Skip Trowel vs. Knockdown Cost

16 years ago

Would you please give me a rough idea of the cost difference between having my drywall texture Skip Trowel vs. Knockdown? I know that ST is done by hand and Kd is sprayed so I'm sure that ST is more labor intensive and more costly. But what is the difference in cost? Another one I really like is called Pull Trowel. What does that cost?

Thanks.

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

In New England the dominant wall surface tradition for over 300 years has been smooth plaster with paint or wallpaper. Therefore the plaster trade has always been highly skilled and today that tradition is carried on with veneer plaster on blue board and taped drywall is used only for DIYers or patching. The surface of veneer plaster is very hard, difficult to damage and easy to repair. In the Boston area It is usually cheaper than the lowest level of taped drywall finish. Textured finished are rare and a definite disadvantage when selling a house.

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Comments (9)

pioneergal
16 years ago
kcthatsme,

I was just quoted the price of $1 sq. foot difference between ST and KD. ST being the more expensive but worth it IMOP.

Hope this helps...

Oh yeah, this North Central Texas (FW) price. It may be different in your area.
galore2112
16 years ago
Knock down is knocked down by hand after spraying. And it requires skill to knock down evenly.

Skip Trowel is much, much more forgiving. It is a finish designed to look "old". It is looking old because it is a comparably unsophisticated technique (you just need a trowel as a tool, no sprayer).
Price difference is more about what people are willing to pay than about actual labor difference (I've done both myself and find skip troweling to be faster and easier that knock down for a good result).
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kcthatsme
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the responses.
robin0919
9 years ago
Renovator......I can't IMAGINE that blue board/veneer plaster is CHEAPER than regular drywall!!!! That sounds 'impossible' because it is ALLOT more labor involved. What is the s/f cost for both in your area? Are the subs in your area union?
The plaster is what they always use on TOH, but they never talk about the cost.

This post was edited by robin0919 on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 23:30
ILoveRed
9 years ago
R8-that is amazing.

We recently purchased the house my dh grew up in after his mother passed. All plaster walls.

I don't know if there are any contractors here that even do plaster anymore. Midwest.
ksc36
9 years ago
Here in MA I just paid about $1.50/sq/ft for blueboard and plaster. That includes all materials and labor. I have no idea what drywall prices are, haven't hired a taper in 30 years. I always looked at taping as more labor intensive for an inferior finish.
robin0919
9 years ago
KS...are you a GC? That price is very good. I'm shocked it's that low. Curious....was the company that did the work union?
The last time I got a quote for sheetrock in this area(SE) it was around .75/sf but that was 9 yrs ago. Just did a search and found a web site that you can put in your zip and get an estimate of what it is in your area, it says around $1.70/sf here now. I would much prefer plaster but I really don't think anyone in the SE even knows how to apply it. I think it's really a trait that's very specific in local areas in the country. My wife grew up in a house that had plaster walls that was built in the early 1900's. Those were the first plaster walls I ever saw and haven't seen any since.
Lindsay De Hoyos
2 years ago
I just bought 4,480 sq ft home. The painter gave me a quote for $13K for wallpaper removal and painting only. After removing the wallpaper, he said there is no texture without his knowledge so he charged me another $7K for adding texture. After learning he started the knockdown texture style, we stopped and prefer as smooth as possible. The smoothest he could go is to do skip trowel. So, he charged us for more so it went up to $7,600 for skip trowel since it takes longer. Is it fair to charge me extra after charging texture (didn’t say what kind) for $7K? This is feeling so unrealistic. Please advise.