# Price per sq. ft Knockdown and Orange peel



## dwbrooks

Hello Everyone,

What do charge per square foot for applying knockdown and orange peel. I'm doing a ceiling thats approx. 1050 sq.ft and a wall thats the same size. Only masking will be on two walls to protect brick, floor doesnt need to be covered. Could anyone give me an idea what you charge on average per square for textures. 

I know everyones overhead is differant and differant jobs have differant obstacles but I'm just trying to get a general idea. I live in the midwest in a large city and do mostly commercial build outs..


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## kevin n

On a room that size in florida I would charge 350 for labor to spray it all.


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## tjdrake

The going price per sq. ft. is around .15 to .25 cent, for new construction in florida. Which is a cut throat business.

good luck


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## shrabber

Tj Drake Im in Jacksonville too Do you have some contact info so I can inquire your services:thumbsup:


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## thom

tjdrake said:


> The going price per sq. ft. is around .15 to .25 cent, for new construction in florida. Which is a cut throat business.
> 
> good luck



Geez you guys are expensive. Here in Albuq I pay $.35/sf to hang, tape, texture, scrape floors, remove debris, leave broom clean.


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## Masterpoacher

thom said:


> Geez you guys are expensive. Here in Albuq I pay $.35/sf to hang, tape, texture, scrape floors, remove debris, leave broom clean.


I don't they are expensive. I think your just cheap! I wouldn't get out of bed for that rate.


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## matymatt23

Masterpoacher said:


> I don't they are expensive. I think your just cheap! I wouldn't get out of bed for that rate.


Thats not a goo enough rate I agree!!!


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## Brockster

thom said:


> Geez you guys are expensive. Here in Albuq I pay $.35/sf to hang, tape, texture, scrape floors, remove debris, leave broom clean.


$.35!!! That's funnier than a one legged hooker on a unicycle!
I bet that's some quality work there done by U.S. citizens.

You're a real piece of work Thom. HO or GC comes on here and reads you bragging what you pay and thinks the rest of the cuntry should be paying the same. It's not the first time you've heard this on the board.:thumbdown


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## Tim0282

I sure wouldn't hire you to build a house for me!! Do you leave out half of the studs to get it done cheaper? Doesn't matter cuz the drywaller will cover up all your crap!! Nobody would ever know till the house falls in.


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## Joasis

Brockster said:


> $.35!!! That's funnier than a one legged hooker on a unicycle!
> I bet that's some quality work there done by U.S. citizens.
> 
> You're a real piece of work Thom. HO or GC comes on here and reads you bragging what you pay and thinks the rest of the cuntry should be paying the same. It's not the first time you've heard this on the board.:thumbdown


I hate to tell you guys this, but the price is the price. I am in Oklahoma, and we can get the rock, hung, taped and bedded, plus texture for pricing way cheaper then my guys can do it...I pay another contractor, no illegals, just a little more then thom does.....and I build good homes. 

Don't assume just because it is way less here, that we do substandard work, or that it won't measure up to your high standards. If you want to change the world, then take on general contracting, and pay twice to your subs what other GC's are paying, and while you may get by for awhile, what happens when you can't sell the spec you are building, or the customer refuses to pay more for your generosity?

The reason any pricing thread is tough, is simply because the variables make a difference. The COL here is low low low compared to other areas.....


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## Cole

joasis said:


> I hate to tell you guys this, but the price is the price. I am in Oklahoma, and we can get the rock, hung, taped and bedded, plus texture for pricing way cheaper then my guys can do it...I pay another contractor, no illegals, just a little more then thom does.....and I build good homes.
> 
> Don't assume just because it is way less here, that we do substandard work, or that it won't measure up to your high standards. If you want to change the world, then take on general contracting, and pay twice to your subs what other GC's are paying, and while you may get by for awhile, what happens when you can't sell the spec you are building, or the customer refuses to pay more for your generosity?
> 
> The reason any pricing thread is tough, is simply because the variables make a difference. The COL here is low low low compared to other areas.....


