Drywall experts

[mudmastah]

A 1.00 to 1.50 / sq.ft. off the sheets handled here and that is complete materials hang finish and textures.. and were lucky if we get the dollar per sqaure foot sometimes. 26k is more than double and that should include everything from the DW Contractor plus a kiss! Never ever hired drywall by the hour! I had a customer think our 12.5k was high for his job so he hired 4 guys at 20.00/hr. and 3 weeks of time on a 200+ sheet job it costed him 19.5k by the time he was done we could of done it in a week too... dumb azz! Check your suppliers for good crews. Peace, muddy

www.themudmasters.com

[asullivangarner]

The first and last time ever, I hope, I hired an unknown crew to hang, finish, sand and point-up for $20/board, my painter cussed me like a dog. We covered boards and proper stocking. Said painter made up the difference in quality and I paid him for it.

If your hanger, finisher, sander, painter are not BFF's, or have half an idea about what the next man needs to do this job properly, you are doing it wrong!!!

[m beezo]

Allan, not saying your prices are wrong since that is what you pay. But you are so right about a crew of guys who do that all day every day. They just get in the flow and cam make it work for them. Every step counts and every things works for them. And a big old house like you build is certainly different than what I am describing. My job is a basement with a winding stair case that does not allow any larger piece than 8 ft to go in and even that is a struggle. Plus the home is occupied so each day is some set up and clean up time.
The specialist should be able to do a much faster job than a guy like me. However, I still would like to earn at the higher end of Allan's scale rather than the lower end.

[Allan Edwards]

Beez:

I would think as with most things that specialized, larger, more repetitive tasks can be done less expensively than small, infrequent one of a kind tasks. I think we all know that. Just like drywall jobs in a 600 unit apartment building will be done cheaper on a per unit basis than my new houses.

This brings up an interesting observation on my part. I do new homes almost exclusively, and for the most part larger homes (6,000 sq ft and up). About every 2-3 years I do a remodel job. I am very selective, but do them because they fit my schedule, they are in the same neighborhood as my new homes, and I can get my price. I recently agreed to do a remodel job next door to a new house I’m building. It is relatively small ($200,000), compared to my new homes, but a nice job in that it is easy, quick, nice clients, and cost plus. I started it 3 weeks ago.

My observation is this: I can get my new home subs to do the work, I think at a better price and perhaps quicker and maybe even better quality than the typical remodeler. And the reason I can get my subs to do these occasional remodel jobs is because I give them a steady stream of larger, new home work, so when I ask them to do a small remodel they reluctantly agree. They are larger, more specialized and production oriented crews than remodel crews. A remodeling carpentry crew might do all forms of carpentry and other tasks. Whereas my crews are specialized, with framers only do framing, trim crews only do trim and cabinets, drywallers only installing drywall. As opposed to a small remodeler who might do it all because of the nature of his work. I think this brings value to both me and my client because my crews are faster and in some respects better quality because they do their little slice of work every day, not sporadically.

My point is for a new home builder the occasional remodel job can be profitable and worth doing.

[TSJHD1]

I am not looking for someone to work for free but I am also not looking to pay for his son/daughters 4 year college tuition.

Thank you for your reply.

How do you pay for your son's/daughter's college tuition?

Tom

[TSJHD1]

Hi Allan, we have not chatted in a while. I'm currently running a 700k addition/remodel in DC, and I consider myself somewhat of a rare breed, in that I am quite skilled in both new work as well as remodels/additions. I've seen many differences between the 2 types of work, that I believe each one generally requires the builder to be a specialist, in order to end up with the best finished product, and the happiest customer.

I get your point about the pricing, and I agree. But, I believe a remodel contractor with his own crews and subs is almost always overall the better choice for the customer than a new home builder.

The reasons are many, but generally center around all the issues that come up in a remodel that do not exist in new construction.

Does the framer who only works with I-joists understand that he has to account for new dimensional lumber shrinkage when he is matching an existing stick-framed roof?

Or how about the siding contractor who subs out the demo of the existing aluminum siding... will they know to cover up any old holes in the original siding (that abandoned dryer vent hole) so some pregnant squirrel doesn't come along that night and crawl herself into that hole and have her babies?

Or will the GC be aware of any codes that require upgrades to services?

And there's always lead paint issues. How many new home builders are equipped to deal with that? Or asbestos? Or even aware of the regs?

A remodel brick mason will know what lime-based mortar is; A new-construction-only sub probably won't.

Do the drywall guys know how to tie in to plaster, so there won't be any cracks later?

A new home builder may not be aware of the laws that concern working hours, and end up pissing off neighbors because their roofing crew started work one hot summer morning at 6 am.

I know there are exceptions, but just as carpentry has become so specialized that good framers are generally not going to be the guys doing the custom woodwork, and those same custom woodwork guys are not going to be installing the hardwood floors, I think remodeling and new home construction have also become so specialized that generally the same builder is not going to do equal work on both.

Tom

[Bob Cram]

Going-rate questions like this are meaningless, because we have no idea what the homeowner means by "hang and tape". What if it means level 5? Who's going to do the takeoff? Who's going to deliver the material. What happens to excess materials? Get 2 more quotes. The drywall business is very competitive, and you'll get what you pay for, exactly.