Reference data
Drywall levels of finish
What each of the five levels includes, what it is suitable for, and how much compound and labour it takes.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Last reviewed 2026-09-16
What is the difference between a Level 4 and a Level 5 drywall finish?
A skim coat over the entire surface. Level 4 finishes the joints and the fasteners and leaves the board paper exposed between them; Level 5 covers everything in a thin layer of compound so that the whole wall absorbs paint identically.
That difference is invisible under flat paint and unmistakable under gloss, or anywhere a window throws light along the wall rather than at it.
| Level | What it includes | Compound | Finish labour | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 2 | Tape embedded and one coat over tape and fasteners. Tool marks and ridges are acceptable. | 0.12 gal | ×0.5 | Garages, warehouses, and anywhere that will be covered by tile. |
| Level 3 | Two coats over tape and fasteners, no tool marks. Not meant to be seen under a smooth flat paint. | 0.17 gal | ×0.75 | Heavy texture, or a surface that will be wallpapered with a heavy paper. |
| Level 4 | Three coats, sanded smooth. The residential standard, and what almost every quote means without saying so. | 0.22 gal | ×1 | Flat paint, light texture, most residential decoration. |
| Level 5 | Level 4 plus a skim coat of compound over the entire surface, so paper, joints and fasteners all absorb identically. | 0.34 gal | ×1.45 | Gloss and semi-gloss paint, dark colours, and any wall raked by side light. |
Why this table matters more than any other on this site
Every other figure here describes a material. This one describes an agreement — and it is the agreement that almost every residential drywall job skips.
A quote that says “drywall, hung and finished” has not said what finished means. Both parties assume they know, they assume different things, and the disagreement only becomes visible when the paint goes on and the light is wrong. By then the remedy is skim coating a finished, painted wall, which costs more than doing it right would have.
Which level you actually want
Level 4 for flat and matte paint, and for anything textured. This is the residential default and it is genuinely adequate for most of a house.
Level 5 for satin, semi-gloss and gloss; for dark and saturated colours, which show everything; and for any wall that catches side light from a window or a wall light. It takes about half again as much compound and roughly 45 per cent more finishing labour.
Level 3 and below only where something else covers the wall — tile, heavy wallpaper, a garage that will never be decorated.
The nine words
“Finished to Level 4”, or Level 5, written into the quote before board is ordered. It costs nothing, it takes a sentence, and it removes the most common dispute in interior finishing.
Using it
The drywall calculator prices all five levels side by side on your own room, so you can see what the choice is actually worth before making it.
Send this to whoever is paying
The link carries your measurements, so whoever opens it sees the same numbers you are looking at — and you can come back to it yourself tomorrow with the delivery note in front of you.
Plain links, no tracking scripts. Nothing here reports back that you shared it.
About the author
Pablo Ruiz Quintero — Editor
Editor of MaterialsEstimator. Decides which documents count as a source, what every default value is, and where the line sits between what the reader parses and what the engines compute.
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