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    Asbestos Removal Cost and New Drywall Installation

    January 21, 2023 by Ashley Mayes 22 Comments

    Sharing our asbestos removal cost and the process for drywalling our kitchen ceiling. We've dealt with asbestos in drywall a few times now so feel like we have a pretty good handle on what the cost to remove asbestos is.

    sheetrock in kitchen without asbestos popcorn

    The backstory on sharing cost to abate asbestos

    We've dealt with asbestos drywall twice now, once in the kitchen and once in the basement. All of that is to say that the cost for asbestos removal is expensive and drywall installation is much cheaper. Ha! But seriously, asbestos can be a scary thing so, definitely keep reading for more insight..

    For many years, I've shared price breakdowns on harder to find home improvements or DIY projects, such as all the details on the cost for our kitchen cabinets and drawers, enlarging a window in an outside wall or adding egress windows in your basement.

    It's funny, because there are lots and lots of blog posts out there that explain how to do things for the homeowner. There are not many that tell you what to expect for pricing. It's pretty easy to get an idea on pricing for, say, replacing your kitchen sink and faucet. But, as a homeowner, it's so tough to know if we have gotten a fair or good deal on many other items.

    My hope, with these types of posts, is that they will help you know what to expect in terms of pricing - or at least have a baseline for pricing. That said, I do understand that pricing will change depending on where you live. Still, I believe it's great to have a ballpark number.

    Before I get into the nitty gritty details of dealing with asbestos sheetrock, I do want to mention that U.S. law varies state-by-state when it comes to asbestos testing, removal, and disposal. It's some serious stuff, so you definitely want to do your homework on it; specifically, for the state you are in. Depending on what state you are in, you might have wiggle room for doing part of the abatement yourself. This is up to your discretion if you live in a state that allows it.

    Ok, let's talk more about asbestos.

    What is asbestos?

    Asbestos is basically a group of fibrous minerals that is found, naturally, in the environment. It was thought to be an amazing find because you could use it for so many things. At one time, it's was used for weaving in clothing, insulation, mixed with cement for building, in flooring, etc. It was a great find until it was directly linked to mesothelioma.

    Now, since we are educated on what it causes, we don't use it the way we used it before. But, lots of us still have it in our homes (popcorn ceilings, flooring, walls, insulation, etc.).

    When was asbestos used?

    You have a very high chance of having it if you live in a house that was built before 1975.

    When we bought our house, we had never heard of asbestos, or if we had, we had no idea what it really was. When we were walking around the house to decide if we wanted to purchase it, our realtor made an off-hand comment that we might want to test the popcorn ceiling before we start renovating.

    Asbestos Testing Cost

    We bought the house and then decided to have the popcorn tested. We didn't do any research on what a homeowner could/couldn't do back in 2012. We called the asbestos testing service that our realtor recommended. The associate wetted three spots on the ceiling, in three different rooms and scraped the samples into different plastic bags. From there, he sent the bags to an asbestos testing lab. We paid $120 for the asbestos testing and lab fee. It took about a week to get our results and unfortunately, we did have asbestos in the drywall ceilings we tested.

    Now that we are more educated with asbestos in drywall and what it involves, we have tested asbestos ourselves. It's definitely an easy project and one that I would recommend doing yourselves to save some money.

    No matter who does the asbestos test, you can expect to see a lab report with the results.

    5% Chrysotile - Acoustic Texture (Our Results on the First Test)

    asbestos testing pricing

    This is one sheet of a 5 page spread, but, you get the idea. Under the column "Asbestos Content" you see "5% Chrysotile - Acoustic Texture." That means there is 5% asbestos in the popcorn ceiling. I think it's common to wonder does 2% chrysotile require abatement or, in our case, does 5% chrysotile require abatement. Again, I really think that's a personal question but I did find this article to be helpful if you want to learn more.

    When our house had the popcorn ceiling installed, workers just poured a bit of the asbestos into the mixture for the sprayer. At that time, it was totally normal to do that. It acted like a bonding agent and was basically thought to be a perfect ingredient.

    Back to the results. The results came back positive. Now what do you do?

    Deciding for Asbestos Abatement or Not

    You can leave it as-is or have asbestos remediation done (or abate it yourself - depending on your state law and how comfortable you are with this).

    We chose to leave it as-is originally. Then, a few years later, we noticed the popcorn texture in our bathroom ceiling was peeling off (probably due to my excessively scalding hot showers; or at least this is what Luke says).  This is definitely where you want to have the asbestos remediation done. The fibers in the ceiling can be disturbed and go airborne and this would cause asbestos exposure. You can't see them, smell them or feel them. You'd never know they were there, but they are dangerous nonetheless.

    So, the bathroom needed to be done. It's this bathroom by the way:

    Asbestos testing in bathroom showing small bathroom

    When we started renovating our kitchen, the goal was to spray more popcorn texture on the ceiling where we took down cabinets (to keep the small makeover budget friendly). We didn't want to do this, but we didn't want to shell out money to take down the ceiling either.

