Updated November 2026 US, UK, Canada and Australia Free calculator
Hanging drywall is fast. Finishing it is not. Taping, three coats of compound and sanding take several visits because each coat has to dry, and a beginner who quotes the job as a day of hanging boards finds out the hard way that most of the hours are still to come.
To supply, hang and finish the walls and ceiling of one standard room, charge $800–$1,750 in the US, £690–£1,230 in the UK, C$1,150–C$2,250 in Canada and A$1,500–A$3,400 in Australia. The calculator works from the area of board, and adjusts for hang-only or finish-only work and for who buys the materials.
Set the job details to get a price to quote, then check what that price leaves you per hour once driving, supplies and tax are counted.
sq ft
Wall and ceiling surface, not floor area. Add up each wall (length times height) plus the ceiling.Wall and ceiling surface, not floor area. Add up each wall (length times height) plus the ceiling.Wall and ceiling surface, not floor area. Add up each wall (length times height) plus the ceiling.Wall and ceiling surface, not floor area. Add up each wall (length times height) plus the ceiling.
We only publish going rates for the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Enter the price you plan to charge and the calculator shows what it pays you per hour, and the lowest price you should accept.
Charge about
$1,150
per job, materials included, for 500 sq ft
Budget$800Typical$1,150Premium$1,750
$
per job, materials included, in your own currency
What you really keep
$34an hour in your pocket at the typical price
Adjust the numbers above to match your job.
The price is built as a base fee plus a rate for the size of the job, then adjusted for the options you pick. Time is an estimate for one person working alone; change it if you know your own pace.
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Price list
Drywall Installation prices by job size
Job
United States (USD)
United Kingdom (GBP)
Canada (CAD)
Australia (AUD)
One wall or a small repair area
$280–$470about 100 sq ft of board
£230–£350about 10 m² of board
$350–$570about 100 sq ft of board
$450–$870about 10 m² of board
One room, walls and ceiling
$800–$1,750about 500 sq ft
£690–£1,230about 45 m²
$1,150–$2,250about 500 sq ft
$1,500–$3,400about 45 m²
Garage or large room
$1,450–$3,350about 1,000 sq ft
£1,270–£2,350about 90 m²
$2,150–$4,350about 1,000 sq ft
$2,850–$6,650about 90 m²
Basement or several rooms
$2,500–$5,900about 1,800 sq ft
£2,300–£4,350about 170 m²
$3,750–$7,700about 1,800 sq ft
$5,250–$12,400about 170 m²
Hourly rate
$40–$100what working pros bill
£22–£40what working pros bill
$45–$95what working pros bill
$50–$120what working pros bill
Minimum charge
$200smallest job worth the trip
£150smallest job worth the trip
$250smallest job worth the trip
$250smallest job worth the trip
Prices are per job, materials included in local currency, from a fair budget price to an established operator in a higher-cost area.
United States: Finish level matters. Level 4 is the standard paint-ready finish. A Level 5 skim coat for glossy paint or strong side lighting costs noticeably more, and a hang-only job much less.
United Kingdom: The material is plasterboard and the trade is dry lining. Most UK homes get a wet plaster skim over the boards instead of tape and joint, at roughly £25 to £40 per m² boarded and skimmed. Skimming is a plasterer's skill, so price only what you can finish well.
Canada: Quotes are per square foot of wall and ceiling surface, before sales tax. Prices in the Toronto area run from about $2.50 to $4.50 supplied, hung and taped to a paint-ready finish.
Australia: The material is plasterboard, often called Gyprock, and finishing is called setting. Board supply is commonly priced separately at about $8 to $18 per m². Plastering work above a set value needs a licence in most states.
Method
Ways to price drywall installation
01By area of board
A rate per square foot or square metre of wall and ceiling surface, not floor area. A 12 by 12 ft room has 144 sq ft of floor but about 500 sq ft of drywall. This is the trade standard and the method the calculator uses.
02Per sheet
A price for each board hung and finished. It is easy to count on small jobs and easy for customers to follow. Work it out from your area rate: a 4 by 8 ft sheet is 32 sq ft, a 1.2 by 2.4 m sheet is about 2.9 m².
03Split by stage
Separate prices for hanging and for finishing. Useful when a homeowner or builder hangs the boards and wants you to tape and finish, or the other way round. Finishing is the larger share of the labour.
04Day rate
Common for patching and small repairs spread around a house, where measuring every piece makes no sense. Remember that even a small patch needs return visits for extra coats, and price those trips in.
Price factors
What changes the price
01Hanging, finishing or both
Hanging is roughly 40 percent of the labour and finishing 60 percent. Make sure you and the customer mean the same thing by 'install drywall', and state the finish level in the quote.
02Ceilings
Lifting full sheets overhead alone is slow and hard without a panel lift, and finishing overhead is tiring. Ceilings cost about a quarter more per unit of area than walls, and more again above standard height.
03Finish level
A garage needs only taped joints. Living areas need a smooth paint-ready finish with three coats on every joint and screw. A full skim for gloss paint or strong side lighting is another step up. Each level adds hours and should add money.
04Cut-outs and corners
A plain wall takes full sheets and little thought. Windows, doors, sockets, arches and outside corners all mean measuring, cutting and extra finishing. A small room full of openings can take longer than a big empty one.
