how to quote taping job?

Dave Dalnado

I'm a young new drywall finisher who has finished trade school. I want to start my own taping business working by myself, but don't know how to quote jobs ??? Should I quote by the hour or by square foot? I liked to use square foot because I can give customers a firm price for the job, but what should I charge per square foot??? What about a small job like a bathroom, can't charge by square feet I won't make any money. What about large jobs??? What if some one has already done the first coat, what shall I charge then??? Should I incorporate driving milege in my quote (what it costs to drive back and forth to the joib site 4 times - 3 coats and final sanding)??? What should I charge the customer if I pick up all the material for their job??? What if a customer has scraped his popcorn ceiling and wants me to skim coat it, what do I charge for that??? What if a customer wants me to do a taping job with only 2 coats so he can save money, what would I charge??? I have a friend who has a kitchen he wants me to tape for him, it's 531.63 sq.ft. - What should I charge???

eastex1963

Not to dig ya or anything, but, they didn't teach ya that in trade school? LOL.

Darren@Partners

531.63 SF? WTF? Location in your profile? Did your trade school have a construction management course too?

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Custom Drywall Svc.

wow...ton of questions....all good, and of course very rookie (no offense).


ill give you a summary of at least how i price jobs.


the smaller jobs, of course you cant strictly go by SF.

if anything for smaller jobs, IF i go by SF....its generally 2.50 per sf.....2 bucks / sf at the minimum.

again though, this is all general, personal 'rule of thumb' type stuff.....every single job is different, and you have to price accordingly.

whatever you do, convert everything back to how much you are actually charging per HOUR, and just ask yourself if it makes sense.


think of it this way, at least $75 / hr you should be charging.

thats my companies standard service rate....

for example, lets say a homeowner has a super small patch.....i charge 75 bucks an hour, with a 2 hr minimum charge....thats 150 bucks. doesnt matter if it takes my patchguy 30 mins. just make sure the homeowner knows that upfront -- 2 hr minimum.

now, small - medium sized jobs.....

lets say i have a job involving 10 sheets......thats 480 SF.

assume: hang, tape, finish, texture.

480 sf x 2.50 = 1,200 bucks.

just remember, the smaller the job (less volume) the more you have to charge. you just have to find the happy medium....you dont want to be price gouging your customers also.

my general rule is that anything under 2500 board sf, i charge roughly 2.50 / sf for.

bigger jobs, you can price lower per sf because of the obvious volume.


honestly, since you are starting out...you'll have to just learn as you go how to price.

pricing can truly be an artform i feel.

you have to treat every job, big or small different.

it never hurts to ask around like you are doing on here.....theres plenty of ppl on here that will give you insight on pricing for your business.

the only thing i can say is dont price too low because you are 'scared' you wont get the job.

again.......just convert everything back to how much you are working for per hour.

75 bucks per hr at the minimum.......or, just ask yourself "how much am i worth per hour"

(i hope you will say at least 75)


and common sense-wise.........if all else fails, just ASK yourself how much money you WANT to make on a job, AFTER labor and materials is calculated.

this is probably the most bare-bones, common sense approach to pricing.

DONT hurt yourself, bottomline.

and yes, figure mileage into the job.

Muddauber

That's what I would have said, but I'm a lazy typest.

A+ Texture LLC

So was your schooling focused on drywall only? Or more of a broad general construction deal? Consider yourself lucky. Price questions go over like lead ballons here. In my opinion you should maybe start out with a company for the job experience. At the same time build up your collection of tools and advertise in the paper for repairs and small jobs. Get your feet wet first don't jump in blindly. Then when you have a decent amount of jobs under your belt look into the licensing process, get licensed then start raising your prices. And read these forums all the time, there is much you can still learn. Remember, anything under five years and your still an apprentice.

Whitey97

Why do they ask the same question time and time again? Better question, why do you guys always tell them? Where were the guys like us when we started? When I asked that question I was flipped the bird and told to go figure it out on my own. Exactly what I want others to do!

Dave Dalnado

Thanks, CUSTOM DRYWALL SVC. The reason I ask is because I don't want to price gouge any customers. Thanks to everyone who replyed negative or positive. My trade school only taught us Drywall taping & Safety - no construction management, they figure after you finish you'll join the union so you won't need it. I know enough that you'll make more money going in to business for yourself than working for a unioned company. I know a taper getting paid the certified rate and still taking home only $800 and change a week. WTF is that?????

Darren@Partners

About twice what most trade school grads are worth, right out of school, that's all.

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Whitey97

If that much!

Dave-
No offense to you, you just have to somewhat understand, right?
I know I don't mean to be an ass, but not only is it disrespectful, it's also a private matter. If you look around a bit in here though, you would find all of the rates that most of us charge. We do openly share it, but when one comes in and immediately asks that particular question it lights some of us up.

JoeMudder

$800 a week take home? that's not terribly bad. But to be honest if you want to earn more money than that you need your own business and employees working for you. there are guys who make $100,000.00 a year with successful drywall businesses.

Remember, business itself is a learned skill, so is drywall. It will take time and perserverance to become efficient at it. The best way is to just get out there and find some work and begin bidding on it. There are books available for bidding also you might want to consider.

Also keep in mind that what you learned in trade school and what you will actually learn in the field are two different worlds. Don't create expectations of what you think should happen, go out there and find out what's happening. You need to adapt, adjust and roll with the punches so to speak.

In short, you need to be street smart.

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Darren@Partners

I was being a bit flippant with previous post, but.... It galls me every time some rookie pops off about how underpaid the men in the field are. Maybe this isn't the case with you, don't know. But I was guilty of it too. Thinking, "Gee, I'd sure trade places with the boss. All he does is ride around all day in that big fancy truck and hand out paychecks on Fri."
There's a world more to it than that. Like Whitey posted, look around here a bit and also over on ContractorTalk.com and see how that other half lives before hanging out your shingle.
I started off ignoring every bit of advice I'd ever been given about starting a business and succeeded in spite of myself. But this is a totally different business climate today. Not wanting to discourage you, but maybe you oughta learn by doing awhile. There is plenty they didn't teach you in trade school.

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Custom Drywall Svc.

amen to that.

Darren@Partners

And unless you're in D.C. or some place really hoppin', you'll just be driving down the price of what little work there is out there. There, I said it.

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Custom Drywall Svc.

More than that my friend.

When times are 'good' drywall is a very lucrative business.

(IF run right...and AS a business)

JoeMudder

Please pay close attention to the way I worded my post.

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R.E. Plaster

having your own buisness does improve your ability to make more money, but I would sugest working with some seasoned finishers and learning the details that will make you not just a finisher but a skilled tradesman, make a rep for yourself get confident in what you are learnig, then start your biz, which will be another learning experience

harris drywall

i am a drywall contractor here in southern maine ,and i find it hard to get bids but i wont work for peanuts,i try to price per square foot so the board price comes out to the approximate hours to complete the job,i must be high on prices,i gave a proposal for 88 board 8 fters in basement all stand ups and i didnt get it,must be the economy 30.00 a board to hang tape and finish ?? plus materials!! thats what i gave him for a price.any input would be appreciated

Whitey97

That's about what we're at in Mn

Darren@Partners

We are even a bit lower here.

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