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A service of Revolution Contractors LLC
Drywall Repair in St. Petersburg, FL
Holes, cracks, water damage, popped seams. Plaster ceiling repair on 1950s housing stock. Texture-matched. Same-week scheduling.
FL CRC1331628 · FL CGC1522463 · Mon–Fri 6:30 – 5:30
FL #CRC1331628 · #CGC1522463
Backed by Revolution Contractors LLC
Licensed & Insured
Half-day patch to plaster ceiling.
From a single knuckle-through-the-wall to whole-room texture-matched ceiling repair — drywall and plaster under one Florida GC license.
Contractors On Call handles drywall and plaster repair across Pinellas — from a single hole patch to texture-matched ceiling repair on St. Pete's 1950s housing stock. Licensed general contractors, so if a patch reveals deeper damage that needs a permit, we keep going instead of handing you off.
What we fix
Holes, cracks, water damage, plaster.
Texture matching (knockdown, orange peel, smooth, popcorn), full sheet replacement, pre-1960 plaster ceilings.
How much
$150–$500 for a single patch.
Multi-hole or water-damage cutback $500–$1,500. Plaster ceiling scales with size. $75/hr, one-hour minimum.
How fast
Half-day for most patches.
24–48 hour written quote from your photo. 2-hour response during business hours.
Licensed
Florida CRC1331628 + CGC1522463.
Full GL and workers' comp through Revolution Contractors LLC. Call (727) 258-3700.
Plaster ceilings, not just drywall
Plaster ceilings, original wood windows, terrazzo floors — the 1950s repairs other handymen call "not their thing." We work on them regularly through the parent side of the business, so they aren't a specialty upcharge for us. Plumbing and electrical incidental to that work get routed to our trusted licensed trade partners.
When the job grows, we pull the permit
If the job grows or needs a permit, we pull it. A handyman can't. We can — same crew, no second contractor to coordinate.
We're licensed GCs who do small jobs
We're licensed Florida general contractors (CRC1331628 + CGC1522463) who do small jobs. Most handymen aren't licensed. We are.
Backed by Revolution Contractors
A division of Revolution Contractors LLC. Same shop, same license, same insurance — routed to the small-job side.
What we fix
- · Holes — nail-pop through knuckle-through-the-wall
- · Cracks — settlement, stress, seasonal
- · Popped seams and corner bead
- · Water-damage patches (post-leak, post-storm)
- · Ceiling repair — drywall and plaster
- · Plaster crack repair on original construction
- · Texture matching — knockdown, orange peel, smooth, popcorn, skip-trowel
- · Full sheet replacement
- · Corner-bead damage and replacement
- · Skim-coat over damaged wall for a clean paint surface
The 1950s plaster-ceiling problem
St. Pete has a lot of pre-1960 housing stock — Old Northeast, Historic Kenwood, Driftwood, Roser Park, and the mid-century pockets across mid-Pinellas. Those homes usually have plaster ceilings and plaster walls over wood lath instead of drywall. The difference matters when you need a repair.
A drywall patch is a straightforward technique: cut out the damage, add framing if the hole is large, cut in a new piece of drywall, tape and mud the seams, texture, paint. A plaster ceiling repair is different work. You have to key the new material into the existing lath system, which usually means a two-coat process — a rough scratch-coat over the lath followed by a finish coat once the base has set. Skip the keying and the patch cracks out within a season. Skip the two-coat sequence and the finish surface telegraphs the repair line under paint.
Most St. Pete handymen refuse plaster ceilings or quote them as specialty work at a premium. We work on plaster routinely through the parent Revolution Contractors side of the business, so a plaster ceiling patch on Old Northeast isn't a specialty upcharge for us — it's regular work at a regular rate.
What tends to be behind the wall
When drywall damage isn't obviously accidental — you didn't just move a couch into it — there's usually something behind the wall causing it. The pattern of finds we see most often on St. Pete homes:
- · Active plumbing leak. Usually a supply line coming through the wall to a fixture, or a drain line rubbing on a stud where a nail nicked the copper decades ago. Slow leaks stain the drywall before they show at the floor.
- · Long-standing moisture from exterior failure. Failed roof flashing, a compromised window seal, or a wind-driven-rain path from a hurricane year. The interior stain shows up long after the exterior source is fixed or forgotten.
- · Rotted studs from an old event. Water damage from a plumbing leak 15 years ago, dried out, but the framing structure never got repaired. The drywall covers a soft stud that eventually can't hold fasteners.
- · Termite activity. Less common but real in Pinellas. Drywall damage on a wall shared with an exterior wood member (a beam pocket, an old built-in) can point to termite pressure that needs a pest inspection before we close the wall.