I couldn't have said it any better. :thumbsup:


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## Tim0282

Well stated. On the other hand you don't say someone is too expensive in their area. Like you said it is what it is. It is the fault of the guy charging so little that he is not making any money. And drives the price down so no one else can either. Legal or not. There are too many "legal" workers that will work for beer money. The cost to do business is similar in the whole country, isn't it? Materials, insurance, labor, groceries, gas, rent, house payment, utilities, etc. I don't understand the huge difference except what a person is willing to work for. And I really don't know why one would work for labor less than a person that works in a factory or elsewhere. Unless they don't pay ten thousand a year in business insurance. Then how can any one hire them, because the insurance companies crack down on the GC? And they pay the difference. I just don't get it. I would be glad to give the HO or GC the lowest price possible if I could make a living. But at the price I charge I still am making very near what any one else is. Sure not getting rich. Don't live in a house anything like the ones I finish every day of the week.


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## BattleRidge

Tim0282 said:


> Well stated. On the other hand you don't say someone is too expensive in their area. Like you said it is what it is. It is the fault of the guy charging so little that he is not making any money. And drives the price down so no one else can either. Legal or not. There are too many "legal" workers that will work for beer money. The cost to do business is similar in the whole country, isn't it? Materials, insurance, labor, groceries, gas, rent, house payment, utilities, etc. I don't understand the huge difference except what a person is willing to work for. And I really don't know why one would work for labor less than a person that works in a factory or elsewhere. Unless they don't pay ten thousand a year in business insurance. Then how can any one hire them, because the insurance companies crack down on the GC? And they pay the difference. I just don't get it. I would be glad to give the HO or GC the lowest price possible if I could make a living. But at the price I charge I still am making very near what any one else is. Sure not getting rich. Don't live in a house anything like the ones I finish every day of the week.



In haxtun CO, you an buy a 1200 sq ft home on 100 acres for 50-70k. Where I live, 100 acres never goes less then a Mill. If I could charge my prices and live in Haxtun, I could retire by 30. I could buy a house if I saved for like 2 years and not even get a loan. Gas is like 50 cents cheaper too. I can't remember but I would assume you can get food stuff for cheaper too since its an agricultural area. These things are what effect prices, because the all around cost of living is less because the average income is less.


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## BattleRidge

Here 35 cents would get your rock hung.


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## thom

Ok, I'll defend myself. Here everything is textured. If the guy uses the trailer unit to spray, that's a 1 hour job for 2 men, including knock down. If the guy uses a hopper gun, it's a 4 hour job for 1 man. That includes set-up and clean up. 

The 4 hours is all labor, the equipment cost is minimal. Kevin says $350, tjdrake says $315 - $525. 

Either you guys get paid a lot more hourly than guys do here, or you work a lot slower. 

Figuring 15% for employers payroll taxes and workmens comp and 20% for profit and overhead, Kevin would be paying $57 per hour. I just don't believe it.


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## Joasis

Tim0282 said:


> Well stated. On the other hand you don't say someone is too expensive in their area. Like you said it is what it is. It is the fault of the guy charging so little that he is not making any money. And drives the price down so no one else can either. Legal or not. There are too many "legal" workers that will work for beer money. The cost to do business is similar in the whole country, isn't it? Materials, insurance, labor, groceries, gas, rent, house payment, utilities, etc. I don't understand the huge difference except what a person is willing to work for. And I really don't know why one would work for labor less than a person that works in a factory or elsewhere. Unless they don't pay ten thousand a year in business insurance. Then how can any one hire them, because the insurance companies crack down on the GC? And they pay the difference. I just don't get it. I would be glad to give the HO or GC the lowest price possible if I could make a living. But at the price I charge I still am making very near what any one else is. Sure not getting rich. Don't live in a house anything like the ones I finish every day of the week.


