Cost to repair a hole on the drywall.

[BenLuby]

Assume, for instance that the paint can't be matched perfectly, which will result in painting the whole wall, and possibly the whole room. Once that gets done, the ceiling will now look dingy, so the ceiling will then get painted. Once the ceiling in that room gets painted, it will make the ceiling in the hallway need repainting, as well....

That one golf ball sized hole, may eventually mean the whole house gets repainted, if there is a female involved in the scenario.

[not being sexiest here in the least, merely stating the facts]

We're quite sure your're the sexiest in here, Christine. Or did you mean sexist?
Don't forget that, since the walls/ceilings are now nice and pristine, most women will find that the carpet is a bit dated and torn. That golf ball sized hole that cost you about $75.00 to patch is rapidly approaching four figures. And it can, depending on the woman of the house, spread to other rooms.
That little drywall holes can cost you a new refrigerator.

 

[Christine Marie]

We're quite sure your're the sexiest in here, Christine. Or did you mean sexist?
Don't forget that, since the walls/ceilings are now nice and pristine, most women will find that the carpet is a bit dated and torn. That golf ball sized hole that cost you about $75.00 to patch is rapidly approaching four figures. And it can, depending on the woman of the house, spread to other rooms.
That little drywall holes can cost you a new refrigerator.

Oops...

Ben, i think i am going to go edit that...

 

[Bobby Byrd]

Don't forget 3 trips to finish the drywall if you use the "bucket" variety and 2 more trips to paint. You could use "quick-set" mud of course, and do the 3 coats in about an hour using the fastest setting available. Then 1-2 trips to paint, if you are really lucky, you might be able to paint after the quick set mud has set, if there is matching paint on site.

These small jobs are quite expensive and time consuming, as Hal says above, it can be done cheaper if its one of many odd jobs.

If you don't believe it, punch a small hole in the drywall and start timing yourself as you dash off to HomeDepot or Lowes etc. Don't forget to add driving time to your house (for the time it would take a contractor to come out to your place and see whats up etc). And BTW, pray to god that you don't forget anything and the paint matches perfectly the first try.

So we're talking about 5 trips @ 10-15 minutes per trip. Roughly an hour and a half of actual work. If the paint doesnt match perfectly, you have to paint the wall corner to corner because you'll never see the difference. Add another hour to that and your still at $120.00 per hour. After 3 years as a market manager for one of the largest manufacturers of painting supplies in the world, I've never seen numbers even close to this......

Now, if its new construction the cost to repair is $0.00, because it will be on the punch list.....

I believe that the lesson to learn from this post is that CTC is whatever someone wants it to be, as I've never seen a listing that said
"House is mint condition except for golfball size hole in drywall, owners will offer between $25.00 and $5,000.00 in concessions for repair."

 

[Mr Rex]

10-15 minutes to and from the hardware store? Can't do that even in the bigger cities here, but I agree with the costs quoted being on the high side. The market reaction is proabably more like Mr Garrett pointed out though, 10-20x cost.

BTW, just for fun. call a local drywaller or 3 and ask them how much. Might be an eye opener, if you can even get one to do such a small job, and therein lies the rub.

 

[Bobby Byrd]

10-15 minutes to and from the hardware store? Can't do that even in the bigger cities here, but I agree with the costs quoted being on the high side. The market reaction is proabably more like Mr Garrett pointed out though, 10-20x cost.

BTW, just for fun. call a local drywaller or 3 and ask them how much. Might be an eye opener, if you can even get one to do such a small job, and therein lies the rub.

I can tell you from experience that you can hardly find a painter that will paint only one room, let alone fix a little hole like that. If they dont get a huge job, they go fishing, or hit the bottle. Sad but true. I used to scout the ABC stores on Friday afternoons to see what contractors were in town. I've always thought that there was a market for small jobs like that and could be quite profitable, in real dollars. Problem is that there are too many skippies that cant manage their money and wait for the big ones to pay the bills. I agree with Mr Garrett as well, I think he hit it on the head. In fact, they've left something obvious like that for the buyer to find, the agent feels like they did their job by finding the "big problem" with the house, and wont look further. Offer then is $5,000.00 less than the list price that was $5,000.00 over priced to begin with.

Of course then the appraiser reports it, does a cost to cure for $2,000.00, lender cuts loan by $2,000.00 buyers cant afford another $2,000.00 to buy the home and the deal falls through. Appraiser gets black listed by lender because he could'nt make the number. Loses further business with a whole slew of lenders because now is known as a "hard ***". Quits appraisal business, starts small handyman service, makes 10 times what he used to fixing small holes in drywall and painting bedrooms. ...........

all this because someone should have used an 9 iron instead of a pitching wedge!!!

This has been a fun thread! Sorry for the lack of professionalism on this one, but it's the weekend.

 

[Mr Rex]

I can understand your comments about painters:new_all_coholic: Asked an old guy once, why does it seem all painters drink heavily. He said back in the old days, the lead paint left a taste in your mouth that needed to be removed with a solvent, and alcohol fit the bill. I asked "What's the excuse now?"

Asked a drywaller once why many seemed to be pot heads. He said "You try staring at the wall all day, every day."

 

[Michigan CG]

Wow, this is still going on..

I liked my first suggestion of steel wool, compound, a little sanding, paint and a six pack. For a golf ball size hole I liked the gentleman who suggested a skoal cap....I just measured my wife's skoal can and it is about 2.5 inches...little big but it might work.

As for professional repairs....please. This is the ultimate example of Cost does not equal Value. If you can't fix it yourself, a neighbor or a relative can, and if none of them can add $10 to the cost of a book to teach you how to do it. Suggestions of actually adjusting for this is ludicrous.

 

[DB]

AS one who manages apartments and other rental properties, I have a list of potential costs to repair such items as holes, tears, fixtures, cleaning, etc., in a PDF format that I will gladly send to anyone who wants it .... it is pretty accurate so far and I give it to each new tenant so that there are no surprises when check out day comes ....

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

DB...would you please fax me a copy of your list, I would like to compare costs in your market to mine. 719 528 6401.

 

[Scott Kibler]

Wow, 7 pages and almost a week of posts about a small patch job. Maybe the owner should just hang a picture over it.