- · Electrical trouble. Loose wire connection at an outlet or switch, or a hot spot at a junction box. Discoloration of the drywall around a receptacle is a reason to stop and check.
If we find any of these behind a wall we're patching, we stop and show you. Plumbing and electrical scope is coordinated in-house or through our trusted licensed trade partners, depending on the work. Structural or framing scope stays under our GC license. We give you a written change-order before doing any of it.
Pricing — we send the price before we start
Send us a photo of the wall. We come back with a written price and a day-count, typically within 24 to 48 hours. No padded estimates, no bait-and-switch after we open the wall. If we find something behind the drywall that changes the scope, we stop and show you before doing extra work.
Rate is $75 an hour with a one-hour minimum. Most single-patch scopes land in the $150 to $500 range. Multi-hole patches, water-damage cutback, or plaster ceiling repair typically run $500 to $1,500. Full-room drywall replacement scales with room size and texture complexity.
Related small-job scopes
Drywall repair often overlaps with other finish scopes we handle. Some common pairings:
- · Drywall patch plus interior paint touch-up so the wall reads as one continuous surface, not a patched rectangle.
- · Wall repair plus trim or baseboard repair when the damage extends to the wood around it.
- · Multiple items grouped as a single punch list — most efficient economically since you're paying one truck-roll instead of several.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How long does a drywall patch take?
Most single-hole patches — a doorknob, a moved piece of furniture, a picture-hanger blowout — are half-day work start to finish, including cure time and touch-up paint. Bigger scopes — water-damage cutback with fresh drywall replacement, ceiling patches on plaster, multiple areas across a house — usually run a full day. Texture matching adds cure time between the compound and paint pass. On plaster ceilings the sequence is different — we key the new work into the existing lath, which adds time but produces a repair that lasts. You get the day-count with the written price.
Will the texture match?
Yes — knockdown, orange peel, smooth, popcorn, and light skip-trowel. Texture matching is a craft skill; the compound consistency, the spray pattern, the hopper-gun tip size, and the timing between coats all matter. If your existing paint has aged, we can feather the touch-up so the repaired area blends with the surrounding wall instead of looking like a rectangle of fresher paint.
Do you fix plaster ceilings?
Yes, and this is a specific thing to understand about St. Pete's older housing stock. Homes built before roughly 1960 usually have plaster over wood lath, not drywall. Repairing plaster is a different technique — you can't just cut in a piece of drywall and mud the seams. You have to key the new material into the existing lath, or the patch will crack out. Most handymen either refuse the work or do it wrong. We work on plaster regularly through the parent Revolution Contractors side of the business — Old Northeast, Historic Kenwood, Roser Park, Driftwood, and the mid-century houses in mid-Pinellas — so it's routine for us, not a specialty upcharge.
What if there's water damage behind the wall?
We stop and show you before doing extra work. Common finds: active plumbing leak (usually a supply line or a drain rub), long-standing moisture from failed exterior flashing, or the classic — a wet spot from an event years ago that dried but rotted the studs. If it needs a plumber or electrician, we route the trade work through our licensed partners under their license, get them scheduled, and pull the permit under our GC license for the coordinated fix if you want us to handle the whole thing. If the framing is compromised, we quote the framing repair separately and let you decide whether to include it. No sneaking scope onto an invoice.
Do I need to be home?
For a straightforward patch, no. Lockbox or property-manager access works. For bigger scopes we prefer you're reachable by phone so we can walk you through anything unexpected before making a decision that affects the price.
How much does drywall repair cost in St. Pete?
Most single-patch scopes land in the $150 to $500 range. Multi-hole patches, water-damage cutback with fresh sheet, or plaster-ceiling repair with texture matching typically run $500 to $1,500. Full-room drywall replacement scales with the room size and the complexity of the texture. Our billing rate is $75 an hour with a one-hour minimum. You get a written price before any work starts.
Do you match orange-peel texture from the 1980s?
Yes. Orange peel is the most common texture on 1980s and 1990s St. Pete homes and it's usually the easiest to match — the spray pattern is forgiving. Knockdown from the 1990s-2000s is a bit harder because the timing of the trowel pass matters. Both are routine for us. Popcorn ceiling is a special case (asbestos considerations on older homes) — we test before disturbing on any home built pre-1980.
What about historic districts — Old Northeast, Roser Park?
Interior drywall and plaster work in a historic district is generally not subject to Certificate of Appropriateness review, since it's not visible from the street. If your project extends to the exterior — a wall opening that changes a window or a soffit — that's a different review path and we'll flag it before starting. For the interior scope alone, we work in Old Northeast, Historic Kenwood, Driftwood, and Roser Park regularly.
See also
Send a photo of the wall. Get a price in 24-48 hours.
Half-day patch or full-day repair — we tell you which before we start.