Commercial
Commercial Drywall
Tenant finish-out, office and retail build-outs scheduled around business hours.
- Pricing
- Estimated after a walkthrough and drawing review
- Timeline
- Phased to the tenant schedule
How commercial drywall differs from residential
The material is the same. Almost nothing else is. Commercial work is governed by approved drawings rather than by conversation, inspected at stages rather than at the end, and scheduled around a tenant who is usually still trading.
The practical consequence is that sequence matters more than speed. A rated wall that gets closed up before its inspection comes back open again, and a partition framed before the ceiling grid is coordinated gets moved. Most commercial overruns are coordination failures, not production failures.
Metal stud framing
Commercial partitions are framed in light-gauge steel rather than timber. Studs run 25 and 20 gauge for non-load-bearing partitions; 16 and 14 gauge where the wall carries structural load, which requires stamped engineering rather than a contractor’s judgement.
Two details separate framing that performs from framing that cracks. The first is deflection track at the head of the wall, which lets the structure above move without transferring that movement into the partition. The second is anchoring: track fixed to concrete slab with powder-actuated fasteners or concrete screws at the spacing the code and the manufacturer specify, not at the spacing that seems adequate.
Fire-rated assemblies
A fire rating is a property of an assembly, not of a board. The UL design named in the approved drawings specifies everything — board type and thickness, layer count, stud gauge and spacing, fastener pattern, joint treatment, and what happens on each face. Substituting any part of it voids the rating for the whole wall.
One-hour rated demising walls between tenancies are the common case, built with 5/8 inch Type X. Two-hour assemblies come up at corridors, shafts and occupancy separations. What the project needs is a drawing question, settled before material is ordered.
Assembly elements that get inspected
| Element | Why it is checked |
|---|---|
| Board type and layer count | Defines the rating with the rest of the assembly |
| Fastener type and spacing | Holds the assembly together under fire load |
| Joint treatment both faces | An untreated face is not a rated face |
| Firestopping at penetrations | One unsealed penetration defeats the wall |
| Deflection track at head | Allows structural movement without cracking |
Firestopping deserves particular attention because it is where ratings most often fail in practice. Every pipe, conduit and cable tray crossing a rated wall needs a listed firestop system matched to that assembly and that penetrant. A generic sealant around a conduit is not a firestop, and inspectors look for exactly this.
Acoustic separation
Sound control between tenancies is usually a specification item rather than an afterthought, and it is structural rather than material. Rigid connections between the two faces of a wall carry sound straight through regardless of what board is on them.
That means the effective measures are decoupling the faces with resilient channel or staggered studs, filling the cavity with acoustic insulation, and sealing the flanking paths at penetrations and at the floor and head junctions. An unsealed gap at the bottom track undoes a considerable amount of assembly performance. Board products marketed for sound damping help, but they are the smallest lever of the four.
Working around an operating business
Phasing is the normal arrangement on occupied space. Work runs after hours, over weekends, or zone by zone behind temporary partitions, with dust containment and negative air so the trading area stays usable the following morning.
That is coordinated with the property manager and the general contractor before the schedule is agreed, along with access, lift use, material staging and debris routes. Retail and medical tenancies usually carry the tightest constraints; office finish-out is more flexible.
The build-out sequence
- Pre-construction walkthrough, measurement, drawing review and schedule alignment with the GC or project manager
- Metal stud framing, deflection track, soffits and dropped ceilings
- Board hung to the specified assembly
- Firestopping at penetrations, inspected before cover
- Tape, float and finish to specification
- Walkthrough against the drawings before handover
Office and retail work around Shenandoah and the I-45 corridor tends to be tenant finish-out on a fixed handover date, and the same is true through The Woodlands. Repair work for property managers in Humble runs differently, in short visits between tenancies rather than as a single project.
Materials and specifications
What we work with
- Five-eighths Type X board
- Light-gauge steel studs at twenty-five and twenty gauge
- Heavy-gauge steel studs at sixteen and fourteen gauge
- UL-listed fire-rated assemblies
- Acoustic insulation and resilient channel
- Fiberglass-reinforced impact-resistant panels
What it has to meet
- One-hour rated demising assemblies where code requires
- Deflection track at the head of partition walls
- Level 4 or Level 5 finish per specification
- Firestop systems listed for the penetrations they seal
- Load-bearing steel stud walls require stamped engineering
How this work is usually covered
- Commercial workmanship terms are normally set in the subcontract rather than by trade custom, and vary with the general contractor's own obligations.
- A rated assembly's performance depends on the listed design being built as specified, which is why rated work is inspected before it is covered.
That describes the trade generally. For what applies to your job specifically, ask for it in writing before work starts — from us or from anyone else quoting.