I want a new ceiling in the kitchen.  New appliances are in.  New cabinets are in garage.  I have 2 bids on this 14x13 kitchen.  One bid is $1000.  The other is $1800.  One guy also asked me is I wanted him to tape and bed and texture drywall too.  I asked him why it couldn't be smooth and he said that would be extra.  I am about to dump all old cabinets and demo the popcorn ceiling myself so they would be working with a clean slate.

I know I'm old but have prices gone up that much?  Should I just rent a drywall lift and get my ass in gear?

Drywall is easy, but hard.

To keep drywall smooth takes lots of sanding and a very trained hand to apply it well thats why it's extra. It's easy to just texture it with the spray gun after and hide imperfections.

You can try hanging it yourself and taping some of the flats yourself, but if its your first time dont expect your corners to look good, and dont expect your work to look perfect. You will definitely need texture like knockdown if you DIY it as an amateur.

Amazing how the pros make mudding the joints look easy when its very hard to get right!

The thing is that I have seen drywall guys hang new material lightning fast.  It seems that 182 sq ft of ceiling would go in a flash.  That is the only reason I considered it.  Instead I will clear the popcorn myself.  The only areas I have to open are the ones for the new recessed lighting and the vent hood that has to be vented to the outside.  I guess guys around here are doing so well that they can refuse to work for less than $1000 or more per day.

+1 on this

All you want is the ceiling redone? or the entire kitchen?

my kitchen/laundry room/and living room hung, taped, floated, and textured for 2k.

1k seems excessive for just the ceiling.   I'm willing to bet the 1k is the minimum they will unpack the truck for.  You have any other parts of the house that need work?  Might be way cheaper to do it all at once.

SOs dad runs a plaster company in MA/NH.

Lot nicer product than drywall. But all of those hangers and finishers get big money because its hard technical work to do it right.

Jut off the top of my head I figured 5-700 was fair.  I would even have paid $1000 but to charge extra for tape and float is treating me like a chump in my opinion.

Do you have to take the drywall out, can you just scrape the popcorn off and repaint?

Just the kitchen.  The only reason I wanted to is because I wanted to run new recessed lighting  and venthood to the outside.  I have seen drywallers work and in a new construction setting they hang a dozen sheets of drywall in minutes.  Now I will only open what is necessary and scrape off the popcorn myself.

Trades are busy right now.

Hanging it is one day with possibly getting the first coat of mud on.

Second day another coat (or two of mud).

Third day. Sanding, texture, and if in time primer.

Fourth day, paint.

I wouldn’t even reply for a job of 500-700 for a potential 4 day project worth that.

I charge $72 per hour (general contractor). I’ll add more if it’s a 4 day very inconvenient job. I’m over $500 per day in 8 hours.

Honestly, sometimes it’s hard for even me to get my drywall subs to do a job this small, let alone the homeowner.

Good luck

Once the taping is done, the finisher must come back for the blocking.
After that, they have to come back for the skim coat.
All of that traveling takes them away from other jobs.
The small size of your job is the reason for the high price.

Learn how to apply it better.

You can either spend time then or spend even more time later.

Keep in mind that actual plaster walls are NOT sanded.

They are tooled that smooth and flat.

It is not all that hard to learn how.

It's a multiple trip project from hanging to finish. Contractor is just making it worth his time, it's not personal.

The taper joints are easy but my butt joints ended up looking like poop.  Fortunately it was a small room and a mirror covered it.

Get the longest sheets you can for minimal butt joints

Also... good video, I think..

Ditch the 'drywall knives' and learn how to use an actual steel finishing tool.

The tiny ones labeled for Plasterer's Trowel with the less than one inch diameter handle are a joke.

Get a concrete trowel around 12 in long by 4 to 6 inches wide with a big fat round handle at least 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

You can now sweep in either directs with teh leading edge just NOT applying an pressure so it does not dig in.
The larger diameter handle allows for easy rotation of the hold without moving your hand on the handle.

It is really effective for skimming large areas also.
Or making wide flat seams.

I have not sanded drywall in years.

Nothing more than a quick was to scrape off any tiny feather ridges left in setting compound.

Drying compound often does not need even that.
The next coat will soften tiny defects and you can tool them smooth.
Smear it on a little thick, let it sit a few minutes, then spread it out and tool it smooth.
Pressure on the trailing edge of the trowel.

'Plasterer's Handbook' has a lot of good techniques that directly apply.

Inside corner trowels can be useful but still often require a good swipe from the corner outwards to leave a good surface finish.

Outside corner tools are not nearly as useful.
Sweep a trowel out across the outside corner and move to the other side.
You can adjust the angle of the sweep to move the excess up the corner.

I agree with others. The size of the job is hurting your price but there’s no way around that one.

Doing it yourself is a possibility, but also as others have said, be okay with visible seams and or comfortable with the idea that you may want to do some form of texture to cover your work if you find it doesn’t go well.

Any thought to alternatives like wood on the ceiling or faux ceiling tin? While I personally find some to be tacky others can be done very tastefully and are better suited for a DIY project which may ease the budget.

In my expierience with Drywall work, don’t hire the least expensive guy we have seams popping all over our home

It probably is only $500-$700 job, but they are charging more because it’s going to eat up an entire day or more where they could be doing a bigger and better paying job.  
I sheetrocked my 16 X 24 workshop.  Asked a friend to quote blowing the ceiling for me. He wanted $1000.  Not gonna happen!  I did the mud work myself and smoothed it all out and painted white.  
Mud work is easy if you understand less is more when applying it.

This makes me feel a little bit better about my addition. I added 550sq ft in two rooms and a hallway. I also had some other small touch ups

I have about $750 in the drywall guy. Hes a alcoholic with no drivers license but he did pretty good for the money.

That's without the hanging though. He did say the hanger mangled the sheetrock and he kinda did.

Drywall isnt the rocket surgery everyone makes it out to be. I got a 15 minute crash course on taping by my hung over father in law and did my whole 800sq basement with a ton of soffit by myself. I took my time, did it right and it’s perfect. You couldnt find a seam or screw head if you tried.

I’m still trying to get taping down.

I used the mesh stuff helping a buddy on his garage and it looks great. I tried using tape on my garage and you can see bubbles in about 1/5th of the seams.

I’ll try that next time I’m ready for mud.
Thanks!

From my experience.

Mix your own mud, shrinks less

Buy premixed. Shrinks more

I'm paying a crew of two guys to tape, sand, and paint 4 rooms 2k.
Initially I though it was kinda high but reading this I think I got the friend deal.

They also have to retape and fix my failed attempt to do it.
I tried for a few nights after work to tape and mud it but its truly an acquired skill.

Ceilings are the worst, working over your head is not easy. Pay the man.

If you do it yourself, take your time. If you do it right, there will be very little sanding. When sanding, just take off the high points, dont sand out divots, fill them in.

I'm doing a new bathroom and yes it is time consuming. No I'm not good at it. Yes I will have to sand it to get it where I want, but I am doing it. I won't pay someone for it if I can do it. It just takes time.