Normally included
- Board supply, hanging and fastening
- Taping, corner bead, and compound to a specified finish level
- Sanding and dust control
- Debris removal
Interior finishing
Drywall & taping
The trade whose quality you notice only under raking light, and only after the paint is on. Most complaints about a paint job are actually complaints about the taping underneath it.
Also called: Boarding · Mudding · Plastering
Scope
What the work is—and what it isn’t.
Most disputes begin with an exclusion nobody read. Confirm both columns against any quote you receive before comparing prices.
Normally excluded
- Priming and painting
- Framing corrections
- Insulation
What moves the price
Why two quotes for the same room differ.
These are the decisions and conditions that actually drive cost on this trade. Understand them and a wide spread between quotes usually explains itself.
- 01
Finish level. Level 4 is the standard for most residential work; Level 5 — a skim coat over the whole surface — is what you need under gloss paint or heavy raking light, and it costs materially more.
- 02
Ceiling height and whether staging is needed.
- 03
Board type. Moisture-resistant, mould-resistant, fire-rated and abuse-resistant boards are all different prices.
- 04
The number of corners, bulkheads and openings — labour follows linear feet of bead, not just square feet of board.
- 05
Repair versus new. Patching into existing plaster is slower and less predictable than boarding an empty room.
- 06
Dust control in an occupied house.
Cost ranges
What it costs in Halton.
Cost ranges for this trade have not been published yet.
Rather than repeat a national average that means nothing in Halton, this table stays empty until the figures are ones I have priced myself. The cost drivers above are the part that matters most anyway—they explain why the numbers vary.
If you want a real number for your property, that is what the walkthrough is for.
Book a free walkthrough →Before you sign
What the quote must contain.
If any of these is missing, ask for it in writing before you compare prices. A quote that cannot answer these questions is not a quote—it is an estimate wearing a suit.
- Finish level stated explicitly as a number
- Board type and thickness by room
- Whether corner bead is paper-faced or metal
- Dust containment and clean-up responsibility
- Who supplies the board
Walk away
Red flags on this trade.
None of these are matters of taste. Each one has a specific consequence, and each is visible before you commit any money.
- No finish level named
- A ceiling quote that does not mention whether the existing texture might contain asbestos
- No dust control plan in an occupied home
- Standard board specified for a bathroom
Before the final payment
- Inspect under a bright light held flat against the wall — that is where seams and fastener heads show
- Corners straight, beads not proud, no visible ridges at butt joints
- Screw heads dimpled, not broken through the paper
If you are selling
What this does to a sale.
Nobody buys a house because of the drywall. Plenty of buyers knock the price down because of a wavy ceiling that reads as 'cheap work' — usually correctly.
Ready to hire
I’ll give you one or two names, not a directory.
Contractors on the bench supply current WSIB, liability insurance and licence documentation, and I have walked their finished work. No referral fee is accepted from any of them.
A straightforward first conversation
Thinking about drywall & taping?
Tell me where you are in the process. We’ll discuss the property, the market, and the questions that matter most to you.