Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers

Overview

Occupation Description Apply plasterboard or other wallboard to ceilings or interior walls of buildings. Apply or mount acoustical tiles or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings and walls of buildings to reduce or reflect sound. Materials may be of decorative quality. Includes lathers who fasten wooden, metal, or rockboard lath to walls, ceilings or partitions of buildings to provide support base for plaster, fire-proofing, or acoustical material.

• Wash concrete surfaces before mounting tile to increase adhesive qualities of surfaces, using washing soda and zinc sulfate solution.
• Cut metal or wood framing and trim to size, using cutting tools.
• Remove existing plaster, drywall, or paneling, using crowbars and hammers.
• Hang dry lines to wall moldings to guide positioning of main runners.
• Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
• Scribe and cut edges of tile to fit walls where wall molding is not specified.

Critical Thinking:
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Speaking:
Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Monitoring:
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Coordination:
Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Judgment and Decision Making:
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Time Management:
Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

• Wood Lather
• Metal Furrer
• Drywall Taper
• Metal Lather
• Drywall Metal Stud Worker

There were about 119,500 jobs for Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer in 2016 (in the United States). There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer. The BLS estimates 10,500 yearly job openings in this field.

The states with the most job growth for Drywall & Ceiling Tile Installer are Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. Watch out if you plan on working in Kentucky, Mississippi, or Vermont. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers make between $27,490 and $83,010 a year. Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers who work in Hawaii, Minnesota, or Washington, make the highest salaries.