Drywall mudding and taping in the laundry room is progressing well. We’re two coats in and have completed our first round of sanding — we tried wet sanding this time and I’ll share more about that soon — but I’m still holding my breath until we finish the third (and hopefully final) coat and move on to primer. The final coat and primer always reveal whether the work truly looks as smooth as we think. Instead of splitting the mudding and taping tutorial across multiple posts, I’m saving the full step-by-step (with video) for Monday. Today I want to focus on cost and insulation, and our experience working with a local insulation company in McLean, VA.
Completing the drywall will mark the end of the tasks we originally received contractor quotes for, so it felt like a good point to check our budget and measure the savings from doing more ourselves while hiring select subcontractors. Here’s a clear breakdown of what we’ve spent so far:
- Framing (labor & materials): $360
- Electric (labor & materials): $400
- Plumbing (labor & materials): $375
- New dryer vent (materials & tools, labor done by us): $87
- New HVAC vent (materials only, labor done by us): $59
- Drywall & insulation (materials & truck/tool rental, labor done by us): $298
- Drywall mudding (materials only, labor done by us): $84
- Sub-floor (materials only, labor done by us): $30
- TOTAL: $1,693
We’re relieved to have spent far less than the contractor bids we received — one estimate was nearly $5,000 and another was $3,250. Comparing line items shows our biggest savings came from framing and drywall. Together those items were over $2,000 on the contractor estimates, while we paid under $750.
A large part of that difference is simply that we did the drywall ourselves. We did get a separate drywall subcontractor quote, and it matched the contractors’ line items, confirming that labor was a large portion of the cost. Framing came in lower for a couple of reasons: David, who handled our framing, is efficient and affordable, and framing is a line item where contractors often fold in fees and miscellaneous markups. Our plumbing and electrical costs were only modestly lower than the contractors’ estimates — roughly $150 less each — so those trades still represent a fair portion of the total cost when contracted out. Additional savings came from doing smaller tasks ourselves that contractors included in their bids, like installing the subfloor, redirecting vents, and adding insulation.
In short, we’re grateful the first half of the project stayed well under our initial expectations. That’s encouraging because we still have significant expenses ahead: tile flooring, cabinets, shelving, trim, and finishing details. Another advantage of taking a hybrid approach — doing much of the work ourselves and hiring subcontractors for specialized tasks — is that we were able to start the project sooner instead of waiting for a contractor’s schedule to open up.
While one coat of joint compound dried, I installed insulation around the outside of the laundry room. Interior wall insulation isn’t always required, but this room backs to an unfinished, unheated storage space, so adding insulation made sense to improve thermal performance and reduce laundry noise that could carry into an eventual finished bunk room behind the wall. I reviewed a few how-to videos and then proceeded with the install.
I bought batt insulation at the home improvement store because batts are pre-cut for 2×4 walls and 8-foot ceilings like ours. I accidentally bought the wider 23-inch batts instead of the 15-inch ones for 16-inch stud spacing, so I needed to do a bit more cutting than planned. Cutting batts is straightforward: lay the batt paper-side down, press a straightedge into the insulation along the cut line, and slice with a utility knife. The compressed side will stay down while the other side puffs back up, signaling the cut is working. Sometimes I flipped the batt over to finish cutting the facing paper if the knife didn’t go through on the first pass.
The facing has an overhang intended for stapling, but because facing is flammable it should not be left exposed. For now I installed the batts with the facing toward the open storage room so the insulation sits securely in the cavity, and because I cut the batts carefully they stayed in place with just a gentle push. Occasionally I trimmed around obstacles like electrical boxes and laundry lines as I worked.
Installing insulation is a relatively easy job, though it requires protective clothing to avoid itchy fiberglass on bare skin: long sleeves, long pants, gloves, and safety glasses. It was warm working in the unconditioned space, but manageable. I still need to address the ceiling insulation; I can access that area from the attic stairs, so I’m deciding between batts/rolls or blowing in insulation, both of which are viable depending on access and coverage needs.
Next up: returning to mudding, taping, and hopefully priming the drywall so we can move on to flooring. Once the floor is installed we’ll be able to reconnect the appliances and get this laundry room fully functional. I’m excited to see it all come together.
Anyone else tackling weekend projects? If you’ve got plans, enjoy them — unless they involve drywall compound, in which case consider yourself warned.