05Return visits
Joint compound needs to dry between coats, usually overnight. Even a small job means three or four trips. That travel is real cost, and it is why small jobs carry a high base fee.
06Materials and delivery
Board, compound, tape, screws and corner bead add roughly a quarter to a third of the price. Full sheets do not fit in a car, so allow for delivery or a suitable vehicle, and for carrying sheets upstairs.
Worked examples
Real quotes, step by step
United States
Bedroom walls and ceiling, supplied and finished
A 12 by 12 ft bedroom stripped to the studs. About 500 sq ft of drywall hung and finished to a paint-ready surface, materials supplied by you.
The hours add up over four visits. Count every return trip in your price, because the drying time is not optional.
Base price, 500 sq ft
$1,150
Take away offcuts and waste
+ $60
Quote, rounded
$1,210
Going range
$860–$1,810
Time, with 15 min driving
18.5 hours
Supplies and fuel
− $350
Set aside 25% for tax and overheads
− $215
You keep
$35 an hour
Canada
Garage walls, hang only
About 700 sq ft of garage wall. The homeowner has bought the board and will tape it themselves, and wants it hung.
Hang-only is quick, physical work with no return visits. It pays well per hour, as long as you do not quote it at a finish price and lose the job.
Base price, 700 sq ft
$2,250
Hang only
× 0.4
The customer does
× 0.75
Quote, rounded
$680
Going range
$470–$930
Time, with 15 min driving
8.75 hours
Supplies and fuel
− $28
Set aside 25% for tax and overheads
− $163
You keep
$56 an hour
Australia
New ceiling in a living room
A sagging 20 m² living room ceiling replaced with new plasterboard, fixed and set, materials supplied.
Ceilings are the hardest solo work in this trade. Hire a panel lift, add the hire cost to the job, and charge the ceiling rate without apology.
Base price, 20 m²
$1,110
Mostly ceilings
× 1.25
Take away offcuts and waste
+ $80
Quote, rounded
$1,470
Going range
$1,020–$2,050
Time, with 15 min driving
12 hours
Supplies and fuel
− $240
Set aside 25% for tax and overheads
− $308
You keep
$77 an hour
Your costs
What it costs you to do the work
Hand tools get you started. A panel lift for ceilings can be hired by the day until you have enough work to buy one. Materials for each job are covered in the calculator.
Item
USA (USD)
UK (GBP)
Canada (CAD)
Australia (AUD)
Taping knives, hawk or pan, mud tray and corner tools
$80–$200
£60–£160
$100–$260
$110–$280
Screw gun, T-square, saws and rasp
$150–$350
£120–£300
$200–$450
$220–$500
Sanding pole or dust-extraction sander
$40–$600
£30–£500
$50–$800
$60–$850
Panel lift, hire per dayMakes solo ceiling work possible.
$35–$60
£25–£50
$40–$70
$50–$90
Board, compound, tape and screws for one room
$250–$400
£200–£320
$320–$500
$400–$800
Liability insurance, per year
$500–$1,500
£80–£250
$600–$1,600
$450–$1,100
Avoid these
Pricing mistakes that cost beginners money
Quoting from floor area
Board area is about three and a half times the floor area in a room with a ceiling. If you price a 144 sq ft room as 144 sq ft of drywall, you have quoted under a third of the job.
Forgetting the return trips
Three coats means three or four visits. On a job across town the driving alone can eat a quarter of the profit. Put the travel into the base fee.
Promising a finish you cannot deliver
Finishing is a skill that takes months to get right, and every flaw shows under paint. If you are new, take hang-only work or garages first, and do not sell a smooth living-room finish until yours is one.
Leaving materials out of the sums
Board, compound and delivery for one room cost as much as a day of labour. Either list materials as their own line or have the customer buy them.
Questions
Common questions about drywall installation prices
How much should I charge to install drywall?
To supply, hang and finish one standard room, walls and ceiling, charge $800–$1,750 in the US, £690–£1,230 in the UK, C$1,150–C$2,250 in Canada and A$1,500–A$3,400 in Australia. Charge about a quarter less if the customer buys the materials.
How much should I charge per square foot for drywall?
In the US, labour only for hanging and finishing runs about $1.00 to $2.85 per square foot of board, and about $1.50 to $3.50 with materials. In Ontario, supplied and finished work is about $2.50 to $4.50. Small jobs come out higher per square foot because of the base fee.
How much should I charge to hang drywall only?
About 40 percent of a full hang-and-finish price. In the US that is roughly $0.40 to $1.00 per square foot for labour.
How much should I charge to tape and mud drywall?
About 60 percent of a full hang-and-finish price. In the US, taping, mudding and sanding together run roughly $0.60 to $1.50 per square foot for labour.
How long does it take to drywall a room?
One person needs about a day to hang a standard room, then three or four shorter visits over as many days to tape, coat and sand. Allow 16 to 20 hours of work in total.
What is a fair hourly rate for drywall work?
Drywall and plasterboard installers bill about $40–$100 an hour in the US, £22–£40 in the UK, C$45–C$95 in Canada and A$50–A$120 in Australia. Most jobs are still quoted by area.
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Where these numbers come from
The rates on this page were set in November 2026 from the published price guides below, then checked so that the calculator, the price list and the examples all agree. How we work out prices.