Drywall Estimate Template

Your estimate should include line items that cover the required service, material cost, and labor of the drywall job.

Start by describing the drywall services you’ll be providing, like filling holes or drywall repair, drywall installation, and painting.

Then provide a detailed list of the specific materials you’ll use and the quantities of each. The materials you may use for a drywall installation or repair include:

• Drywall mud
• Drywall tape
• Corner bead
• Drywall sheet (sheetrock)

Lastly, include the labor costs to complete the drywall job. Take into consideration anything that may prolong the labor such as job size or location, and determine how many drywall contractors or subcontractors you will need for the drywall installation.

Your drywall estimating process should look like this:

1. Estimate the total cost of materials

Determine the total amount of each material you’ll need.

Here’s how:

• Calculate square footage (length x width)
• Estimate drywall boards (total square footage/perimeter of drywall sheet)
• Estimate drywall tape (# of drywall sheets needed x perimeter of each sheet)
• Estimate joint compound (0.053 pounds of mud x total number of square feet)
• Estimate drywall screws (square footage / 300 = number of pounds of screws)
• Estimate corner beads (# of drywall sheets needed x 4 corners)

Be sure to include any other material cost that may be specific to the drywall installation such as sandpaper, cleaning supplies, or paint.

2. Calculate your labor costs

To estimate labor costs for drywall installation ask yourself how many hours of labor and how many drywall contractors are needed to finish this drywall project?

To calculate the labor cost, multiply the number of contractors you will need by their hourly wage. Then add an additional 20% to cover taxes and insurance.

Make sure to keep in mind the complexity of the job. You’ll want to estimate more for labor if the drywall installation is in a challenging location such as a tight space, an oddly shaped wall, or ceiling.

3. Add your markup and overhead

Now that you know your materials and labor costs, add on your profit margin to cover any additional overhead costs such as work vehicles, equipment, and business operating expenses (like marketing and accounting costs).

Start by calculating the total square footage (length x width) of the surface being drywalled.

You’ll then need to decide the size of the drywall sheet you will use for the project. Most commonly, drywall comes in 4’ x 8’ or 4’ x 12’ sheets.

Calculate the number of drywall sheets you will need by dividing the square footage of the area by the perimeter of the sheet size you plan to use. 

For example, if you are drywalling 1000 square feet using 4’ x 8’ sheets, you would use the following formula: 

1,000 square feet / 32 = 31.25

Then round up to the nearest whole number to determine the number of drywall sheets you will need. In this instance, you would need 32 4’ x 8’ drywall sheets to complete the job.

Here is an example of what a drywall estimate looks like, using our free template.



Your design may look different, but the standard elements on every estimate should be the same:

• Your business’s logo, name, and contact details
• Your client’s name and contact information
• Estimate number for record-keeping purposes (following the same numbering system as your invoicing)
• A detailed service description of the type of work you’ll be providing
• The approximate cost estimate of completing the entire job (including hourly wages or labor costs, costs of permits, material costs and quantities, special discounts or rates, and local tax)
• Optional line items and prices for added services, products, or repairs that would enhance the work, such as delivery charges or painting costs
• A description of anything that specifically won’t be included in the work
• How long the estimate is valid for
• Terms and conditions (e.g., deposit amount, payment terms)

Decide what services you’d like to offer, create a list of standard line items for drywall bids and estimates, and set prices for each service. This helps you assemble an estimate for small drywall jobs or full residential renovations and send it off to your client, faster.

A drywall estimate template is a blank copy of your estimate form, which you can fill out to create a detailed estimate after a consultation. You can find templates and free quoting tools like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, fill-in PDFs, an Excel sheet or Google Sheets, or drywall estimating software like Jobber. These templates are an essential tool to help keep your business efficient and consistent.

Here’s what a drywall estimate template can do for you:

• Make you look more professional than handwritten estimates
• Help you stay organized and include all necessary information
• Help you track rates, prices, transportation costs, expenses, and accounts receivable
• Protect your business with terms and conditions and set client expectations
• Save you time by cutting down on repetitive data entry
• Reduce room for error by including mandatory form fields
• Make filing easier with digital copies of all estimates

With our free drywall estimate template, it’s easy to add in the specific details for that job, get the estimate approved, complete the work, invoice the client, and get paid faster—all with just a few clicks.

Quotes and estimates seem similar, but there’s one major difference: how flexible the budget is.

An estimate is a rough but educated guess at how much work, time, and materials it’ll take a drywall contractor to complete a job. This gives you some room to breathe in case any unexpected details pop up during the job.

A quote tells a client exactly what they’ll be paying for the job. When you create a quote, you’re considering all the internal calculations of a project, including square footage of drywall, amount of material, and installation costs. 

This can mean higher profits if you come in under budget—but it also means you have to consider anything that could complicate the job and cut into your profits.

Your contractor estimate should describe the work and the approximate labor costs of completing that work.

A bid, on the other hand, is more exact. Rather than providing average costs, a bid tells a potential client the best possible price you can offer for the job. If you’re bidding on a drywall project, the client is probably getting bids from multiple suppliers and will choose the lowest price with the best value.

You can use our free drywall estimating template as a drywall bid template.

There’s a big difference between estimates and invoices.

An estimate is the first step in any project. It describes what the finished work will look like and breaks down how much it’ll cost to complete.  Your estimate sets the expectations for the client, and you shouldn’t move forward with the work until they sign off on it.

An invoice is the last step of the project. It’s a final bill you send to the client for the completed work. The amount on the invoice might be different from the amount on the work estimate. This will depend on the actual square footage of the room and the amount of mud, sheetrock, and drywall sheets needed to complete commercial or residential projects.

At this point, you can also talk to the client about consumer financing or a payment plan.

That depends on whether you’re doing it by hand or electronically. If you’re using pen and paper, it takes some time to write down your contact details, add in customer information, write all your line items (like pounds of mud or sheetrock quantities) from memory, and total the costs in your head. That can be why some drywall businesses decide to charge for quotes.

With a drywall estimate template, some of that information is already in place. The calculations are done automatically, including discounts and taxes. It should take only a few minutes to fill in project-specific details, then send the drywall estimate to the client for approval.

Jobber’s estimating and quote management software makes creating an estimate for drywall work easy.

Using Jobber’s drywall estimating software  you can:

• Set up client files to store estimates, job details, and invoices
• Receive new leads through your website or Local Services Ads
• Create estimates with add-ons, images, and packages
• Let clients approve estimates and pay deposits online
• Convert estimates into jobs and invoices
• Communicate with clients using email and SMS
• Schedule and dispatch teams, route work, and track time and expenses
• Get paid faster with automated quote follow-ups and credit card processing

Find out how Jobber can help you create estimates and win work faster.