How much should tape and mudding cost?

[trig]

I'm wanting to make my garage a little fancy, but the builders did a nasty job on the taping and it is not exactly paint ready yet.

How much can I expect to pay for someone to rip the tape off and redo my two car garage?



P.S. - Love the forum, getting lots of ideas.

 

[brownbagg]

Its a garage, nail up some plywood and pegboard call it quits

 

[trig]

Its a garage, nail up some plywood and pegboard call it quits

It's already drywalled, just the taping is bad. Not exactly the answer expected on a forum with floors/walls you could eat off of...

 

[65Stang]

In my area (Washington), about $3-5 per SF for a very nice mud job.

 

[gunguy]

Trig-

If time is an issue, or for some other reason you can't, then pay to have it done. Otherwise, consider DIY. For less than $100 for tools and supplies i.e. a couple of knives, mud tray, pole sander, tape, mud and maybe a few odds & ends, you'll be in business.

Surf the 'net or pick up a book at Lowes or HD for the basics and have at it.

If you have a typical 20x20x9 garage, that's a little more than 900sf.
At $3-$5sf do the math, get some estimates then do it yourself. It just ain't that hard, even to do it right. Tedious? Yes, can be. Most important tool in the box is patience...

Respectfully,

Jim

 

[jdkenyon]

$3-$5/sf seems pretty high to me. I just had mine done for $.25/sf plus the mud. For my 32x32 it was just over $1k.

 

[rocketman]

$3 to $5 a Sq Ft...... That's outrageous.

I can check out in the parking lot at Home Depot or Lowes ona Saturday and get a couple three Hispanic individuals that will do it for $200 TOPS. They can whip that out in a couple hours easy..

 

[Killer95Stang]

As someone who just installed drywall in a 1961 garage that only measured 19 x 19 x 9, minus not doing the ceiling... I would say... pick up the pennysaver and hire someone to do the job. Don't get me wrong... I love that I saved a bunch of money and can say I did it myself... "BUT"... next to breaking out stubborn tile with a rotor hammer (chisel tip), to put in my new wood floor. I would say that was the messiest job I ever did.

I wouldn't pay over $400 for a small garage.

 

[BillK]

Trig,
You probably dont need to rip anything out. The norm around here is just one coat of mud to bed the tape in when drywalling garages. You can probably get a bucket of tape and a 12" knife and put another coat or two on it and it will be fine. Takes a little bit to get the right touch, but it really is not all that hard to do. A little finish sanding and you will be ready for paint.

 

[35mastr]

Dont tear it off. Just recoat it with new mud. First coat with an 8" knife. Let dry and then recoat a nice float with a 12" knife. That should cover it. sand to desired level of smoothness. Prime then paint. Make sure that you prime with a good primer or they will bleed through when its painted.

 

[FlameOut]

In my area (Washington), about $3-5 per SF for a very nice mud job.

No way that is correct! So my 27 x 33 x 10'h garage, with ceiling at $3 a SF would be $5463?

Trig, as others have said, just purchase a few of the basic tools and attempt it yourself. It's not that hard at all

 

[65Stang]

Should have clarified, $3-$5 was with drywall fully included, may have included insulation, and is pricing for commercial work. Joe out of his truck should be significantly less and if just mud and leaving drywall in place, $0.50 or less per sf shouldn't be hard to get from the small guys. I was quoted about $2,000 for my garage, which I thought was high, but was all inclusive. I did it myself, including drywall, mud, etc, for about $400.

 

[Falcon67]

I agree with some of the others - a good sanding and a couple of coats of mud may very well smooth things out. I personally hate drywall and especially "love" texture. I'll put rock on the walls when I add on to the shop, but I'm just going to roll paint on it and not even bed it. I plan to cover it with benches, tools, posters, trophies, nick-naks and junk so why bother LOL. Go around where there are new houses going up and look for taping going on - just ask 'em. A good taper could do your seams in a short as a side job - maybe a couple hundred bucks and a 12 pack, who knows.

 

[trig]

Yea, I may attempt it by myself. There is alot of building going on in my neighborhood so I may go down and see if I can get some info, but there is rarely any english speaking people there.

I have a scraper thing already. I bet if I started it I could do it for $20-30 bucks, lol, I just didn't think I could do it all that fast. Maybe I'll play with it this weekend. I also just got a jitterbug sander so I guess if I get it sloppy I'll save some sandy work with that.

 

[mad57]

Yea, I may attempt it by myself. There is alot of building going on in my neighborhood so I may go down and see if I can get some info, but there is rarely any english speaking people there.

I have a scraper thing already. I bet if I started it I could do it for $20-30 bucks, lol, I just didn't think I could do it all that fast. Maybe I'll play with it this weekend. I also just got a jitterbug sander so I guess if I get it sloppy I'll save some sandy work with that.

TRig if you do it yourself theres a sander that uses a 5 gallon bucket set up half full of water and hooked to a shop vac with a preforated sanding tool at the end and screen looking paper. they work great at keeping the dust down to almost nothing!!! i made my own set up really simple and then hooked it to my jitter bug sander man real easy and fast and best of all no dust. be careful not to burn through the spackel its real easy with this set up, good luck,mike.