    So, we tried spraying popcorn ceiling texture to match the original asbestos ceiling and it didn't match. Here's a few phone pictures for you to see the differences in ceiling texture and color.

    Popcorn Ceiling Texture

    The white part is the part with asbestos and the cream tinged popcorn is where we tried to match.

    Sprayed Popcorn Ceiling Texture and details on removing asbestos drywall

    As the kitchen renovation progressed, it honestly started to exceed our expectations and we just couldn't leave the ceiling as it was. We knew we needed to shell out some money to have asbestos abatement contractors get rid of the ceiling for us.

    Asbestos Removal Cost

    So, let's talk about our options. Well, in the state of MO, a homeowner can remove their own asbestos. There are rules around it, of course, and rules about disposing of it, but the homeowner can abate it themselves. After reading through multiple state's guidelines and removal processes, we (or mainly me - Luke isn't quite as conservative about this particular issue) decided that we would have the asbestos drywall removed professionally.

    The next step was to get asbestos removal cost breakdowns from a few companies.

    We had three quotes done for our kitchen back in 2016. Here's one of them (I took out all the contact details for privacy):

    Asbestos abatement contract with details on removing asbestos drywall

    How much does asbestos abatement cost?

    An average cost to to remove asbestos is $11-$11.50 a square foot.

    In our kitchen, we got three quotes and there was an $1800 swing in prices between the three quotes, but the average cost was $11 per square foot.

    All three of the contractors came and said it would be hard to scrape the ceilings in the kitchen because it had been painted and was basically well-adhered. The bathroom had a possibility of being scraped and still having the drywall intact.

    What does this mean exactly? Well, this means that the drywall ceiling itself would have to be removed in the kitchen and dining room. This would incur an extra cost because we would have to have all new drywall.

    In 2020, we had part of our basement ceiling removed because it contained asbestos as well. The asbestos remediation was just over $11.25 a square foot.

    How to Prep For Asbestos Removal in Drywall

    In our basement, it was easy because there wasn't attic space above the ceiling. All we did was remove everything in the basement so that the asbestos abatement professionals could come in and tape everything off.

    In our kitchen, dining, eat-in and bathroom, it was a completely different story and was quite the process.

    • Remove all insulation above ceiling (if they are going to be removing drywall). *We had this quoted out and it was $750 to have this done.
    • Remove all lights
    • Remove all decor, furniture, curtains, etc.

    Just prepping for the whole process was insane. In hindsight, we probably should have just paid the $750 to have the insulation removed and put back in, but I'm cheap. We were already spending so much that I just couldn't stomach another thing.

    The asbestos abatement company came in and enclosed the whole space (seriously everything!) with heavy duty plastic. They used two layers and it took most of the day, for the two days, just to prep the area.

    Here's a peek at what it looked like from the top of the basement stairs when we got the basement ceiling abated.

    asbestos abatement in basement for ceiling

    Both times we had the professional asbestos removal done, it was an all-day event where they ran negative air machines and more. Because everything was in a capsule, I didn't see much of what was going on. Everything was bagged up and taken off for proper disposal.

    After we got all the work done upstairs, we had a drywall company come in and redo all the ceilings. They had to hang drywall and finish it.

    Cost To Replace Drywall Ceiling

    You pay for drywall finishing based on what type of ceiling texture you want. I wanted smooth finishes. So, of course, that requires the most work; therefore costing the most. For the kitchen (2016), we paid about $2.10 a square foot to finish the drywall. In the basement (a few years later), we paid about $3.20 per square foot.

    We had been quoted 3-4 days for the drywall company to do their work. But, it turned into 7 days. The mud didn't dry the way it was supposed to, so we ended up needing extra coats on the seams and the whole ceiling.

    By this time, we had been out of a kitchen for 10 days. Dust was everywhere from the sandings and I was getting extremely annoyed by living out of a cooler (and eating out!).

    I kept reminding myself that the end was going to be great, and it was. After two coats of primer and two coats of paint, we arrived here:

    Asbestos in sheetrock and the cost of removing asbestos

    So great, right? I didn't touch up the shadows in photoshop or anything, so you are seeing the shadows. In person though, it's smooth and gorgeous.

    All in all, we are thrilled with our choices and thankful that we don't have to worry about the drywall asbestos any longer! Let me know if you have any other questions regarding our asbestos removal cost or drywall installation. I'm so happy we were able to abate the asbestos and hope that you find it a fit to do so as well.

    Details on Asbestos Testing and Drywall Install Cost

    Learn how to test for Asbestos yourself and then get a walk-through of what drywall installation will look like below.

    Asbestos Testing

    I’m sharing how to do asbestos testing, what supplies are needed for mail-in asbestos testing and the cost.

    Drywall Install Cost

    How much does it cost to install drywall? I’m sharing our exact drywall cost in our basement, and what was included in the drywall cost per square foot.

