Whole-house drywall
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Drywall in Frederick & Central MD
Basement drywall
Board hung in a finished basement properly — held clear of the slab, kept off the foundation wall itself, and with the rim joist sorted before anything covers it up.
Licensed & insuredFree written estimatesFrederick-based crewClean-site guarantee
Quick answer
How much does it cost to drywall a basement in Maryland?
Hung and finished to level 4, basement board runs $2.20 to $3.80 per square foot in 2026, which puts a typical 800 square foot basement at roughly $4,500 to $9,500 for the drywall stage. It sits slightly above an upstairs room because of the moisture-resistant board, the cut-up ceiling around ducts and the soffits. Framing and insulation are quoted separately rather than folded in.
The work
What basements actually involves.
A basement is the one room in a Maryland house where the drywall has a water source on the other side of it. The foundation wall is in contact with wet ground for most of the year, and whatever you build against it has to assume that rather than hope otherwise.
That shapes three decisions before a sheet goes up. Board stops half an inch short of the slab rather than sitting on it, so a wet floor does not wick straight up into the gypsum. The stud wall stands clear of the foundation with the insulation detail behind it, not pressed against bare block. And the rim joist — the band of framing at the top of the foundation, where most of a basement's air leakage and condensation happens — gets air-sealed and insulated while it is still reachable, because once the ceiling is on it never is again.
We will also tell you to stop if the basement is wet. Drywall over an active water problem is the most expensive way to hide it: the board wicks, the paper feeds mould behind the paint, and the first anyone knows is a smell. Fix the grading, the downspout discharge or the drain first, then build.
Held off the slab
Rim joist dealt with first
Below-grade board specified
What basements costs in Maryland
Basement board is priced per square foot of finished wall and ceiling. Framing, insulation and the rim joist are separate lines and we itemise them so you can see the split.
- Hang and finish, level 4
- $2.20 – $3.80 per sq ft
- Typical 800 sq ft basement, board and finish
- $4,500 – $9,500
- Rim joist air-sealed and insulated
- $650 – $1,800
- Soffit around ducts, per linear foot
- $28 – $55
- Access panel, fitted
- $120 – $280
- Moisture-resistant board upgrade
- $0.18 – $0.35 per sq ft
Ranges, not quotes. Real numbers come from a walkthrough — access, condition, height and finish level move a price more than square footage does. Estimates are free and in writing.
Get your numberFull basements cost guide for MarylandPrefer to just talk?
Call and describe the job. You’ll get a straight answer on whether it’s something we do and roughly what it runs.
(301) 524-1729
Self-performed
Basement drywall
What’s included
Everything the basements scope actually covers.
Written into the estimate, not assumed. If something on your job is not on this list, it gets priced and named before anyone starts.
Board held clear of the slab
01A deliberate gap at the floor, covered by the baseboard later. It is the cheapest piece of insurance in the room and it is routinely skipped.
Rim joist sealed and insulated
02Done before the ceiling closes it off. This is where cold air and summer humidity get into a basement, and it is unreachable afterwards.
Moisture-resistant board below grade
03Mould-resistant board on exterior walls and anywhere near the floor as standard, rather than only in the bathroom. The price difference per sheet is small.
Furring or a free-standing stud wall
04Whichever suits your foundation and the headroom you can spare, with the insulation layer kept continuous rather than interrupted by framing against block.
Access panels where they belong
05Clean-outs, shut-offs, sump and well equipment left reachable through a proper panel instead of buried behind a sheet with a note in your head.
Dropped sections for ducts and mains
06Soffits built around trunk ducts and drain lines, sized tight so you lose as little ceiling height as the mechanicals allow.
On the job
Drywall work across Frederick & Central MD.
What the trade looks like at each stage. Photos of our own recent jobs come out at the walkthrough, on the actual house.
Straight answers
Basements questions
Not covered here? Call and ask — you’ll get a real answer, not a “depends on the job”.
On the exterior walls and the lower courses, yes, and we specify it as standard rather than as an upgrade. The reason is not that the wall is expected to get wet — it is that a basement spends summer at high humidity, and mould-resistant board has a fibreglass or treated facing instead of paper, which removes the food source. The cost difference is a few cents a square foot against a job you only want to do once.
Yes. Finishing a basement is a permitted alteration almost everywhere in Central Maryland, and the inspections that matter — framing, electrical rough-in, insulation — all happen before the drywall goes on. That sequencing is the practical reason to get the permit rather than the legal one: board hung before a rough-in inspection comes back off again. We work to the inspection schedule and will tell you what your jurisdiction wants.
We would rather not, and we will say so. Board over an active water problem does not solve it, it conceals it — the gypsum wicks from the slab, the cavity stays wet, and the first sign is usually a smell rather than a stain. Most damp basements around here are fixed outside the house: regrading, extending downspout discharge, or a failed window well. That is cheaper than what we would otherwise be tearing out in two years.
Same crew, same visit
The rest of the drywall work.
Most drywall jobs are two or three of these at once, which is why they are priced and scheduled together rather than as separate call-outs.
From the field
Read up before you book.
Longer answers than a quote page has room for — how the work fails, what putting it right actually involves, and when waiting is the honest call.
Sources worth your time
Check us, and check the work
None of these are ours. They are the offices and standards bodies that set the rules we work to, so you can verify what we say rather than take it.
Frederick County permits and inspections
The county office that decides whether your job needs a permit. Routine gutter work does not; structural and roof work usually does.
OpenEPA indoor air quality
Damp drywall, mould and construction dust are air-quality problems as much as cosmetic ones. Plain guidance from the EPA on both.
OpenENERGY STAR sealing and insulating
The attic air-sealing and insulation guidance that actually stops ice dams forming.
Open
Talk to the people doing the work
Get a straight number for the whole job.
Tell us what needs doing. We’ll walk it with you, sequence every trade it touches, put the price in writing, and leave you to decide.
Get a quote
Let’s price your project.
Two short steps. No obligation, no pressure — just a clear number and a straight answer about what the job involves.
Tick as many as you like. Most jobs are two or three of them at once, and I sort out the detail when I come and look. Nobody gets turned away for choosing the wrong box.