Let me put it another way. Not only am I a "working general contractor" meaning I go out and work with the guys, I manage projects.....but I can do, or my guys can do just about anything we have to...lets say by your argument that the rockers all raise their prices.....well....I look at what my guys cost by the hour, and what I can buy the materials for, and we let it out to a sub, or we do it. If the price is too high, we do it all. Except for mechanicals, the only thing we haven't had to do is lay brick, and if it gets any harder to get a mason, we may just do it.....

So in a nut shell, this is what will drive prices.....home builders who only contract home construction would be stuck if everyone were to go up...I will just keep it all in house.


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## Brockster

I'm not here to argue, I'm just asking people to stop bragging about paying less than half of what the rest of us who do drywall for a living make per sq. ft..
You guys shoot for a square foot price when bidding a job and would not appreciate a member posting a price of less than half of what you would need to make a living on a similar job. Have a little respect is all we're asking...:thumbsup:


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## Joasis

I really wasn't throwing stones here Brockster...I am merely pointing out what drives pricing. If I am to stay competitive, I have to sell the job, and sub to the best bid, in most cases....the margin I make isn't significant...I make as much on the labor of actual construction as I will on the percentage of a sub's work. 

If you are in a market where new construction is (residential) $115 a sq/ft and up, then you can make what you need....I just sold a project Friday where the home will finish for less then $70....no frills basic.


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## terry714_us

And with gas prices that's (1) one illegal per hour at 8.00 for every half mile to the job.


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## ncontractor

Why is ANYBODY worring about what sombody makes per hr we did not go into sub-contracting to get paid by the hour everybody should just pay what it is worth instead of tring to rase profits and drop wages everybody is greedy


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## Tcny23

Here's what everyone on here seems to be missing..... The $.25 for spraying texture/orange peel or whatever is multiplied by the ceiling or floor sq. Footage. So on a 1000 sg ft house it's $250.00. On the other hand if you get $.34 to hang, mud, texture, and sand it's multiplied by bd sq ft. So on that 1000 sq ft house it would be about 3500 sq ft times $.34 which is around $1200.00 (didn't have calculator estimated) and that's a going rate in the south east.


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## Brocktologist

Tcny23 said:


> *Here's what everyone on here seems to be missing..... *The $.25 for spraying texture/orange peel or whatever is multiplied by the ceiling or floor sq. Footage. So on a 1000 sg ft house it's $250.00. On the other hand if you get $.34 to hang, mud, texture, and sand it's multiplied by bd sq ft. So on that 1000 sq ft house it would be about 3500 sq ft times $.34 which is around $1200.00 (didn't have calculator estimated) and that's a going rate in the south east.


Thanks Mr.Obvious.
Dang, just thinking about all the money I lost until *you* pointed this out.:laughing:


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## AARC Drywall

Here in bc, we charge no less than $500.00 for patchwork, and if we spray a ceiling, its 1000bf its still 500.00 Thinks that we have to remember to some degree is, we need to make money as well, and gc tend to think that its all about them. But they fail to realize that if we do a sh**y job, its their name on the line, as well as ours. You want the job done right dont ***** about a bit of a higher price...

We do a lot of insurance work, and i have discussed with the GC about pricing, and we are still working today, We have had our best start of the year yet...They all know that if they get someone cheap they will be paying someone to fix it..sure we have fly by nighters, but they dont last.


If you want quality .....pay the bill.....

Just my thoughts boys

J


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## Jayrek

Brockster said:


> $.35!!! That's funnier than a one legged hooker on a unicycle!
> I bet that's some quality work there done by U.S. citizens.
> 
> You're a real piece of work Thom. HO or GC comes on here and reads you bragging what you pay and thinks the rest of the cuntry should be paying the same. It's not the first time you've heard this on the board.:thumbdown


I agree dont post prices where the illegal invasion has driven rates into the toilet. There are some parts of this country that have not been destroyed by the illegals yet.


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## Rango

Totally Agree ! :thumbup:


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## Kent Whitten

Thread is 5 years old.


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