How to bid a drywall job

Most underbid drywall jobs go wrong in the same three places: measuring floor instead of board surface, forgetting waste, and pricing finish work like it's all the same level. This guide walks the whole bid in order. When you're done, plug your numbers into the free bid calculator and text the client a clean quote.

1. Measure board area, not floor area

Measure each wall: length × ceiling height. Add ceilings: length × width. Subtract big openings like garage doors and wide pass-throughs, but leave standard doors and windows in. The cutoffs rarely get reused, so counting them covers your waste on those walls.

Quick check: a typical room with a ceiling runs about 3.5× its floor square footage in board. Use it to sanity-check a walk-through, not as the bid.

2. Count sheets and add waste

Divide board area by sheet size: 32 sq ft for a 4×8, 40 for a 4×10, 48 for a 4×12. Then add waste. Simple boxes with long runs waste less. Lots of angles, soffits, and small closets waste more. Note any special board separately (moisture-resistant for baths, Type X fire-rated where code requires it, 5/8" for ceilings with wide framing), since it's priced differently.

Bigger sheets, fewer seams: 12-footers mean less taping, but check whether you can get them up the stairs and whether you have the crew to hang them.

3. Estimate finishing materials

Joint compound: scales with board area and the finish level. Track how many boxes your last few jobs actually used per 1,000 sq ft and use your own number.
Tape: roughly follows seam length. Paper for flats, mesh or paper for patches, and don't forget inside corners.
Screws: scales with sheet count and framing spacing.
Corner bead and trim: count outside corners and walk the job. Bullnose, archways, and L-bead add up fast.

4. Price your labor from your real production

Pick the unit your market uses, per square foot, per sheet, or per day, then back into it from what your crew actually does in a day. If two hangers put up a certain number of sheets a day and you know your day cost, you know your price per sheet. Price hanging and finishing separately so you can quote hang-only or finish-only jobs without redoing the math.

Charge more for: high ceilings and scaffolding, ceilings in general, Level 5 finishes, texture matching on patches, occupied homes that need daily cleanup, and small jobs where setup time eats the day.

5. Know the finish level before you price it

Ask what level the client expects, and write it on the quote. Industry finish levels run from Level 0 (no finishing) to Level 5 (a skim coat over the whole surface for critical lighting or glossy paint). A Level 4 vs. Level 5 misunderstanding is one of the most common drywall disputes. See drywall finish levels 0 to 5, explained.

6. Add overhead, then write it down

Add markup on materials you supply, a trip or minimum charge for small jobs, and cleanup and haul-off if you do it. Then put it in writing:

Scope: rooms, square footage, hang, finish, or both, and the finish level.
Materials: who supplies them.
Exclusions: framing repairs, insulation, paint, texture, permits, unless included.
Schedule, payment terms, and how change orders get priced.

Do the math in two minutes. The free TapeAndFloat calculator turns square footage and your prices into sheet count, mud, tape, screws, labor, and a quote you can text or print. Nothing is saved or sent.
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Common bidding mistakes

Bidding off floor plans without walking the job.
No waste factor, or the same waste on every job.
Pricing ceilings like walls.
Leaving the finish level and exclusions off the quote.
Forgetting the trip charge on small patch jobs.