How Much Does a Pre-Drywall Inspection Cost? [2024 Data]
Normal range: $100 - $350
Pre-drywall inspections cost $200 on average, but can increase depending on your home size.
A pre-drywall inspection is like seeing a live X-ray of your new home. It helps you make sure your house is built to the standards from the inside out. Depending on the size of the home, your location, and the company you work with, pre-drywall inspections can cost anywhere from $100 to $350. This isn’t a legally required inspection, but it has the potential to catch serious issues before the walls are installed, giving you a chance to fix them before they become homeowner headaches later on. Examine the cost factors of pre-drywall inspections, their importance when buying or renovating a home, and tips on finding the right pre-drywall inspector for you.
- Average
- $200
- Low end
- $75
- high end
- $430
What Does a Pre-Drywall Inspection Cover?
The purpose of a pre-drywall inspection is to get a complete look at the work done on a new construction home before finishing it with walls. The pre-drywall period refers to a home that hasn’t yet had the walls put in but has the main components already installed, including:
Doors
Windows
Foundation
Flooring
Plumbing
Electrical
Wall and roof structural components
Spotting issues with any of these elements becomes much harder after the walls are up.
Hear it from our customers:
"My home inspector was extremely thorough and professional. He found several significant defects that would have been very expensive to remediate post-drywall, as well as a large number of 'punchlist' type items...which could have been significant if they had not been fixed at this stage of construction. The fee was reasonable and paid for itself several times over with the repairs that were made."
— Paul O., Albuquerque, NM
Pre-Drywall Home Inspection Cost Factors
New builds are typically done by a number of contractors and companies, all of whom do different kinds of work that fit together like puzzle pieces. A pre-drywall inspection acts as the last check of this work, ensuring everything is looking good before installing drywall and moving in. So how much does a pre-drywall inspection cost? There are a number of factors that affect the grand total.
Home Size
Like with any other home inspection cost, bigger properties tend to command a bigger price. You can expect the pre-drywall inspection to be proportional to the home’s overall size—so an inspection on your new condo might only cost around $100, while a multistory, detached house could run you $350 or more.
| Home Size (Square Feet) | Average Pre-Drywall Inspection Cost |
|---|---|
| >1,000 | $100 |
| 1,000 | $150 |
| 1,500 | $200 |
| 2,000 | $250 |
| 2,500 | $300 |
| 3,000 | $350+ |
Home Location
Pre-drywall home inspections tend to be fairly predictable from city to city and state to state, but certain areas with a higher cost of living (think New York City, Los Angeles, or San Francisco) may demand higher prices. It’s worth doing a little shopping around to see what quotes you get from local pre-drywall inspectors.
Pre-Drywall Inspection Report
The most important takeaway from your pre-drywall home inspection is the final report that’s provided to you. Hopefully, this report states that nothing out of the ordinary is found, giving you the go-ahead to pop in your drywall with confidence. However, it may instead point out issues of concern. While no one wants to discover problems in their new build, this report at least gives you a chance to fix them before putting on the finishing touches. These issues may include:
Cut or missing support beams/joists
Leaking or poorly angled plumbing
Water temperature concerns
Appliance water drainage and drying issues
Improper HVAC installation
Incorrect electrical wiring to outlets, switches, and fixtures
Poorly fitted floorboards or floor joists
Misaligned foundations or walls
Leaks in the interior and exterior wall seals
A great pre-drywall inspection is thorough, and the home inspection report should reflect that. You can expect to pay more for professionals who value high-quality inspection and reporting.
Photos and Videos
It’s common for inspectors to take photos and videos for their own reference during a pre-drywall inspection. However, some inspectors will also provide these to the client as visualizing tools. Having these makes it much easier to know where wiring, plumbing, studs, and HVAC ducts are located, saving you the trouble of finding them again in case you need to make repairs or adjustments after putting the walls in. This service sometimes comes at an extra fee.
Household Systems
The complexity of a house’s components and systems can impact the overall cost of a pre-drywall inspection. Houses with more systems running through them (such as HVAC, natural gas, gas lines for appliances, etc.) will naturally take more time to properly inspect. This might result in a higher charge for the pre-drywall inspection.
DIY Pre-Drywall Inspections vs. Hiring an Expert
Pre-drywall inspections aren’t legally required—so does that mean you can simply perform your own inspection? For those with lots of knowledge of contract labor and the systems that go into building a home, it’s completely possible to do your own pre-drywall inspection to check the work done so far. However, a professional inspector provides a neutral, objective look, potentially spotting things that you might overlook.
While doing your own pre-drywall inspection saves you anywhere from $100 to $350, these savings should be weighed against the potential costs of missing an issue and being forced to deal with it later. Here are a few of the most costly issues a home inspector can help prevent:
| Home Issue | Average Cost Range to Fix |
|---|---|
| HVAC system failure | $100 – $13,000 |
| Plumbing system failure | $275 – $3,000 |
| Mold from water leaks or poor ventilation | $500 – $4,000 |
| Failing seals on windows or doors | $170 – $700 |
| Electrical system issues or failure | $700 – $15,000 |
| Warped, misaligned, or uneven flooring | $100 – $10,000 |
| Cracked, misaligned, or shifted foundation | $2,000 – $10,000 |
| Leaky basement | $10,000 – $50,000 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Preparing for a pre-drywall inspection will help your inspector be more thorough and give a more detailed look at your home and any possible issues. Make sure to schedule the inspection before your drywall (and preferably insulation) is installed, but after all ductwork, plumbing, electricals, and framing is in. You should also print a copy of your floor plan for your inspector, which they’ll use to make sure the build matches up. Lastly, try to clear the home of major obstacles (tools, large stacks of material, etc.) to allow the inspector access to the places they need to check.
Any good contract company will do their own post-work inspection and walkthrough with their clients, but you shouldn’t consider these a replacement for a third-party pre-drywall inspection. Even a small mistake or oversight can lead to big issues down the line—having an objective, neutral professional perform the inspection will help to make sure nothing is overlooked.
Part of a pre-drywall inspector’s job is ensuring all work done on the home is up to code. If they discover anything that doesn’t comply, these fixes may be required by the local government or by the lender financing the build. Aside from these mandatory post-inspection home repairs, it’s technically optional to make any other repairs—though it’s recommended that you’re proactive about them to avoid a bigger issue in the future.