Raleigh Drywall Installation.

Add up the square footage of every wall (length times height) and the ceiling (length times width), divide by 32 for 4x8 sheets, and add about 10% for waste. A 12x12 room with 8-foot ceilings has about 530 square feet, so you'd need 17 to 19 sheets. Don't subtract doors and windows, since those cutouts mostly become scrap. Our sheet table covers garages, bonus rooms, basements, and whole houses.

On residential walls, horizontally in most cases. It puts the tapered edges at a comfortable height to finish, crosses more studs for a stiffer wall, and usually means fewer feet of seams. On 9-foot walls, 54-inch-wide board hung horizontally gives you two rows and a single seam. Vertical hanging still makes sense in some spots, like narrow walls and many commercial jobs on metal studs.

It depends on the framing above. In most newer Triangle homes, ceiling trusses are 24 inches apart with heavy blown insulation on top, so we use 5/8" drywall. It's stiffer and won't sag between trusses over time. If the framing is 16 inches apart, which is common in older homes, 1/2" sag-resistant board works well too. One exception: a garage ceiling with a bonus room or bedroom above always needs 5/8" Type X fire-rated drywall by code.

Moisture-resistant or mold-resistant board on the walls and ceiling, and cement board behind any tile in the shower or tub surround. Green board is not a tile backer in wet areas. Raleigh's humidity plus daily steam is hard on regular paper-faced drywall, and a good exhaust fan vented outside matters as much as the board.

Mold-resistant board, ideally a paperless type, on exterior walls and anywhere moisture is a risk. We keep the bottom edge off the slab so it can't wick water, and we check for signs of water getting in before anything gets covered. If a foundation wall is actively wet, that needs fixing first, because drywall can't solve it.

Screws. Southern pine framing, which most Triangle homes use, shrinks as it dries, and nails work loose as it does. That's what causes the nail pops so common in newer homes. Screws hold, and we set each one just below the surface without breaking the paper.

Yes. We match the texture and finish level of your existing walls and keep the new ceiling in plane with the old one, so the line between them disappears. In older homes with plaster, we use the right transition so the joint between plaster and new drywall doesn't crack.

Level 4 is the standard for painted walls and looks great in most rooms: seams taped and covered with three coats, sanded smooth. Level 5 adds a thin skim coat over the entire surface, so there's no difference between the seams and the paper for light to catch. It's worth it in rooms with low-angle light, like two-story great rooms, sunrooms, and walls with big windows or recessed lights, and under dark or glossy paint. It adds about $0.50 to $1.25 per square foot, so we only recommend it where you'll see the difference.

We do, unless you'd rather supply your own. Our quotes include the board, screws, tape, compound, corner bead, delivery, and stocking into each room, so nobody is hauling 80-pound sheets up your staircase on day one. On hang-only jobs for builders who buy their own materials, we're happy to work from your delivery.

On materials alone, yes, but finishing is where most DIY jobs go wrong. Hanging is doable for a handy person with a helper and a rented lift. Taping and mudding seams so they disappear under paint takes practice, and fixing a wavy finish costs time and money. The middle ground handy Raleigh homeowners use is hanging the board themselves and hiring us for finish-only taping and mudding.

Sometimes, and it can save a messy tear-out. Laminating new board over sound plaster works well in some older Raleigh homes, and a second layer on a shared wall helps with sound. The tradeoffs are outlet extenders, trim adjustments, and the risk of covering a moisture problem. We'll look at your walls and tell you honestly whether to cover or remove.

Yes. We frame, hang, and finish office, retail, restaurant, medical, and flex-space upfits across Raleigh and the Triangle.

Yes. Most commercial interior walls, and some residential basements and soffits, are framed in light-gauge steel. We frame the walls and then hang and finish the drywall, so one crew owns the whole wall on one schedule.

Yes. For stores, restaurants, and offices that need to stay open, or that share walls with businesses that do, we schedule the loud and dusty work outside business hours and keep dust contained the rest of the time.

