640 sqft mud & tape estimate

1/17/2017 at 3:04:39 PM

I am from Ottawa. My price on a job like that if it's 640 sqft of drywall it would cost $650 to install mud sand.

1/17/2017 at 7:38:38 PM

From Calgary, AB.

I agree with Troy's estimate $600 is what we would charge assuming the ceiling height is 9ft or less.

1/17/2017 at 7:55:18 PM

I Would charge 800 for drywall hang mud and sand as well as 10% profit and overhead be looking close to 1000.

1/17/2017 at 7:55:35 PM

Thanks! Now I know why I didn't get the job lol?? I will keep this in mind for next time??

1/18/2017 at 8:22:59 PM

Hi Ryan,

We would charge about $1440 to install drywall, tape and mud to a level 3 finish for this space. Even that is very low as this is a very small space, multiple trips, purchasing of drywall and materials, delivery, fuel, labour costs, markup.

Anyone charging $600 or around will not be in business long term or will be a one man show always. Skilled trades should be charging accordingly, if it was that easy to drywall and finish, everyone would do it. Lets just assume for the sake of numbers and math, if you run a company, and have skilled workers that work for you and you pay them a fair wage, so I will say $25 an hour, could be higher in areas. So $25 an hour, plus wsib, ei, cpp etc that can add up to an additional 20 to 25% on top of their wages. So lets say it is 20% only. This worker costs you $30 an hour. Now lets say you need a markup on this worker, maybe 20% for the business, so that is now $36 an hour charged out. Then the materials, lets assume your paying retail for everything, 20 sheets at $8 where we are. 1 roll of tape at $5 and 3 boxes of mud to be safe at $20. Your material cost is $225. Lets say it also takes 1 hour to purchase the material, load up and get to site, that is another $36. You are now in for $261 and haven't even started yet. Then, based on $650 quoted, there is only $389 left. Assuming you need to go 4 days for a quality finish, and its a 15 minute drive and you have a truck. That is another $30 in gas maybe? You are now down to $359 in labour cost. Based off of the hourly wages I listed above, this needs to be completed in 10 hours or less, to install the drywall, tape coat it, and then 2 skim coats and a final sand. Not to mention, what happens when this employee has to travel to another site after this, that travel time isn't free, your paying them for that. I charge that travel time out for small jobs back to the smaller job until they get to the larger job. Therefore, even if your doing it yourself, $36 an hour for a skilled owner is not a lot and if you have employees you will never stay afloat. Please do not listen to the guys above discussing $650, those guys won't be around in another 5 years and if they are, it will still be them working for themselves. So if that is your goal, then you are fine, but I can guarantee you will never compete for the same jobs we do. We provide very skilled work at a rate that reflects that and we all get to put proper food on our tables at night.

And if you did not get the job based on price, you either did not sell your skill on what you can provide those customers well enough, or those are not clients you really want to have. Stay true to your prices and the customers will come so long as you can deliver the quality with which you charge for.

-Alex

1/20/2017 at 8:06:33 AM

Is true Alex.

2/6/2017 at 12:34:12 AM

Couldn't agree with Alex more.

Also consider that the client may want it primed or when you go to start and they want insulation or vapour seal installed.

Make sure you know ahead of time what you are pricing and the customer has a clear idea of what they are getting in your estimate.

My estimates are always clear and detailed with a who supplies and where were the finish line is also what they are not getting sometimes like permit cost etc.

I'm never afraid to walk away from a customer who is only interested in my price.

2/26/2017 at 9:47:05 PM

Thanks Alex and Joe really appreciate the feed back. I'm really learning lots from you guys on this site.