Drywall Installation and Repair in West Jordan, Utah

Estimates are free and come with no obligation. Call (801) 735-8491 or send the estimate form with your name, phone, email, the service and a few lines about the job.

How West Jordan's 1970s building boom shapes drywall work here

In 1970 West Jordan was a farm town with 1,060 homes. The 1980 Census counted 7,092 and the 1990 Census 11,640, so the city's housing grew almost sevenfold in one decade and kept climbing from there. The Census Bureau's latest five-year survey counts about 37,900 homes.

About one home in three was built in the 1970s or 1980s, and close to a quarter in the 1990s, the single busiest decade. Fewer than 5 percent are older than 1970, so plaster and lath walls are rare in West Jordan. What you find is drywall from the boom years and, in the older part of that stock, sprayed ceiling textures that may need testing before anyone scrapes them.

Popcorn ceilings and Utah's asbestos rule in pre-1992 homes

Sprayed ceiling texture can contain asbestos, and Utah's Division of Air Quality treats any job that disturbs more than three square feet of building material as a renovation. For a house or a building of up to four units, what has to be inspected depends on when it was built:

• Built before January 1, 1981: every building material in the work area.
• Built from 1981 through 1991: spray-on or painted-on ceiling treatments, plus vinyl flooring and its mastic, cement siding and roofing, duct and furnace insulation or tape, and vermiculite.
• Built in 1992 or later: no inspection before a renovation.

How the asbestos rule plays out in West Jordan homes

About 37 percent of West Jordan's homes were built before 1990, and roughly one in five before 1980, so the rule touches a large part of the city. An owner who lives in the home can do the work without an inspection, but the state says that exception ends as soon as any contractor is hired for any part of the job, hauling included.

If the test finds asbestos, a company holding Utah's asbestos certification has to remove it before drywall work starts. If it comes back clean, scraping can go ahead as a normal drywall job. Either way the finish is the same: a skim coat over the scraped surface and old joints, then a new texture or a smooth ceiling ready for paint. The state also warns that painting a sprayed ceiling can seal it so it can't be wetted and removed safely later, which is worth knowing before you roll paint over one.

What West Jordan's basement finish permit list asks for

West Jordan's Building and Safety division keeps a one-page list of common code items for basement finish permits, last updated in January 2025. The plan shows the finished square footage, each room's use, door and window sizes, bedroom egress and the electrical panel. These items decide how the drywall goes up:

• Ceilings at least 7 feet high, and surface-mounted lights may not hang below that line. Ducts and beams often need a soffit planned around it.
• R-13 insulation in exterior walls and in any wall between heated and unheated space.
• 2x4 non-bearing walls no more than 24 inches on center, on treated or redwood bottom plates fastened within 12 inches of each end and every 32 inches between.
• Fire blocking at the top of walls framed in front of the foundation, at soffits and dropped ceilings, and full height every 10 feet in walls that aren't drywalled on both sides. Half-inch drywall is one of the allowed materials.
• Bedroom window wells that reach at least 36 inches out from the window, with a fixed ladder in any well deeper than 44 inches.
• Under a stairway, no extra blocking beside the stringer when the space below is finished with at least half-inch drywall, as the handout's drawings show. That board has to be hung and taped properly.
• Framing plans and structural details for any structural change.

Repairs and texture matching on 1970s to 1990s walls

A house from the boom years has usually taken some damage: doorknob holes, cut-outs left after a plumbing or wiring fix, a stain under an upstairs bathroom, or a crack running up from the corner of a door. Each repair starts with the cause. A leak gets fixed before the ceiling is patched, and a crack that keeps reopening means something in the framing is still moving.

Matching texture is most of the skill. Orange peel and knockdown are common wall finishes, and ceilings may be sprayed or hand-textured. The patch is taped and coated flat, then texture is built up to the same size and spacing as the wall around it and feathered past the edges so the repair disappears under paint. When the old texture is unusual, a test on scrap board comes first.

Moving or removing a wall in an older West Jordan house

West Jordan asks for framing plans and structural details with the permit whenever the structure changes. When a wall comes out, it leaves a strip of bare ceiling, a gap in the flooring and two torn ends where it met the side walls. Closing that up means blocking or new studs from your framer, then new board, taped joints and a ceiling texture blended across old and new work. A new wall runs the same steps the other way.

How to get a drywall estimate in West Jordan

Call (801) 735-8491 or fill in the estimate form. Tell us which rooms, roughly how much wall or ceiling is involved, what texture you have, and the year the house was built if you know it. The year tells us whether an asbestos test belongs in the plan.

The price depends on the square footage of board, ceiling height, the level of finish, how much texture matching is needed, and for a popcorn ceiling, what the test shows. There is no charge for the estimate and no obligation to go ahead.

Drywall questions from West Jordan homeowners

Do I need a permit to finish a basement in West Jordan?

Yes. The Building and Safety division issues the permit after reviewing a plan with the finished square footage, labeled rooms, door and window sizes, bedroom egress and the electrical panel location.

How do I know if my popcorn ceiling has asbestos?

Only a lab test can tell. Utah's Division of Air Quality says not every sprayed ceiling contains asbestos, but in a home built before 1992, an inspection is required before a contractor disturbs it.

Can you match the texture on my walls after a repair?

In most cases, yes. Orange peel, knockdown and most sprayed ceilings can be matched by adjusting the mix, the spray and the timing of the knockdown, then blending past the patch. Painting the whole wall section hides the last of the difference.

Why does the crack over my doorway keep coming back?

Door and window corners are where framing movement shows first. Framing lumber shrinks as it dries, and a crack filled with compound alone will reopen. A lasting repair opens the crack, tapes it and coats it wide. If it still returns, have the cause checked.

How do I get a free estimate in West Jordan?

Call (801) 735-8491 or send the estimate form with your name, phone, email, the service and a short description. Estimates cost nothing and carry no obligation.