KC Travel's New House June 2000

New House - June 2000 - Sheetrock

Sheetrock is generally done at a certain price per square foot that includes buying the rock, hanging on the walls and ceilings, and taping all the joints. I started by calling the Drywall Center in Glens Falls and Tom came down, measured the house out at 10,000 sq feet of rock (about what I figured), and priced the materials only at about 33 cents per square foot. Again, the advent of Lowe's and Home Depot cut the cost of materials and the Drywall Center which had better prices and a boom truck was willing to deal with a homeowner.

I then called for a few bids from sheetrock crews. Surprisingly enough, three bids came in with 12,000 to 13,000 square feet, adding 20 to 30% to the cost. One bidder actually broke out the material cost and it was 60% more (about $2000) than the quote that I got from the Drywall Center. When I asked, he said he was there the day they delivered and made them put all the sheets in the correct rooms (which they do anyway), but also paid them to rip the end tape off the sheets and place them all face up because it made his job easier. Good pay for a day's work and the ease that this afforded him later was not reflected in the rest of his price which was about twice the low bid.

The sheetrock was due the week of 12 June, but the extremely wet spring had made the insulation delivery difficult (also from the Drywall Center) and they were reluctant to bring in the boom truck with the sheetrock. After rain delays on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, it brightened up a bit on Thursday. Rick put a dozen bucket loads of shale into the muddy spots and watched as the 90F heat dried things out. The truck was called in on Friday morning and arrived at 12:30.

The boom operator grabs the load and lifts it to the window or door where it is needed.

In this case, the joint compound is boomed to the front door. They took out windows on both floors and put the sheetrock in the appropriate rooms. As they left, the heavens parted and another 0.6 inches fell.

Tom Cassidy and his crew arrived on Saturday
and started to put up the rock.
Crew

The kitchen with sheetrock on the ceiling and sheetrock lifting gizmo, quite useful when you are lifting 5/8" sheets that are 16 feet long. Cassidy said they would have it hung and taped in four weeks. After five weeks, the rock was up with enough left over to do the ceiling in the basement and a dump truck full of scrap, some quite large. Essentially, 10,000 square feet, with careful work would have done the job. If I weren't around, I would have paid for the excess material which would have headed home with the crew, and then paid for hanging and taping it. As we were five weeks into a four week job and the taper, when finally contacted, said he was taking a one week vacation, Mr Cassidy was given a portion of his money and went off to seek alternative employment.

I started taping in the kitchen and after about four hours on Saturday afternoon, had a first coat on most of the kitchen and dining room walls and ceilings.

However, a second taper was found and on the phone on Sunday I asked three questions. He answered that he could start Wednesday, finish in two weeks, and would charge 20 cents per square foot. On Tuesday he looked at the job, said he could start Thursday, would give no firm end date, and wanted 22 cents per foot. He did say he would put in some time every day. Nonetheless, I gave him the job as I had plenty to do. After seven days, he took three days off. After three weeks, he left. This is why general contractors get the big bucks: 20 to 30% of the house cost plus whatever they can skim from kickbacks (discounts) on materials. I think of this a lot when dealing with subs.

I hung the rock on the ceiling of the basement, did much of the its taping, and had to patch and sand a lot of the rest of the house. The flooring was milled and a team of eight was scheduled to put it in on the weekend of 22 July. Needless to say, this had to be cancelled.

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