How to charge for drywall jobs?
Short answerCharge drywall by measured area for hanging and finishing, then add a trip minimum, and use an hourly rate only for repairs with unknown scope. Measure square feet, pick a finish level, add material with markup and labor hours, then divide the total back into a price per square foot.
The explanation
The cleanest method is to build the number from the bottom. Count sheets and square feet, price board, mud, tape and screws with a markup, then estimate crew hours for hanging, taping, three coats and sanding. Add disposal, a trip charge for small jobs and a margin for callbacks. Divide the total by square feet and you have a per-foot rate you can reuse.
Finish level changes the price more than most owners expect. A garage that only needs fire taping is a different job from a living room headed for gloss paint. Quote the level in writing so the customer cannot later ask for a smoother wall at the old price.
Repairs are different. Water patches, ceiling cracks and texture matching hide surprises, so charge a minimum visit plus time, and say what the minimum covers. Ask for a deposit when material is special order, because leftover board and mud are hard to return.
What to watch for
- Quoting by the sheet and forgetting the cost of finishing, which is most of the labor.
- No minimum charge, so a one-hour patch eats a half day of drive time.
- Verbal finish level, which turns into free sanding passes.
In drywall contractor
Drywall work runs in stages with drying time between coats, so a single job can occupy three or four separate visits. Price the whole sequence, not just the first day on site. All drywall contractor scheduling questions.
How Apex does it
Rolling out
The screen and the rules are built and tested. Saving real customer data is not connected yet. Status as of 2026-10-07; the badge shows the least-built feature involved.
Apex is designed to hold a quote builder with measurement lines and a price book, so square feet, finish level and material markup sit in one estimate. Design status for each piece is shown on the badge.
- ES01Estimates / quotes builder(Rolling out)
- ES11Measurement takeoffs (sqft, linear ft)(Rolling out)
- ES02Price book / flat-rate pricing(Rolling out)
Apex Flow Scheduler is in early access. See how we label status.
Where this question comes from: owners type it, or a close variant, into search boxes. It was returned by public search suggestions (Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo) when we collected them on 2026-10-06. We do not have search volumes.