There are numerous milestones when building a home, and none feel better than hanging and finishing drywall. Walking through your home with the wallboard installed, you can envision your furniture placement, sitting by the fire, cooking a meal, reading a book, etc. The drywall stage will take seven to fourteen days for a home up to 3,500 square feet. You must add days to your schedule if the house is more significant or if the finishing process is in colder or wet months.
Level 0 – Drywall is hung
Level 1 – Drywall tape has been installed on the drywall seams and corners.
Level 2 – A thin coat of drywall compound has been installed over the tape, corners, and screw or nail holes.
Level 3 – A second coat of drywall compound is installed over the tape and screw/nail holes and corners.
Level 4 – A final coat of drywall compound is installed over the tape, screw/nail holes and corners.
Level 5 – A thin layer of drywall compound is applied to the entire wall system.
Where are you most likely to see each level of drywall? A level 0 would typically be reserved for a shed or other do-it-yourself project. It is the most manageable level to finish, requiring minimum skill and only a few tools. We recommend purchasing four-foot by eight-foot drywall sheets unless you have experience working with twelve-foot material.
A level-one drywall finish is typically not used in most homes and might be found in an attached shed or garage. Arguably, it is the ugliest stage of drywall finishing and gets the most questions. It is essential to note that this is the first step in finishing; visually, it could be more appealing. Please don’t worry- the next steps in the drywall process will make you comfortable with your investment.
For many production homebuilders, a level-two drywall finish is a standard method for finishing garages. The primary reason to end the drywall at this stage is to reduce some of the costs of building the home to make it more affordable for consumers.
The next coat of drywall compound will move your finish to level three, which is not a finished stage but is close. Installers will add one additional coat of drywall compound to smooth out each joint and make the drywall as ready as possible.
The level-four drywall stage, or skim coat stage, is a typical finish in most homes built today. After a level four finish, you can sand and paint your home, and the beauty of your vision will pop off the walls. We call this a skim coat stage due to the thin layer of drywall compound applied to all joints, corners, and screw/nail heads.
A level-five drywall finish is when the finishers apply a thin coat of drywall compound across all the walls. It is often used with a machine that sprays the mixture on the wall, and then it is worked with metal trowels. We would install a level five finish to create a uniform surface on walls with a lot of sunlight or light. This extra step is because the light will highlight imperfections in the wall, and a level five finish will improve the overall appearance.
The next time you walk through a home under construction, we hope you will recognize what stage the crew is at. With this information, you can better understand what will come and what questions to ask.