Yes, we can follow your plans, finish schedule, and project timeline, stay in touch with your PM or superintendent, and hand rooms off on time so the next trade can start. GCs can call (984) 208-2958 for a quick bid.

Look for a company that sends proof of insurance without being asked, lists the board type, finish level, and texture in a written quote, and shows you photos of finished, painted walls. Ask who will actually do the work and whether the warranty is in writing. Our hiring checklist covers every question to ask.

Here's how we measure up: we hold a full NC general contractor license (most drywall installers don't), include proof of insurance with every quote, and put every detail in writing room by room. The same small crew that quotes your job does the work, and every job comes with a written workmanship warranty.

Yes. North Carolina only requires a general contractor license for projects of $40,000 or more, so a handyman can legally hang drywall on most home projects. Whether they should is a different question. A small patch or one closet wall is fine handyman work. A garage, bonus room, basement, or addition takes a finisher's skill to get flat seams, the right board for fire separation, and a schedule that works with your inspections. Whoever you hire, ask for proof of insurance before work starts.

Usually not for drywall by itself. North Carolina exempts residential work costing $40,000 or less from permits unless it involves structure, plumbing, electrical, or mechanical changes. Additions, ADUs, new homes, and finishes that add wiring or ductwork are permitted as a whole project, and the drywall goes in under that permit. We'll tell you which situation you're in.

A general contractor license is required for projects costing $40,000 or more. Most drywall jobs fall under that line, so many installers aren't licensed. We hold a full NC general contractor license anyway, carry insurance, and include proof of both with every quote.

The walls shared with the house need at least 1/2" gypsum board on the garage side. If there's a habitable room above the garage, like a bonus room or bedroom, the garage ceiling needs 5/8" Type X, and the walls supporting that room need at least 1/2" board. Your approved plans will show exactly what's required for your house.

Houses usually don't get a separate drywall inspection. The key checkpoint is the insulation inspection, which has to pass before board goes up on permitted work. On commercial projects, rated walls can be checked before they're covered or finished. We schedule around both so your project doesn't stall.

Yes. Hang-only usually runs $0.75 to $1.35 per square foot with board delivered and stocked. Finish-only, where we tape, mud, sand, and texture board someone else hung, usually runs $0.90 to $1.75 per square foot. If DIY-hung board needs rework before it can be finished well, we'll tell you upfront.

Board and delivery, stocking to each room, hanging with screws, paper tape and compound on every seam, corner bead, finish coats sanded to the level you choose, texture if you prefer, and full cleanup with debris hauled away. Primer and paint are extra and available. If another quote is much lower, compare it line by line against that list.

Yes, but finishing has to be planned around it. Humid air slows regular joint compound, so a coat that dries overnight in October might take two days in August. We use setting-type compound for the first coat, run AC or dehumidifiers when the house has power, and don't sand coats that aren't dry. In winter, the space needs to stay around 50°F or warmer while the compound cures.

Once the final coat is fully dry and sanded, usually within a day of our last visit. New drywall needs a good drywall primer first, so the paper and the compound absorb paint evenly. Skipping primer is how you get dull, blotchy patches over the seams.

New framing keeps drying and shrinking for a year or two, and the first heating season can lift trusses off interior walls. That movement shows up as nail pops, cracks over doorways, and ceiling corner cracks. If your home is under a year old, your builder's warranty should cover it. On our installs, screws, floated ceiling corners, and seams kept away from door and window corners cut these problems way down.

Sanding creates fine dust, so we contain it carefully: floors covered, plastic up where needed, HVAC vents sealed, and vacuum-attached sanders. On jobs in lived-in homes, the rest of your house stays clean, and we haul away every scrap when we're done.

We install drywall across Wake County and the Triangle: Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Morrisville, Wake Forest, Rolesville, Knightdale, Wendell, Zebulon, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Clayton, Durham, and Chapel Hill. If you don't see your town, call anyway at (984) 208-2958.