    Asbestos Removal Cost : Pin For Later

    Sharing asbestos removal cost and sheetrock price details
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    More Home Renovation

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    Reader Interactions



    Comments

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    1. [email protected]

      March 22, 2016 at 7:04 am

      Oh my gosh yes!!!! So great! Scary and expensive to get there but so worth it. I hate popcorn ceilings.

      Reply
    2. JoAZ

      March 27, 2016 at 12:45 pm

      I want to thank you for this post and the one re the cabinets. Pricing for work is such an issue for us I know we paid too much to have the house painted next time we'll know better, I've learned get 3 quotes it's well worth it. Love your blog and the fact that it is real one that I can relate to. So thanks for all of your hard work regrading the blog it's appreciated and enjoyed. Happy Easter!

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        March 28, 2016 at 12:55 pm

        So glad you are finding them useful! Hope you had a terrific Easter yourself.

        Reply
    3. Mark

      June 26, 2017 at 9:00 am

      I’m with you….just like marble, I would put the love into these because they would make me so happy!

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        July 11, 2017 at 9:10 am

        Exactly! Thanks Mark!

        Reply
    4. Carolann

      June 27, 2017 at 8:09 pm

      Wow, beautiful transformation! Love your kitchen!

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        July 11, 2017 at 9:09 am

        Thank you!!

        Reply
    5. Ashley Maxwell

      September 14, 2017 at 9:09 pm

      Thanks for your comment to have asbestos removed by a professional if you don't feel comfortable doing it on your own. I didn't know that there are labs that will test it for you. My husband and I have never had to deal with asbestos before, so we are considering a professional to remove it for us.

      Reply
    6. Chris @ Best Remodeling

      October 27, 2017 at 1:26 pm

      I just love your kitchen! Obviously I'm not the only one... And it's very thoughtful of you to put this detailed pricing/estimate information up, takes so much guess work out for people in the same situation you were in 🙂 Thanks for the post!

      Reply
    7. Joanna

      February 27, 2018 at 1:37 pm

      Forgive me if I missed this in your post—but, is that the cost to remove the popcorn and replace the drywall for your entire house, or is it just for the kitchen?

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        March 11, 2018 at 8:36 pm

        This is the cost for the kitchen, dining room and eat-in kitchen.

        Reply
    8. Kristen

      June 21, 2018 at 2:31 pm

      Hi!! Thank you for this very helpful post! I’m having trouble figuring out what your total cost was for everything. Am I missing that somewhere? We just had a quote done for our entire house, including muding and repainting the ceilings and it was just under $7000. GULP. For reference our home is about 3000 ft.². I just wondered what your thoughts were on that number. I can try and read your blog post later when I am not on my phone, maybe I will find your total cost. Thanks for your help!

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        June 25, 2018 at 3:09 pm

        Hi Kristen,

        My situation was a bit different because all of my drywall had to be replaced. All of that being said, I'd say the $7000 for all the work for 3000 sq foot is very fair.

        Reply
    9. Ashley Maxwell

      July 27, 2018 at 4:34 pm

      It's nice that you said that asbestos removal should be done by a professional. It's also nice that you said that they should do testing before they remove anything as well. My husband and I are looking into a professional asbestos testing services.

      Reply
    10. KAITLIN

      September 15, 2018 at 4:45 am

      thank you so much for writing this post! We're under contract on a 1956 home in which we'd like to do some renovations to. It's very helpful to see an estimated cost for removal prior to moving forward with the home. Thanks again for posting!

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        September 18, 2018 at 10:43 am

        No problem, thanks for letting me know! Good luck on your new home.

        Reply
    11. Nick

      December 30, 2018 at 1:57 pm

      Thank you so much for writing about this! Will be doing something similar soon. Reading the comments it sounds like your guys scraped the ceiling in the bathroom (vs. taking the drywall out entirely)? Did you leave any popcorn ceiling up anywhere in the house or did you have it all taken out?

      Reply
      • Ashley Mayes

        January 01, 2019 at 9:29 am

        Hi Nick,

        Actually, they removed the drywall in the bathroom as well. Our drywall ceilings had all been painted over and when you do that, it's just less labor-intensive (usually) to remove completely. We still have popcorn ceilings everywhere else in the house (minus the little bathroom, dining room, kitchen and eat-in kitchen). We would love to have all the asbestos taken out but it's expensive so it's a bit further down on the wish list.

        Reply

    Trackbacks

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      […] so we had them put one in so that we could inspect the attic area. Then, earlier this year, we had asbestos removed and new drywall put back […]

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      November 28, 2016 at 2:23 pm

      […] Asbestos Removal and Drywall Install (all the details including cost) / DIY Spice Drawer Organizer / Wood Flooring Decision […]

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    3. All The Details On Cost for Replacing Gutters - Bigger Than the Three of Us says:
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