Building things that weren't there
Painting & Drywall
You take a rough shell and make it a room. Hanging, finishing, texture, prime, paint. Drywall finishing in particular is a genuine craft that looks simple from outside and is not, and the people who are actually good at it never lack work.
A day in it
- Hang board all morning on a new build. Two of us, lifts for the ceilings.
- Screws set right — not through the paper, not proud.
- Tape and first coat starts the next day and the coats build from there.
- Sand between coats. Light held flat against the wall shows everything.
- Afternoon on a repaint across town. Cut in, roll, cut in.
- Cut lines are where a painter's reputation lives.
- Clean the brushes properly or buy new ones every month.
What it pays
- Starting out
- $37,810
- Median
- $58,140
- Experienced
- $101,380
The figures above are drywall and ceiling tile installers (SOC 47-2081). Painters, construction and maintenance (SOC 47-2141) are a separate code and those figures are still being verified. We will print them when they are checked.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 (national). Starting out = 10th percentile. Median = 50th. Experienced = 90th. Annual. Georgia figures to be added alongside national. SOC 47-2081. Real numbers only — never estimated, never rounded up.
How you get in
- —Hired with no experience. Along with carpentry, the most open door on this list.
- —Level 5 finishing and spray application are the skills that separate pay grades.
- —Commercial and industrial coatings pay well above residential repaint.
- —The Mustard Seed covers training, sprayer certification, and your first kit.
What you need before you start
- —Dust and repetition. Sanding is most of finishing.
- —Ladders and stilts.
- —Steadiness — cut lines are done freehand and everybody sees them.
Someone doing it
Photograph, first name, age, and three or four sentences in their own words — to be supplied.
What it turns into
Crew lead, then your own painting company — one of the fastest businesses on this list to start. Industrial coatings and specialty finishes are the high end.
Want to talk to somebody doing this?
Two fields. A person reads it and texts you back.