 

[35mastr]

If you have a bunch of work going on in the neighbor hood. Then just cruz around until you see a dry wall guy doing work and see if he wants a side job.

A pro will knock that out in short time.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I had a room in my house that was 15 X 24 Feet, including a bath and closet. The ceiling was taped, but needed some rework on some seams after scraping off texture ceiling. The sheetrock was hung on the walls, but not taped. The cost to tape, mud, finish, along with the spraying of a new textured ceiling was $850, with all materials included, done by a pair of contractor brothers. That works out to 86 cents a sq ft of surface, ceiling texturing included.

 

[Putuporshutup]

$3-$5/sf seems pretty high to me. I just had mine done for $.25/sf plus the mud. For my 32x32 it was just over $1k.

The professional rate is 28-35 /sf but you also get paid 1.20-1.75 for beading but a 20 ×20×10h with windows would be 3 coat finish if you are a good taper and would norm cost 500 - 750 with mud ,and I wouldn't suggest doing it your self if you want a good evaluation on your property at sale time ,but if you do have someone with experience help, good luck . 30yrs experience done houses 35000 sqft

 

[LXCam]

That guys got a few to many happy drinks in him

Wellll first off welcome to the joint. Second off, what you said was spot on.

But third off the irony with your comment is strong since this thread is 12yrs old.

 

[mike93lx]

Drywall work *****. Anyone that has done a project at home has sworn they would never do it again, some of us multiple times.

I had a crew blueboard and plaster my last house. The speed and quality that I got for less than $2/ft all in was amazing. I am never doing anything but a patch again

 

[Bucko]

The issue right now is finding someone that will take on a small job and actually do it right. Drywall is one of the easiest things to do but it does take patience. Look up the 5 levels of drywall finish. Alot of garages get a level 2 max.
I would just do it myself and make a learning project out of it. Hit what is there with a sander first (if it has not already been painted) then apply some fresh mud. Just remember the more you slap up there, the more you have to sand the extra off, light coats are the key.

 

[mike93lx]

The issue right now is finding someone that will take on a small job and actually do it right. Drywall is one of the easiest things to do but it does take patience. Look up the 5 levels of drywall finish. Alot of garages get a level 2 max.
I would just do it myself and make a learning project out of it. Hit what is there with a sander first (if it has not already been painted) then apply some fresh mud. Just remember the more you slap up there, the more you have to sand the extra off, light coats are the key.

If the tape job is bad, I wouldn't just stack more on top. Last thing you need is lifting tape while doing it or down the road.

If the job is just rough, that's one thing, but if it's bad quality, I'd try to remove as much as possible

 

[Bucko]

If the tape has detached from the drywall then I totally agree to remove it, but from the vast majority of "bad jobs" are actually just the level of finish that was required to make it meet code (fire taping,etc.). Pictures would be needed to make a judgment call.

 

[marak]

If you chose to DIY, my advise would be to remove the poorly attached tape as others have suggested. Sand down high spots. When you begin applying new putty, use a 12" blade and go at it with the goal of not sanding until the last coat. Seriously, goal is to sand as little as possible! I use a wide knife between coats as a scraper to get the buggers cleaned up. I prefer more thin coats and less sanding. Sanding is what *****! Also, thin coats dry faster. I'm not an expert, but I'll get you a grade 5 finish with very little sanding, just need all lights off and one quality light held at the right angle. After you primer, go back with the light and very thin coats of putty and very gentle sanding followed by primer. Definitely get a good coat of primer to avoid varying sheens. Hope it all works out for you!

 

[mike93lx]

You can almost eliminate sanding by wiping with a damp grouting sponge before it all sets up too.

Drywall work still *****

 

[FredWanaker]

I'd look for someone who does popcorn ceiling removal and re-texturing as a company. They will be able to finish the drywall, and texture it for you at a reasonable price. They should be big enough that their prices are competitive, and they do enough jobs that they have lots of references. I looked on Yelp for DFW and a company by the name of Rangel construction came up. I know nothing about them other than the yelp reviews. Some home builders have one company hang the drywall, then another tape and prime, then another texture, and another paint. You are looking for either one guy that does it all, or a company that has all on staff. We use a company here like this. You'd never know they did work it is so good. One guy tapes, another comes in the next day and finishes the wall, then another comes in late in the day to blow texture and the finisher knocks it down, or leaves it if say orange peel. The rigs they use for the finishing are well beyond what most one man shops have - the one man shops use a small portable rig to spray finish and it is nothing like the job the bigger rig puts on, similar but I can see the difference.

 

[racecougar]

Guys, the post is from 2009.

 

[mike93lx]

Guys, the post is from 2009.

Lol. I usually notice that.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Guys, the post is from 2009.

Any guessws
A. OP is willing to pay more to finally get it addressed.
B. OP has gotten used to it an hardly notices.
C. OP is now hangs out at the big box store hoping to pick up side jobs finishing drywall.

 

[Bucko]

Guys, the post is from 2009.

Now that's funny!

Most the forums I frequent will archive stale threads so that don't happen.

 

[oldmxracer]

Brand new members always seem to bring VERY old posts back to life !

 

[Metal-Marc]

Brand new members always seem to bring VERY old posts back to life !

And on top of that, he's argueing about cost from a 12 year old post. He's either drunk, dumb or a spam bot.