Drywall Installation in San Antonio

Two different soils, two different fastener schedules

The Balcones Escarpment runs straight through Bexar County, and which side of it your house sits on changes how we hang board.

North of it, through Stone Oak, Hill Country Village and out toward Helotes, the ground is Edwards limestone with clay pockets, so slabs move unevenly rather than uniformly and the cracking shows up over door and window headers first. South and east, out through Converse, the south side and the Cibolo Creek edge, it is Blackland Prairie clay that swells and shrinks with the season across the whole slab.

We set the control joints and the fastener schedule for the side you are on. On the tall great-room and two-story entry walls that dominate the 1604-corridor and Alamo Ranch floor plans, that difference is the whole reason a wall either stays flat or telegraphs every seam in three years.

The other San Antonio constant is the cooling season. An air-conditioned house here runs conditioned air against the ceiling plane for the better part of eight months, so we let board acclimate on site before it goes up rather than hanging it straight off a hot trailer.

Full-service drywall installation, framing to finish

Drywall hanging in San Antonio is only half the job, and the half you see is the finish. An added room, a finished garage, a house built from the studs: the hang and finish make or break every one of them. We hang board tight and square, tape and float seams flat, and texture to match your home, so trim sits clean and paint lays even.

Since 2003 San Antonio builders, remodelers, and homeowners have trusted A-Best for installs that come out straight, smooth, and on schedule. For offices, retail and restaurants, see commercial drywall installation.

Installation projects we handle

• New-build & whole-home drywall
• Room additions & second-story builds
• Garage & bonus-room conversions
• Remodels: kitchens, baths, open-ups
• Ceilings: flat, vaulted, and tray
• Soffits, bulkheads & archways

Finish levels

From Level 4 (standard for textured walls) up to Level 5 smooth finish for walls under critical lighting or flat paint. We recommend the right level for the room and budget.

Before the hang starts, it helps to know which finish you are paying for: see drywall finish levels explained.

Drywall hanging: which board goes where

• Walls: half-inch standard board in most rooms.
• Ceilings: half-inch sag-resistant ceiling board, which holds flat under sprayed texture better than standard board.
• Garage walls and ceilings: the fire-rated board the building code calls for between a garage and the house, usually five-eighths-inch Type X on a ceiling with living space above.
• Bathrooms and laundry rooms: moisture-resistant board.
• Behind tile in showers and tubs: cement board or another tile backer, not drywall.

How a room gets hung and finished

Ceilings go up first so the wall sheets hold up their edges, then the walls, usually with the sheets run horizontally to keep seams out of the middle of the wall. Every sheet is screwed off on a set pattern into the framing. Paper tape goes into the flat seams and inside corners and metal or paper-faced bead onto the outside corners.

Then comes the float: two or three coats of compound, each wider than the last, with drying time between them. San Antonio's humidity stretches that drying time in summer, which is why a finish crew that rushes the coats leaves seams that show later. After the last coat is sanded, the room is textured to match or finished smooth, primed, and ready for paint.