Drywall Contractor in Shawnessy, AB — Poly-B Patching, Basements and Ceilings

Calgary Drywall Doctor is a drywall contractor serving Shawnessy in SW Calgary. Shawnessy sits just south of Fish Creek Park, and most of its homes were built from the late 1980s through the 1990s. They are two-storeys, bungalows and bi-levels with knockdown or stipple ceilings, bonus rooms in the later ones, and a lot of still-unfinished basements. Homes of this age in Calgary also share one specific issue: Poly-B plumbing. When it gets replaced, the plumber leaves access holes through the whole house and we come in to patch, tape and texture them so no one can tell. Along with basements, truss cracks and texture matching, that is the bulk of our Shawnessy work. We have patched enough of these houses to know where the plumber's holes usually land: behind the tub, under the kitchen sink, in the furnace room ceiling and along the main stack. Written quote first, dust control throughout, raking-light check at the end.

What We Tend to Find in Shawnessy Homes

Shawnessy homes are 25 to 40 years old, and the drywall issues line up with that age.

• Poly-B repipe access holes. Grey Poly-B pipe was used in Calgary homes from roughly 1978 to 1995, which covers most of Shawnessy. A repipe means 20 to 40 holes in walls and ceilings, often in finished rooms. We patch them all, tape, and match the texture.
• Truss uplift cracks. The seasonal crack where the ceiling meets the top of the wall. It opens in dry winter air and closes in summer. Re-taping and floating the joint is the fix that lasts.
• Unfinished basements. Many Shawnessy basements are still bare studs or have a 1990s partial finish. We moisture-check the slab and foundation walls before boarding.
• Stipple ceilings in the earliest homes. Late-1980s ceilings may have been textured before 1990. Those should be lab-tested before scraping or sanding, since older textures can contain asbestos.
• Nail pops and corner-bead cracks. Chinook humidity swings keep working at fasteners and metal bead in homes this age.
• Bathroom and kitchen water damage. Original caulking and fixtures are past their life. Leaks leave stained and soft board that should be replaced, not painted.

Two more things about Shawnessy homes. Bonus rooms over the garage in the 1990s two-storeys get the truss uplift crack worse than other rooms, because the trusses there are long and the room is often cooler and drier in winter. And a lot of Shawnessy garages are being finished now, which means boarding walls and ceiling and using 5/8" Type X on everything shared with the house. Both are routine work for us.

Drywall Services in Shawnessy

We offer every service on this site in Shawnessy. These are the pages most relevant here:

Drywall Repair covers holes, cracks and dents, and Poly-B Drywall Repair is the specific page for repipe access holes. We patch a whole house in a day or two and use Texture Matching test patches so the repairs disappear into the existing knockdown.

Basement Drywall is our second-biggest Shawnessy service. We board, tape and finish developed basements with mould-resistant board where it helps and 5/8" Type X around the furnace room. For a rental suite, Legal Suite Drywall explains the fire separation the City of Calgary requires.

Ceiling Repair fixes truss uplift cracks, sag and water stains. Popcorn Ceiling Removal takes a tested stipple ceiling to flat and prime-ready.

Drywall Installation covers new walls for renovations, garage boarding and main-floor changes. Drywall Finishing brings older walls up to Level 4 or Level 5 before a repaint.

Not sure what you are looking at? Send photos. We will tell you what we would do and quote only what the job needs.

We also serve Bridlewood to the west and Evergreen to the northwest. The full quadrant is on our SW Calgary page.

How a Shawnessy Drywall Job Goes

A Poly-B patch job is the Shawnessy call we get most, so here is how that runs.

1. Call after the plumber. Once the repipe is done and inspected, send us photos or book a visit. We count the holes and note the textures in each room.
2. Written, itemized quote. Number of patches, which rooms, texture matching, and whether we are priming. Most jobs are booked within 2 to 3 days.
3. Protection. Floors covered, furniture wrapped, zip walls where we are sanding, HEPA vac on every sander.
4. Patching. Backing strips and new board in each hole, then tape and three coats of compound with drying time between.
5. Texture. Test patches on a sample board, matched to each room, then sprayed and knocked down to blend.
6. Walkthrough. Checked under raking light, cleaned up, and covered by a written workmanship warranty.

A whole-house Poly-B patch job usually takes three to five days including drying time between coats and texture. A basement takes about a week for the drywall portion. Basements and ceiling repairs follow the same steps, with a site visit and moisture check up front for basements.

Why Shawnessy Homeowners Call Calgary Drywall Doctor

We have been a Calgary drywall contractor since 2004 and have completed 500+ projects, including a lot of Poly-B patching and basement work in the late-1980s and 1990s communities across the south. We know the textures these homes have and how to match them. We are licensed, WCB-covered and insured. Every job gets a free, written, itemized quote before we start. Dust stays contained, the finish is checked under raking light, and the work is backed by a written workmanship warranty. For a Shawnessy repipe patch, basement or ceiling crack, call 587-417-5252.

We keep the job predictable. The quote tells you which days we are patching, which days we are texturing, and when the sanders come out. Crews keep set hours and clean up each afternoon so the house stays livable. If a painter is following us, we coordinate the handoff and hand over a prime-ready surface on the day we promised.