Drywall Repair · Nashville, TN
The Nashville homeowner's guide to drywall repair
What the work involves, what drives the price, what your options are, and what a bad job looks like — written so you can judge any drywall contractor in Middle Tennessee, including us.
Estimate request
Show us the hole, crack or stain
Straight to us, and a reply the same day.
By Michael Blair, owner, Nashville's Drywall Repair · who we are
Warning signs
How to know you need us
Recognize one? Have it looked at before it grows.
- Nail pops appearing in rows
- A crack that returns after filling
- Brown staining on a ceiling
- Corner beads chipped or cracked
- Tape lifting at a seam
- A previous patch you can see across the room
- Soft or spongy board after a leak
Your options
More than one right answer.
A small hole takes a patch; a sagging, stained ceiling may need new board. When either would work, we lay out both.
Patch and blend
The usual job. Cut square, back it, tape, three coats, texture, prime. Done properly it disappears.
Full sheet replacement
When the damage is bigger than about a foot or the board is wet. Cheaper than a giant patch and finishes better.
Skim coat
Where a wall has too many old repairs to blend individually. The whole surface goes flat and starts again.
Level 5 finish
A full skim before paint, for walls under critical light. Expensive, and worth it only where the light is genuinely unforgiving.
What it costs
What actually drives the price.
A drywall price moves with the size of the damage, the height of the ceiling, whether water got behind the board, and how hard the texture is to match. We look at those in person.
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Size and number of repairs
Ten small holes in one room is cheaper than ten holes across a house, because most of the cost is setup, masking and return visits for coats to dry.
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Texture on the existing wall
A flat wall is straightforward. Knockdown, orange peel and hand textures have to be matched, and matching is skill and time rather than material.
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Whether it is ceiling work
Everything overhead is slower, needs more protection below and is harder to finish invisibly because ceilings catch raking light that walls do not.
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Cause of the damage
A door handle through the wall is a patch. A ceiling stained by a leak means finding out whether it is dry first, and cutting back to material that is sound.
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Paint
A patch is invisible under a fresh coat and obvious under a ten-year-old one. Whether the wall gets painted wall-to-wall changes what "finished" means.
Estimates are free, written and without obligation. Anything found only after starting is priced up front.
What happens
From your call to the finished job.
Look at it first
Photographs are usually enough to quote a patch. Ceiling stains need someone to confirm the leak is fixed and the board is dry.
Protect the room
Floors covered, furniture moved or sheeted, doorways sealed. Drywall dust travels further than anyone expects.
Cut, back and tape
Cut back to a square opening with backing behind it. A patch with nothing behind it will crack along its edges within a year.
Three coats
Each coat wider than the last and each dried before the next. Rushing this is the single most common reason a patch shows.
Texture and prime
Texture matched, then primed so the patch does not flash through the paint.
Done badly
What goes wrong, and why it matters.
Shortcuts that cheapen the quote and cost you later. Ask anyone you are considering about them.
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Filling a crack without backing
Compound alone has nothing to hold on to. The crack reopens along the same line the next time the house moves.
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One thick coat instead of three thin
Thick compound shrinks and cracks as it dries, and the shrinkage is exactly the shape of the repair.
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Skipping primer
New compound absorbs paint differently from old wall. Without primer the patch flashes through the finish coat in the right light.
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Patching a wet ceiling
Board that is still damp will stain through anything put over it. Find the leak, dry it, then repair.
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Guessing at texture
Texture matching is done by sampling on a board and comparing on the wall, not by spraying and hoping.
Before you hire anyone
Six questions worth asking any drywall contractor.
Including us. If a drywall contractor cannot answer these easily, that is the answer.
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Can you match my texture — orange peel, knockdown, smooth?
The answer names the texture on your walls and how it will be matched. An invisible patch is a texture match; a visible one is a rectangle.
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How many coats, and will you sand between them?
Three coats, feathered wide, sanded between. One thick coat cracks and shows at the edges under the paint.
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Is painting included, and will it blend?
The quote says whether the patch is primed and painted, and the honest answer warns that a spot-paint on an old wall may show.
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What caused the damage, and does that need fixing first?
A water stain has a leak above it. Patching over the cause is a patch you pay for again.
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Are you licensed for a full hang at this job’s value, and insured?
Small repairs need no license; a full hang above the value threshold does. Liability insurance either way, with a certificate.
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What is the price — by the patch, by the hour, or by the job?
Any of the three can be honest, in writing before the day. Sanding dust in every room is not a surprise if it was discussed.
FAQ
Choosing a drywall contractor in Nashville
How do I choose a drywall contractor in Nashville?
Every drywall crew we run carries liability insurance on file with us, and the crews doing full hangs hold the Tennessee contractor’s license the job value requires. Ask the six questions below of anyone, including us.
Should I get more than one quote for drywall repair?
Yes — and compare the scope, not the total. Drywall repair in Nashville is priced by the repair — a patch, a ceiling section, a water-damaged wall — with the texture match and the paint as their own lines; a whole-room hang and finish is priced by the square foot.
Is the cheapest drywall repair quote usually a bad idea?
Not automatically; a low number is information. Water-damaged drywall is dried or replaced; a patch over damp board grows mold behind it.
Do I need a permit for drywall repair in Nashville?
Drywall repair needs no permit from Metro Nashville and the surrounding counties; a repair after a water leak may be part of a permitted rebuild, and the contractor knows which job it is.
How far in advance should I book drywall repair?
A repair visit in Nashville is usually within a few days; small patches are done in one visit with a return for the finish coat, and a ceiling section takes two or three.
Free estimate
Got a wall or ceiling that needs fixing?
Send Nashville's Drywall Repair a picture of the damage and the texture around it, and the written estimate will name the patch method and the finish we will match.