Drywall repair pricing swings more than people expect, and it's rarely about the drywall itself — a sheet of half-inch drywall costs under $20. What you're paying for is the labor: cutting out damaged material, matching texture, taping and mudding in multiple coats with dry time between them, sanding, and priming so the patch disappears instead of showing through the paint.
Typical ranges by damage type
These are the ranges we actually quote, not rounded-off marketing numbers. Your final price depends on size and how many coats it takes to get a texture match.
- Small hole or dent (doorknob-sized or smaller): $275–$650
- Cracks (settling, nail pops, seam lines): $325–$850
- Ceiling damage: $450–$1,200
- Water stains (once the leak is actually fixed): $450–$1,400
- Popped tape or seam failure: $350–$900
- Texture mismatch repairs: $400–$1,100
What pushes a quote toward the high end
Size matters most — a repair larger than about 2 feet across roughly doubles the price of a small one, and multiple damaged areas in the same visit cost more than a single hole but usually less than treating them as separate jobs. Ceiling work runs about 20% higher than the same repair on a wall, since it's slower and messier to do overhead. Textured or knockdown ceilings, vaulted ceilings, and rooms with fresh paint you'll need to blend into all add time.
What's usually not included
A standard drywall quote covers the patch itself — cutting, hanging if needed, taping, mudding, sanding, and priming the repaired area. It typically doesn't include full-room repainting (we can quote that separately), and if the damage turns out to be from an active leak, we'll flag that before starting — the leak needs to be fixed first, or the same spot fails again.
The most accurate way to get a number for your specific repair is our instant estimate tool — it asks about the damage type, size, and location and gives you a preliminary range in under a minute, the same ranges listed above, calculated for your exact situation.