Drywall guys, How much labor time to do a sheet rock patch like in this video

[rustybucket]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e28PyYkwCc

I do telecom work and some times, need to remove some sheet rock to get to the cable behind the wall where usually, a cover with mud ring is installed. In this case, It was remove sheet rock, and cut out new patch.

In this video, he does a path that looks to be 8 inches by 5 inches square. He never did state the drying times or total time, on average it took from start to end, including painting the wall.

What would a job like this in terms of labor time take? Is wait time for mud drying time included in the price of the install?

Thanks much.

 

[titanpat57]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e28PyYkwCc

I do telecom work and some times, need to remove some sheet rock to get to the cable behind the wall where usually, a cover with mud ring is installed. In this case, It was remove sheet rock, and cut out new patch.

In this video, he does a path that looks to be 8 inches by 5 inches square. He never did state the drying times or total time, on average it took from start to end, including painting the wall.

What would a job like this in terms of labor time take? Is wait time for mud drying time included in the price of the install?

Thanks much.

They have some great dry mixes available now....Durabond Easy sand 120, 90, 45 and 20 ( the number denotes the drying time)___you set your patch, mix your mud,tape and then finish it with 3 coats.....preferably sanding lightly in between. The Durabond shrinks very little and adheres and dry a little harder than traditional can Spackle. I use an old left over beater from an electric mixer...works great.

The prep is in the dust control and paint matching to make it a quality job.

 

[45Kevin]

When i did drywall and a small job like this came up; I would weigh the cost to leave between coats and return and the cost to sit in my truck and listen to the radio. What ever was less was the route I would take.

There are tricks to making stuff dry/set faster. For durabond products I would use dirty ( water from my tool cleaning bucket) to mix it. It usually halved the setting time. Mud could be dried faster with a hair dryer. Sometimes I would leave a piece of sand paper and let the painter sand the final coat. I rarely sanded in between coats, I scrapped, less dust.

 

[rustybucket]

some times, the customer wants to know what the factored in labor/parts are before

What would you say in a case like this guys video? Since my patches are a little smaller, make take less time. The job also includes paint.Also, do you guys charge for travel time and millage to the side?

Labor for this job?
1.5 hours?
2 hours?
2.25 hours
2.5 hours?

I imagine one of both of you have done enough of these, to know what it takes. I may add in 20% more time, since I am not a pro at this.

 

[45Kevin]

Say the square foot price to hang, tape and paint drywall is $1.50. A patch that is 24"x24" should be charged out at $6.

That's fine if it is the basement of a 5000 sf house you are working in.

But if it is 20 miles from the 5000 sf house, how can you only charge $6.

So, you add one or two hours of travel plus milage, per trip. If you can get your coat to dry in less than the time it takes to do a round trip then charge to hang around and wait for the coat to dry.

No one reasonable expects you to work for free.

That hole in the video would be a total of about 20 minutes for me, 10 minutes to patch and first coat, 1 minute each for two more coats and a few minutes to prime it at the end. If it took more than 15 minutes or so to get there I would do it in 2 trips. I would probably charge a couple of hundred dollars. If I drove past the place daily, I would do it in four trips and probably charge $100.

I would not have made the patch in the video that big and I would have used fibre-tape instead of paper.

 

[45Kevin]

That guy in the video is a f'ing hack, with his fur lined work coat and rusty tools.

That patch should be feathered out at least twice the size that it is. That is why I would have made the patch much smaller.

 

[rustybucket]

do you charge regular time when driving?

Regular time means, charging the same rate as if you were doing the labor at the site. Also, millage rate would cover fuel and future maintenance cost. Say add add two dollars for every day you drive to the total fuel bill. That would cover maintenance for the year then some more..but not future replacement cost of your vehicle.

This has been a really sticky point in discussion with us technicians in what to charge the customer for on the road time for a repair or service call.

 

[45Kevin]

Yeah, if you are driving you cannot work your prime job. I used to accept an hour of driving per day and not charge for it. Just like anyone that works at an office or shop all day.

The government has good guidelines on what an acceptable milage charge should be. Probably around $0.75/mile, includes gas/maint/depreciation etc. I would build it into my hourly or job rate and not show it as a line item. Some do it as a seperate line item. if you drive an F450 or some other large truck that you need to do your job, then charge more per mile.

Unions have a set rate (less than regular time) for longer travel to jobs, but they stay at one site for 8-10 hours at regular pay.

Sounds like you need a book on running your own business. Or talk to an accountant friend. When you start charging milage etc. you will need to be claiming your expenses to off-set taxes on the milage income.

 

[TemboTusk]

.
Read Michael Stone's book Markup and Profit.

