Drywall Installation Cost by Scope Guide
The job priced by scope: room, house, garage, basement, ceiling-only, and partition rows apart.
Orange County, CA · Updated 2026 · Costs shown as ranges — your quote will vary by installer and scope
The scope readings, priced apart by frame
| Scope | Frame A reading | Frame B reading |
|---|---|---|
| Single room | Los Angeles 100 square feet at $400-$900 | 12-by-12 room at $580-$1,800 |
| Bathroom | national 100-square-foot row at $400-$650 | $300-$1,000 |
| Whole house | typical project at $1,000-$3,253 | 2,000 square feet at $8,000-$30,000 |
| Garage | no garage row | $1,000-$3,900 |
| Basement, 1,000 square feet | no basement row | $1,500-$7,000 |
| Ceiling-only job | inside its room rows | ceiling at $1.50-$3.80 per square foot |
| New partition wall | off the $0.80-$3.50 span | off the $1.50-$3.50 band, $30-$70 per sheet |
Each reading is one frame's own counting of one scope. Nothing is averaged across scopes or frames: a ceiling-only row is a ceiling row, a whole-house row is a house row.
Walls and ceilings, priced apart
| Surface, Frame B | Reading |
|---|---|
| Walls, per square foot / ceilings, per square foot | $1.50-$3.50 / $1.50-$3.80 |
| Ceiling-only: bathroom / bedroom | $60-$150 / $210-$550 |
| Ceiling-only: basement | $900-$3,500 |
Frame B prints its ceiling rows apart from its wall band. Frame A prints room totals -- Los Angeles rows at $1,200 to $2,700 for 300 square feet and $2,000 to $4,500 for 500 -- with no wall-and-ceiling split inside the row; that stands as a frame difference, never filled in.
The whole-house and room scopes in full
| Scope row, as published | Frame | 2026 reading |
|---|---|---|
| Whole house, 1,200 / 1,500 square feet | Frame B | $5,000-$20,000 / $5,500-$22,000 |
| Whole house, 2,500 / 3,000 square feet | Frame B | $9,000-$35,000 / $10,000-$45,000 |
| Typical project / national average | Frame A | $1,000-$3,253 / $2,104 |
| Garage by size: 1-car / 3-car | Frame B | $800-$2,800 / $1,700-$5,000 |
Most homeowners print at $1,000 to $3,000 in Frame B, beside materials at $0.50 to $0.80 and labor at $1.00 to $2.70 per square foot. The frames' bands overlap, and their rows are built differently -- a frame difference, named on every page here and never averaged.
The partition scope, and the neighbours named apart
Neither frame prints a standalone partition-wall row. That scope prices off each frame's own counting -- Frame A across its Los Angeles finish levels, Level 0 at $0.80 to $1.95 to Level 5 at $2 to $4.75, Frame B at $1.50 to $3.50 installed -- the absence named here rather than filled. Named apart, never a row here: drywall repair, patch-scale work on standing walls; the ceiling-type comparison, a drywall ceiling as one side of a drop-ceiling comparison; plaster-and-lath as the standing wall system, with plaster removal only as a removal line where a frame prints it; and painting or texture-alone work sold without new board, a finish trade's ticket, never an installation row.
Reading a by-scope quote, by frame
- Scope named beside every figure
- Wall row read apart from the ceiling row
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost to drywall a single room, as reported?
Frame B prints a 12-by-12 room at $580 to $1,800 and a bathroom at $300 to $1,000. Frame A prints room rows by size: $400 to $900 at 100 square feet in Los Angeles, $1,200 to $2,700 at 300, its typical project at $1,000 to $3,253.
What does a whole-house drywall scope print at, as reported?
Frame B prints a 2,000-square-foot house at $8,000 to $30,000, rows running $5,000 to $20,000 at 1,200 square feet to $10,000 to $45,000 at 3,000. Frame A prints no house-size table; its counting stands in a typical project at $1,000 to $3,253. A frame difference, never averaged.
What do the garage and basement scopes print at, as reported?
Frame B prints a garage at $1,000 to $3,900 -- $800 to $2,800 for one car, $1,700 to $5,000 for three -- and a 1,000-square-foot basement at $1,500 to $7,000. Frame A prints neither scope as a named row; its room rows stand by size.
What does a ceiling-only job print at, as reported?
Frame B prints ceilings at $1.50 to $3.80 per square foot apart from walls at $1.50 to $3.50, ceiling-only rows from $60 to $150 in a bathroom to $900 to $3,500 in a basement. Frame A prints no ceiling-only row.
Is a scope row the same purchase as drywall repair, a ceiling comparison, or texture-alone work?
No. Each row here prices one installation scope as its own ticket, off materials at $0.50 to $0.80 and labor at $1.00 to $2.70 in Frame B and Level 4 at $3 to $4.25 in Frame A. Drywall repair, the ceiling-type comparison, plaster-and-lath, and painting or texture-alone work sit in their own lanes, named apart here.