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How to Compare Drywall and Painting Quotes: The Twelve Lines Every Quote Needs on the Same Grid, and the Questions to Send Back
Drywall, Taping & Painting
Three Quotes, Three Formats, One Grid: The Twelve Lines That Make Drywall and Painting Quotes Comparable, and the Cheap One That Is Missing Four of Them
A homeowner on a forum this spring had drywall-and-painting quotes of $14,000, $19,500 and $26,000 for the same basement and asked which to pick. Somebody replied that it depended on whether the ceilings, the trim and the Level 5 were in, which is the right answer and not a helpful one. Here is the helpful version: twelve lines, in a table, one column per contractor. When you have filled it in, the cheap quote will have blanks, the expensive one will have things you did not ask for, and the one to sign will be obvious. If a line is blank for a contractor, that is the question to send him.
The twelve lines
| # | Line | What a complete quote says | What a blank usually means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Area, and of what | “6,480 sq ft of wall and ceiling surface” by room, or at least by floor. | Priced off the floor area or off a walk-through guess. The extra comes later. |
| 2 | Board | 1/2 in. walls, 5/8 or ceiling board on ceilings, Type X at the garage (sq ft), MR board in bathrooms (sq ft), delivered and boomed in. | Regular 1/2 in. everywhere including the 24-in. ceilings. Why that matters. |
| 3 | Finish level | “Level 4 walls, Level 5 ceilings per GA-214.” Level 2 in the garage. | “Taped and sanded.” Could be two coats. The levels. |
| 4 | Corners and bead | Count, type (vinyl, paper-faced), arches noted. | Not counted; the basement bulkheads become an extra. |
| 5 | Primer | Product named, full coat, applied by whom. | “Paint and primer in one.” Flashing in March. Primer. |
| 6 | Paint products and sheens | Line and sheen by surface: ceilings, walls, trim. | “Benjamin Moore” or “premium paint”. The cheapest can in the line. |
| 7 | Coats | Two finish coats; three on dark colours; which colours are dark. | One and a touch-up. |
| 8 | Ceilings | In or out, product, flat. | Out, and you find out when they are grey. |
| 9 | Trim, doors, closets | Baseboard (ft), casing (openings), doors (count, both sides, brushed or sprayed), closets in or out. | Trim out, doors out, closets out. Half the labour. |
| 10 | Protection, dust control, cleanup | Floors covered, poly walls, furnace off, vacuum sanding, debris removed, paint left labelled. | Dust in the sock drawer. |
| 11 | Inspection step and touch-ups | Walls inspected under raking light before primer; defects at primer fixed by the finisher; walk-through before final with touch-ups included. | The drywaller and the painter blame each other and you pay twice. Who fixes what. |
| 12 | Exclusions, schedule, payment, insurance | What is out (insulation, repairs over X, wallpaper), start and finish, deposit and progress payments, WSIB and liability. | Nothing is excluded until it is. |
Filling it in
Make the table, one column per quote. Go through each quote and fill the twelve cells, writing “not stated” where it does not say. Count the “not stated” cells. Then price the blanks: a missing primer coat is about $0.35 a square foot of surface; missing ceilings are $1.65 a foot of ceiling; missing trim is $2.25 a foot plus $45 an opening; missing Level 5 on the ceilings is $1 a foot of ceiling. Add those to the cheap quote and see whether it is still cheap. Usually it is now the middle one, and the middle one, which stated everything, is now the cheap one. The complete interior finishing calculator gives you a reference column to put beside the three.
The questions to send each contractor are the blank cells, verbatim: “What finish level?” “Is primer included and which?” “Are ceilings, baseboard, casing and doors in this price?” “Who inspects the walls before primer?” A contractor who answers promptly and in writing is one you can work with. One who says “it’s all included” without saying what “all” is has told you something too.
Where homeowners go wrong
- Comparing totals. Totals are the last thing to compare. Scope first.
- Assuming the expensive one is thorough. Sometimes it is just expensive. The grid finds out.
- Not giving the contractors the same scope to price. Hand them the room list and the levels before they quote and the grid fills itself in. The takeoff.
- Letting “paint-ready” and “finished” stand. Both are adjectives. Ask for the number.
- Choosing on price between two complete quotes without checking references and WSIB. The grid gets you to two; the phone calls pick one. Hiring.
Questions people ask
Why are drywall quotes so different?
Different areas (floor vs wall), different finish levels, and different things included: delivery, bead, Type X, ceilings. Put them on the twelve-line grid and most of the difference turns into blanks on the cheap one.
What should be included in a drywall quote?
Area by room, board types and thicknesses, delivery, hanging, finish level by surface, corners, dust control, cleanup, exclusions, schedule, payment terms and insurance. Primer and paint if it is a combined quote, by product and coats.
What should be included in a painting quote?
Area by surface, primer by product, paint by line and sheen for ceilings, walls and trim, coats, doors by count, closets, prep (filling, caulking, sanding), protection, cleanup, touch-ups, exclusions, dates, payment and insurance.
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Take the cheapest complete quote from a contractor whose references and WSIB check out. A cheap incomplete quote becomes an expensive one as the blanks are filled in on site.
Want it done for you?
The $99 Drywall and Painting Quote Review puts up to three quotes on this grid, checks the areas against your rooms and the prices against October 2026 rates, and tells you which to sign and what to ask the others.
Sources and further reading
- Gypsum Association GA-214, Levels of Finish: the standard every “Level 4” and “Level 5” on a quote is supposed to mean. Free summary on the Gypsum Association site.
- Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs: Ontario government. The 10-day cooling-off period, the written contract rule over $50, and what to do about a contractor who walks.
- WSIB clearances: where you check that the drywall crew or painter has a valid clearance certificate before they are on a scaffold in your house.