Very eye opening and a great read for both new and established construction businesses. Just because you are part time does not mean you need to give your work away.

http://www.markupandprofit.com/

 

[Weedhopper]

May I hijack for a sec ?

We are building a room above our two car garage. After the insulation and a few other things are done, electrical outlets, etc we need to sheet rock the walls.

The sheet rock is already up there. We boomed it up with the roof shingles when we had a hole in the wall.

What is the sq/ft price (ballpark) to have someone come to hang the sheet rock and tape ? I will clean up the debris.

Thanks !
Hijack over... carry on...

 

[TemboTusk]

May I hijack for a sec ?

We are building a room above our two car garage. After the insulation and a few other things are done, electrical outlets, etc we need to sheet rock the walls.

The sheet rock is already up there. We boomed it up with the roof shingles when we had a hole in the wall.

What is the sq/ft price (ballpark) to have someone come to hang the sheet rock and tape ? I will clean up the debris.

Thanks !
Hijack over... carry on...

.
Can we assume you you have about a 1000 square feet to cover? Four walls and a ceiling.

Average cost to install and tape is about $3.35 a square foot. Using owner supplied drywall.

.

 

[Weedhopper]

Probably about 1200 sq ft with two large pitched roofs and walls.

Ouch 1000 ft sq X 3.35 seems steep

 

[TemboTusk]

Probably about 1200 sq ft with two large pitched roofs and walls.

Ouch 1000 ft sq X 3.35 seems steep

That’s licensed & insured contractor pricing.

I'm sure if you look around, you might find it cheaper. Look around at construction sites and ask if anybody wants to do side work. Two guys one day $20-25 an hour. If they do drywall day in and day out; one guy 6-8 hours.

Don't forget, non-licensed, non-insured makes you an employer and liable should something go wrong.

 

[ojaij40]

Just a hijack share here, I drywalled my own hi ceiling bedroom once when I was about 26, taper looked at it, and how I had tried to be frugal and used partial sheets in places,and said "hell no", I don't want to do it!! lol,..he later said ok,...he needed money, but I sure learned to frame it straight and furred out so the taping is easy,..

 

[45Kevin]

I used to charge the same to hang tape and sand, as I did to tape and sand your hanging job. And I would give any type of warranty if you hung your own drywall.

If you don't know what you are doing you can make a job a lot harder. Improperly set nails and screws, broken eges and corners, plugs and boxes cut too big or broken out because they are cut too small, not enough or too many screws or nails, to many joints or joints in the wrong place.

There are a lot of ways to mess up drywall.

Vaulted ceilings will cost more because of the non-90 degree angle at the top and bottom. It's very hard to get them looking straight.

$3.35 / sf double ouch

 

[ojaij40]

.
Can we assume you you have about a 1000 square feet to cover? Four walls and a ceiling.

Average cost to install and tape is about $3.35 a square foot. Using owner supplied drywall.

.

something just doesn't seem to compute here,..how many total man hrs. are you estimating? Just curious, I was talking to a union plumbing contractor today, and he said he has to charge $85 hr. on each guy to make money

 

[Weedhopper]

Kevin is right. Real easy to screw it up and have a mess. I had a guy who helped me when we did the kitchen, basement including ceiling and two bathrooms. Without him I would still be swearing at the first bathroom.

I will find another guy like that. I am an
employer so insurance etc is taken care of.

 

[TemboTusk]

something just doesn't seem to compute here,..how many total man hrs. are you estimating? Just curious, I was talking to a union plumbing contractor today, and he said he has to charge $85 hr. on each guy to make money

(theoretical, sight unseen)
About 56 man hours. $65 an hour. Keep in mind; 2nd story, minor frame adjustments, furring, vaulted and other geometrical conditions. Proper gradations in seaming and mud. Texture/knockdown. Possible lighting/outlet cutouts and many other intricacies taken into account.

Side note: Drywall contractors charge different prices for walls and ceilings and even more for vaulted ceilings.

This kind of job can be done much cheaper than $3.35 a square foot; depending on how much sweat work you want to put into it. Handyman/helper prices and quality plus you the home owner is responsible for everything or professional contractor prices and quality with a license, insurance and a guarantee.

Apologizes to the Original Poster. We hijacked the car and than made out with the passenger!

 

[Blue77FJ40]

You can always use a drywall mud accelerator like aluminum sulfate. There are different ones on the market. A drywaller that I know would put 2-4 coats of the accelarated mud on in the time of one coat and be done with jobs lickety split.

You wind up working harder, smarter, but you get more jobs done. I do know it eventually messed up his rotator cuf.