Board, tape, mud, sand and paint — walls that read dead flat under raking light.
- Single room
- 3 — 5 days
- Basement
- 1 — 2 weeks
- Whole-home repaint
- 1 — 2 weeks
- Popcorn removal (main floor)
- 4 — 7 days
The short answer
Mud and paint covers drywall installation, taping and mudding of joints, sanding to a specified finish level, priming and painting. The industry uses five drywall finish levels: Level 4 is the residential standard for flat and eggshell paint, and Level 5 — a skim coat over the entire surface — is what you need for gloss paint, dark colours and any wall washed by side lighting. Global Construction Homes finishes to Level 4 as standard and Level 5 wherever light will expose the wall.
Every flaw a homeowner notices after a renovation is a drywall flaw. Ridged joints, visible screw dimples, corner beads that telegraph and the faint banding you only see at four in the afternoon are all decided at the mud stage, and no amount of expensive paint hides them.
The controllable variables are simple and nobody wants to pay for them: enough coats, enough drying time between them, and sanding with proper lighting held at a low angle instead of straight on. We work three coats minimum, we let each one actually dry, and we sand under a raking work light so the wall gets checked the way your windows will check it.
Then we prime — properly, once, over everything — because paint applied to bare compound flashes at every joint. Two finish coats go on after that, cut in by hand, with hardware off and edges tight.
Drywall supply & installation
Standard, moisture-resistant, mould-resistant and fire-rated board hung with correct fastener spacing, staggered seams and control joints where the assembly needs them.
Taping, mudding & sanding
Three-coat minimum on flats and angles, paper tape on inside corners, metal or paper-faced bead on outside corners, and final sanding checked under raking light.
Level 5 skim coating
A full skim over the entire surface for gloss and semi-gloss finishes, deep saturated colours, and any wall raked by windows or wall-washing lighting.
Popcorn & stipple ceiling removal
Containment, scraping, re-skimming and finishing to a flat ceiling. Pre-1990 ceilings are tested for asbestos before anything is disturbed.
Interior painting
Full masking and floor protection, one coat of quality primer, two finish coats, hardware and plates removed rather than cut around, and edges cut in by hand.
Repairs & patching
Water damage, settlement cracks, nail pops, past-renovation scars and texture matching so a repair disappears instead of announcing itself.
Pricing is per square foot of wall and ceiling surface — not floor area — including materials, labour and HST. Repairs are quoted per area after we see the damage.
Ceilings above nine feet, stairwells requiring scaffold, heavy repair work and asbestos testing on pre-1990 textured ceilings are itemised separately in your quote.
Drywall supply & install
Board hung, screwed and ready to tape
Taping & mudding to Level 4
Three coats, sanded, residential standard
Level 5 skim coat
Full skim for gloss, dark colours and raking light
Interior painting
Primer plus two finish coats, walls and ceilings
Popcorn ceiling removal
Containment, scrape, re-skim, prime and paint
Single room repaint
Standard 12×12 bedroom, walls, ceiling and trim
Contractors quote very different work under the same word. This is what each level actually means, so you can compare quotes on equal terms.
If a quote does not name a finish level, it is almost certainly Level 3 or a thin Level 4. Ask. It is the single biggest hidden difference between two drywall prices.
Not seeing your question? Call or text (647) 928-3544 — we answer same day, usually within 2 hours.
Level 4 is three coats of compound over joints, corners and fasteners, sanded smooth — the residential standard, and perfectly adequate under flat or eggshell paint. Level 5 adds a thin skim coat across the entire wall so the surface has uniform porosity and texture. You need Level 5 for gloss and semi-gloss paint, deep saturated colours, and any wall raked by window light or wall-wash fixtures, because those conditions reveal every joint on a Level 4 wall.
City of Toronto
York Region
Tell us what you are planning. We come out, measure, and hand you a written line-by-line mud & paint quote at no cost.
Same day, usually within 2 hours· Serving the GTA, Hamilton, Guelph & Kitchener