who ever did the big room added a layer of drywall like I mentioned.

Are these two rooms part of the same original house? Or is part of it an addition? How old is the house?

Re: baseboard heater.

Remove it and replace it when everything's done.

House was built in 1945. Both rooms are part of the original house. Previous owners did some work and for some reason put up the textured wallboard. The big rooms walls are in ok shape. We want to take the finish down in the smaller room because of the awful texture. We figured we would put some insulation behind it while the wall is open. Wall C will be the first thing to come down. At the base of wall C the pipe for the baseboard heat passes straight through the wall into the big room. Looking through that opening, I can see that the walls line up and they did not add a layer of drywall over the top.

Tundra - Thank you for the info. I had a contractor come in and he
quoted almost $6,000 to remove the non load bearing wall, move 2
outlets, and drywall everything. In that situation, I would still be
demo'ing the existing floor and ceiling finishes except for the wall
that he would take out. That just seemed like a lot to me.

It may seem like a lot, but youd need to understand liability, permitting for electric and what it takes to run a buisness and drive around giving free quotes out.....skill/quality level to discern costs. I am not in youre area and do not know youre skill w/tools.But yeah maybe its better to try it on youre own.

In regards to drywall cost I do not quote drywall jobs. I only engage in drywall when I do it myself for my clients and I quote only T&M on drywall it will be irrellevant to youre scope of work. While i have that skill and did do drywall for many years in general contracting.......These days and with every project I still always wish I hired a true taper to deal with it but for me its easy to take care of it.... It is a messy frustrating SKILL only achieved by the time put in and can be more difficult in youre scenario of blending 1945 w 2017!. -best

You've got lead paint and asbestos ceiling texture to deal with. Better know abatement procedures and legal disposal routes. You're seriously underestimating the amount of work, and permits and inspections, that your job requires. It is very far from a "little work''. That 6K? That probably doesn't include abatement. "Subject to testing" gives an out for a change order increase.

Thank you for the info Sophie! I will have it tested before proceeding. Quick question - How do you know there is a lead/asbestos issues from pictures alone? Or are you assuming because it is an old home?

All homes of that age have lead paint. That texture is asbestos based. Ductwork for HVAC may be too. May be old fabric covered wiring that needs updating as well. Could be some knob and tube, but its borderline for that.

Old houses always have theses kinds of issues. Always.

Ductwork is brand new. Electrical has already been checked. Seller disclosure from purchase states that all lead paint was removed. Will have to check the asbestos but I don't believe the texture is very old. The previous owners installed it during the 15 years they were in the house.

ceiling tile & possibly adhesive if its used.

I will check the tile too but I believe the previous owners installed that as well.

Ceilings that typically have asbestos in them are sprayed on and, due to the textured appearance, are called "popcorn" ceilings. Here is a picture of the typical appearance: Popcorn ceiling

At first glance, yours just appear to me to be heavily textured with joint compound. That's not to say that they are asbestos-free...only testing can confirm that. However, I wouldn't yet jump to the conclusion they do have asbestos.

Great helpful answers here.

Not a pro and don't possess this knowledge..but went through gutting the house due to asbestos abatement, and had to put the walls back (obviously))

The asbestos wasn't in drywall sheets themselves..it was in joint compound however, so no way to take it partially out..it had to be gutted. The moment we decided to proceed with abatement.

Nobody will know whether yours have it or not without the testing. Did the PO change the drywall during last 15 years? If no-I'd have it professionally tested..if you're sure you want to disturb it of course. It all good until it's disturbed, as you probably know.

Now. The comment about how drywalling is a huge skill is extremely true. It's a damn hard job, and from my (limited experience) having this skill is not a given at all. even if somebody does drywall for a living-it doesn't mean you'll like his work. We weren't blessed with a great drywall team, and most of all questionable spots in the house were a direct result /heavily affected by their work. Not only my opinion as the GC became so frustrated with their work he fired them in the end and got somebody else to finish the job. He should do it sooner rather than later but oh well.

I gutted and rebuilt our master suite bath and laundry on our home in Michigan, structural work included. I subbed out the drywall. It's like singing; you can't touch the guys who are really good at it.

Thank you for the answers everyone. I'm pretty sure the texture and ceiling tile are less than 20 years old, however it is better to be safe and have it tested.

Joseph - If you don't mind me asking, what all did drywalling your master bath entail (sq ft, finish, etc.) and around how much did it cost? I know things can be drastically different, but I am just looking for some (very) rough estimates until I can get a pro in for a quote.

My 2 cents on drywall

The math:

Take the amount you pay a good drywall pro / the hours he works = what seems like a criminally high hourly rate.

Take the amount you pay a good drywall pro / the hours it would take you to do it = what seems like a criminally low hourly rate.

The estimate:

Drywall install cost is very regional and what someone else paid is really not relevant. I moved from an area where you couldn't throw a stick without hitting a drywaller to an area where they are too few for the work they have. Estimates here are more than double my previous region, even though overall construction costs are about the same.

Bry911 - I agree with your math. It would definitely take me multiple times as many hours as a pro - and I have no problem paying for speed (and of course much better work than I could possibly do!) It will for sure get the project wrapped up sooner - which my wife will love!

I really just want to see what others are paying because at this point I have absolutely no idea what to expect when I get the pros out here. Also, I think it will be interesting to see what folks in different areas paid/charged for drywall work.

I hung the board and paid my guys $850.00 or so to tape and finish around 300 square feet 6 years ago.

Hello all,

I did this work last February and thought I would post an update. I did the demo of the walls and ceiling with family members over a weekend.

I had an electrician come in during the week and terminate 2 outlets that were in the removed wall, move the ceiling fan to the center of the room with both a fan switch and light switch, and add 6 recessed lights. He charged $1,852.

The drywaller came the next weekend (he worked Saturday and Sunday and finished Monday evening) to do all the drywall. He charged $1,370.

I painted the ceiling and walls. I also ran coax through the walls for our cable instead of through a whole in the floor like it used to be. I filled in the gaps in the flooring with scrap wood so it is flush and it is currently covered with our area rug pending additional renovations in the future. I completed all the trim work as well.

If anybody has any questions regarding the outcome of the work, please ask.

We have purchased new furniture for the space as well. I will try to take a picture of the finished product and post it.

Great work! You were wise to contract out the drywall labor. I am in the middle of a remodel myself and drywalled all sides of an area about 25'x16'x9' (kitchen and dining room). I tore this area down to the foundation and have done every task myself. The one task I will never do again is drywall. Took me 7 weeks at 20-30 hours a week of frustrating work to lay up and achieve a level 5 finish. Like others said it is a true skill only achieved through experience. Never again.

It was definately worth it to hire out the drywall. I was able to get the main work (demo, electrical, drywall) done in less than 2 weeks and then spent around a month doing all of the finishing (install ceiling fan, paint, trim, coax cable). Trying to do the drywall would have really extended the dusty part of the project. I was happy to have him finish the drywall so we could use the space.

catinthehat-

I agree. It looks so easy when a skilled professional does it that one thinks: "I can do that and save money, and it looks like fun!" Then you start in....