Finish Ceiling of Garage

[bookman51]

I had a local house contractor give me an estimate to tape and texture (just a simple stomp pattern) the ceiling of my garage and do some minor retaping of the walls so I can paint them. THe ceiling is about 12'6" high and the garage is 25' x 40'. The drywall has already been hung and taped once but that was when the house was first built. Now some of the ceiling drywall has come loose. I bought the house this way. Original building long gone (went bankrupt).

The local house contractor estimated $1,700 for labor and $250 for materials. Am I crazy or does this seem way out of the ball park (almost $2 per square foot)?

I have borrowed scaffolding from a relative and probably will try to do it myself? Or am I crazy to try it?

Bookman
Nebraska

 

[rieferman]

My best quote for my 15 x 15 room (walls and ceiling) was $550 total (included time and materials). Figure, 8 foot walls, that makes about 700 square feet worth of work. (edit, corrected my math) $550 / 700 = about $0.80 per square foot.

I still couldn't justify it - because when you look at it, the amount of seams in relation to the square footage is very very small. Also in my case, perfection isn't a necessity so I will learn and adjust and do it myself. Worst case scenario, I will have to sand a lot

 

[Nuckin Futs]

Hey there, new to this board here.
I had never done sheetrock before in my life. It really isn't that hard. Just time consuming. I did my whole house, with good results. Fortunatly for me my father-inlaw has done 'rock all of his life. He gae me a ton of pointers and tricks.My recomendation is to rent a 'rock jack for doing the ceiling. You will get better results and tighter seams. This will help come time to tape it.
Jump in bud, it doesn't hurt to learn a new skill..

 

[bookman51]

Nucking Futs, THe dry wlll is up and the first skim is on the tape. However, some of the tape is coming lose, so some of it will have to be done. No hanging of sheet rock, just mudding and texture. I even have the scaffolding.

I have one more estimate coming, but I just got the feeling the fellow did not want to do it. I have done some drywall finishing on vertical walls, but not ceiling. Probably will be more careful about sanding....and have to practice to develop the skill of texturing.

Thanks

Bookman

 

[bookman51]

riefman, Yep, probably like someone said about welding. One has to either a good welder or a good grinder. I am more of a good grinder. So, regarding drywall, I probably will become a good sander. Do not look forward to doing it on the ceiling. Probably an art to texturing, such as thinning the mud just right and applying it to the ceiling just right. Just I get it so it all does not come down or something.

Thanks

Bookman

 

[rsanter]

we had a water leak that caused some drywall damage and I had started to fix it but it was taking too long and the wife was getting impatient (sometimes after work I dont feel like doing much)
one wall of my daughter bedroom needed drywall a couple of feet up, some of the bathroom where the leaky pipe fitting was and the the laundryroom below it needed the ceiling and 2 walls redone.
I had a couple of contractors tell me $800 to $1000 just for the laundry room and I had already put most of the sheetrock up and had the remaining material for them to use.
dam thieves!!!
finally found a guy who was a liscenced contractor who did all three rooms for $700 prepped for paint.

my advice....keep looking for the right guy, hire a guy on the sode who was a drywaller and is now out of work, or just do it yourself

bob

 

[Kevin54]

If the tape is coming loose, it needs to all come off and re-mudded and taped. Not hard but a little time consuming. I had the ceilings done in my wifes greenhouse done for $400. This was for the taping and texturing. The drywall was already hung. The size of it was 20x20. I'll see if I can load the pic. He used a roller that leaves the mud look like woodgrain. I guess you can get them online for like $20 and there are numerous patterns that you can buy. The pic might not do it justice but everyone that has seen it does not believe it was done with drywall mud.

BTW...one other thing...my drywall guy explained to me that most contractors either just tape and mud, or if they finish the ceiling off, do not paint. He explained that moisture in a garage will get absorbed into the unpained compound and the moisture along with temperature swings will cause the tape to work loose. If it is painted it will seal the moisture from causing that problem. My garage has been done for approximately 8 years or so and I do not have a crack and it was painted. The house garage has a stomped/textured ceiling, never painted, and looks terrible as it is cracked and loose tape at every seam

 

[kenfath]

I had about 500 sq/ft of 33 year old acoustic ceiling spray removed by pros. The areas they did were the living/dining room, an entrance hall and around 60 feet of hall, all 8' ceilings. On the first day two men, one on stilts, draped the walls, furniture, floors with plastic held in place with double faced tape. They wetted and scraped the accoustical material from the ceiling and fixed the drywall problems like some loose tape, popped nails, a couple of gouges and wet damage. Next they sprayed and applied a texture coat which resembled drywall mud which they struck with wide flat trowels to achieve the selected finish. This was followed by the removal of the plastic with the wet material rolled inside and a brief but adequate cleanup. Elapsed time just under three hours.

Next day another two man crew showed up as scheduled and proceeded to drape the walls, furniture, ceiling fan, light fixtures and floors with plastic. They sprayed two coats of an alcohol based sealer and one coat of semi-gloss finish paint; removed the plastic and gave the place a thorough cleanup. This took about two hours to accomplish.

The cost: $750.00. I was very impressed with their work ethic, workmanship, the speed, absence of any mess and the cost.

I inquired if they hung drywall and they said they did. I have a garage project in the planning stages and when we get to the drywall they will be the first called for that job. I had mixed thoughts about spray painting interior walls but these people made a believer out of me.

 

[metal1313]

its not that hard to do, but for a ceiling that large, even with a scaffolding set up, your neck will kill you so bad. its not the easiest thing in the world and if you've never done it before its time consuming. look around more, but for something that size, and fixing previous work that quote isnt too out of line. to do it super neat and quick is a real skill

 

[bookman51]

Folks, Thanks for the input.

Bookman

 

[HossHoffer]

You can rent a drywall hoist that makes the job do-able and safe for the average Joe. It is also a great excuse to buy that roto-zip you always wanted. Taping is quickly learned but you won't be fast at it until you have finished a house or two. How much does he want just for taping?

Hoss