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Complete Interior Finishing Calculator Ontario (2026): Drywall, Taping, Primer, Paint, Trim and Doors for a Whole House or Basement, One Number, Nothing Counted Twice
Drywall, Taping & PaintingFree Calculator
From Bare Studs to Painted Walls: One Number for Drywall, Taping, Primer, Paint, Trim and Doors, Room by Room.
The three trades that turn a framed box into rooms, priced on the same measurements so nothing is counted twice and nothing falls between the drywaller and the painter. Builder, mid-grade or premium. HST on the bottom.
When I budget the inside of a house I do not price drywall, then taping, then painting. I measure the walls and ceilings once and run all three trades off the same sheet, because the drywaller’s square footage is the painter’s square footage and a quote that measures them differently is wrong somewhere. This calculator does that for a new house, an addition or a basement: the same rooms, the three trades, three grades, one total. It is the number I would want before I signed anything.
Step-by-step
Complete Interior Finishing Calculator (Ontario)
1
The rooms
| Room | Length (ft) | Width (ft) | Ceiling (ft) | Doors | Windows | Ceiling |
|---|
Measure each room at the floor. Doors come off at 20 sq ft each, windows at 15. Closets count as rooms if they are drywalled; hallways too. A 2,000 sq ft house has about 6,500 sq ft of wall and ceiling, not 2,000.
2
The grade
What each grade means is spelled out on the new-home cost page. Pick by the room that matters most, then adjust.
Bathrooms and laundry, outside the tub surround.
Hung and Level 3 taped, painted if you want it.
Bead on every one. A basement with ductwork can have 40; count the bulkhead edges.
3
The painting scope
0 if the doors come prefinished from the supplier, which most do now.
+$120 each for the extra coats.
4
Where is the house?
Labour is most of a drywall or painting price, and labour costs more where parking costs more.
Used only to tell you whether the house is in our direct service area. Not stored.
Enter a postal code to see service coverage.
BuildersOntario.com
Your Interior Finishing Budget
Illustrative Ontario estimate
| Item | Estimate |
|---|
Estimated total with HST$0
Example only, using BuildersOntario budgeting rates checked October 2026: gypsum board supplied, boomed in and hung; taped and finished to Gypsum Association GA-214 levels with bead on all outside corners; new-drywall primer and two finish coats on walls, flat white on ceilings, trim enamel on baseboard and casing; floors protected and the house cleaned. It does not include insulation and vapour barrier, the trim and doors themselves, tile, or electrical and plumbing finals. Each trade prices its own share from the same measurements; the contractors’ site measures govern their contracts.
Request a Real Quotation
Your rooms and grade become one written scope covering all three trades, so a drywaller, a taper and a painter (or one company doing all of it) price the same house and nobody argues later about whose square footage was right. It goes straight to our inbox, and a copy comes back to you; reply to that copy with the floor plan if you have one, and a photo of a typical room as it is now.
What this calculator does, and what it will not do!
It measures every room once and prices all three trades off that one measurement: board, hanging, taping to the level the grade calls for, primer, two coats, ceilings, trim and doors. It shows the drywall subtotal and the painting subtotal separately, because you may hire them separately, and it shows the same house at all three grades so you can see what the money buys. The per-square-foot-of-floor number at the bottom is the one to hold up against a builder’s “drywall and paint allowance” in a new-home contract.
It does not know that your basement has eleven bulkheads, that the great room is open to the second floor on two sides, or that your framer left you a wall that needs shimming before a sheet goes on it. Those come out when a contractor walks it. The scope this calculator writes is the thing to hand them so the walk-through is about your house and not about what “finished” means.
A rule of thumb: in Ontario in 2026, the whole inside of a new house, drywall through paint at a mid grade, is $18 to $24 per square foot of floor area, before HST. A 2,000 sq ft house is $36,000 to $48,000. Builder grade takes 15% off; premium adds 25% to 35%. A basement is $20 to $28 a square foot because of the bulkheads and the stairs.
What the three grades mean
| Grade | Drywall and taping | Painting | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder | 1/2 in. board, Level 4 everywhere, standard bead. | Contractor-grade flat on ceilings, eggshell on walls, one colour, trim brushed with a basic enamel. | A rental, a flip, a budget that is already spent. Looks fine with flat paint and ordinary lighting. What a builder’s allowance usually buys. |
| Mid-grade | Level 4 walls, Level 5 ceilings, careful bead, a raking-light inspection before primer. | Mid-grade washable paint (Regal, SuperPaint class), proper new-drywall primer, two coats, trim filled and caulked. | Most custom homes. The ceilings are where the light shows everything, so that is where the skim coat goes. |
| Premium | Level 5 on every surface, 5/8 board if you want the walls stiff and quiet. | Premium paint (Aura, Emerald class), doors and trim sprayed off-site or masked and sprayed in place, three coats on dark colours. | Big windows, pot lights everywhere, dark or satin walls, a house that will be photographed. Level 4 vs 5. |
The rates underneath are the same ones on the drywall, taping and painting calculators. This page just runs them on the same rooms.
Where homeowners go wrong
- Hiring three trades with three sets of measurements. The drywaller says 6,500 sq ft, the painter says 5,200 and bills extras, and you pay for the gap. Give all of them the same room list. How a takeoff is done.
- Not deciding who signs off the walls. The painter primes, the joints show, the taper says the painter used the wrong primer, the painter says the taping was bad, and you are the one holding two invoices. Name the inspection step in the contract. Who is responsible.
- Comparing a builder’s allowance to a quote. An allowance is a number the builder put in to make the contract total look good. Compare it to the per-square-foot-of-floor figure this calculator gives you and you will know in a minute whether it was realistic.
- Level 5 everywhere, or nowhere. Ceilings and the sidelit walls get it. Closets and the furnace room do not. The finish levels.
- Starting drywall before the inspections. Framing, plumbing rough-in, electrical rough-in, insulation and vapour barrier all get inspected before board. The sequence, in order.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to drywall and paint a whole house in Ontario?
$18 to $24 per square foot of floor area for a new house at a mid grade in 2026, before HST, so $36,000 to $48,000 for 2,000 sq ft. That covers board, hanging, taping, primer, paint, ceilings and trim. Builder grade is about 15% less; premium with Level 5 everywhere and sprayed trim is 25% to 35% more. Three real houses priced.
How much to drywall and paint a basement?
$20 to $28 per square foot of floor, so $20,000 to $28,000 for a 1,000 sq ft basement, before HST. Basements cost more per foot than the main floor because of bulkheads, the staircase, carrying 12-ft sheets down and working around a furnace and a family.
Should I hire one company for drywall, taping and painting?
If you can find one that does all three well, yes: one measurement, one responsibility, nobody to blame but them. Most drywall companies hang and tape; painting is usually separate. If you hire separately, hand both the same scope and name the inspection step between them.
What is a reasonable drywall and paint allowance in a new-home contract?
Check it against this calculator’s per-square-foot-of-floor number. A $12 per sq ft allowance on a house that needs $20 is an $16,000 extra waiting to happen. Allowances explained.
Want a builder to do the takeoff from your plans?
For $249 I turn your drawings into a checked room-by-room takeoff of board, finish levels, primer, paint, trim and doors, with a budget by grade and a one-page scope to send to three contractors. If you already have quotes, the $99 quote review puts them on one grid and tells you which one to sign.
