Why Should I Use Drywall To Finish My Basement?

If you’re wondering whether finish basement cost drywall should be on your list of options when remodeling your basement, you’ll probably find it to be a vastly cheaper alternative to other space division solutions in terms of both time and money. Indeed, finish basement cost drywall can be an effective and reliable means of turning your basement into a fun family area, home office or spare room.

The Drywall Cost

Drywall costs vary greatly, so you’ll probably have to spend some time doing research. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say that you’ll probably be able to install drywall for a cost of about $0.76 per square foot. Thus, to establish your requisite budget in taking on this project

  • Take the dimensions of the walls of your basement with measuring tape

  • Multiply the wall width by its height to get the square footage (or meterage, for you metric mavens).

Working Out The Cost

Once you have the measurements, you can either contact your local hardware store to establish the average cost per foot of dry wall in your area, or use the figure above to make your rough calculations. Obviously, local prices may vary within a 15-20%, so multiply your answer by 1.25 to establish the maximum you’re likely to pay. You can buy the drywall yourself so, assuming you don’t want to try to do the job on a DIY basis, you’ll only need to pay for the labor of the professionals you task with installing it.

Smooth Or Textured Wall

One other factor that’s going to affect the price you ultimately pay will be whether you choose to go for texture or smoothwall.

Smoothwall is more expensive, while texture is used for cheaper finishes, because it makes taping, plastering and sanding easier. There are different levels of smoothwall finish. A level 4 finish can elevate the price to $1.59 for ceilings, $1.30 for walls and 1.10$ for inside corners. If you have corner beading, your drywall installation will have to be higher, and will thus be more expensive. A basement with flat walls and a flat ceiling will be significantly cheaper than a basement with closets, staircases, boxes, corners and openings.

The drywall solution is vastly less hassle than getting a full-blown plaster interior finish, and is far less costly to boot.

Drywall - In simple terms, it is the technique of building ceilings and interior walls using panels composed of gypsum plaster pressed between thick paper sheets.

Finish basement cost drywall calls for professional finishing at the joints and fasteners only, meaning that

  • You won’t need to wait through a long drying time

  • Nor will you have to suffer the presence of manual laborers in your home as you normally would over the course of a plaster finish wall’s drying process.

Drywalls Are Resistant To Fire

In fact, installing drywall is four to seven times faster than plaster application, and can be done with relative ease by the average home DIY enthusiast. Drywall has the added benefit of fire resistance. When the gypsum is exposed to heat, the hydrates it contains are vaporized, resulting in the transfer of heat between materials being delayed. Drywall can be made even more resistant to fire by the introduction of glass fibers into the gypsum.

Once you’ve weighed up all the options, finish basement cost drywall may prove to be exactly what you’re looking for in your quest for smooth, speedy remodeling of your home.