Commercial tenant improvement drywall, residential finishing, fire-rated assemblies, and Level 5 finish across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Board supply through final coat — all self-performed by Colin Hamilton's direct crew. No subcontracting. 48-hour mobilization. 30 years BC construction on every project.
SteelStud.ca delivers complete drywall services across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley — from board supply and hang through to tape, mud, and final finish. Our drywall operation is built on the same foundation as our steel stud framing business: direct crew, no subcontracting, and the 30-year BC construction experience of Colin Hamilton on every estimate and site visit.
Drywall is more than hanging board. The taping, mudding, and finishing quality determines what your painter sees, what your millwork installers work against, and ultimately what the end user lives or works in. Corners that are straight, joints that are invisible, surfaces that hold up under flat paint — these aren't accidents. They're the result of skilled, experienced crews working to a consistent standard. That's what SteelStud.ca delivers across 20 communities in the Lower Mainland.
Commercial TI drywall is our primary drywall market. Office fit-outs, retail build-outs, medical and dental clinics, tech campuses, restaurant TI — we've completed drywall scopes across every commercial TI category in Metro Vancouver. Our TI drywall packages include board supply and hang, tape and bedding, finish to specified level, corner bead throughout, ceiling-to-wall transitions, and coordination with your painter for primer and final coat scheduling.
For GCs managing commercial TI projects in Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, and across the Lower Mainland, bundling drywall with our steel stud framing through SteelStud.ca is the most efficient approach. Single-source framing and drywall eliminates the coordination gap between trades, provides one point of contact for both scopes, and reduces the scheduling risk that comes from managing two separate subcontractors with competing availability windows. See our Tenant Improvement page for full TI package details.
New home drywall, basement development, suite conversions, and renovation drywall across the Lower Mainland — we work with homeowners, renovation contractors, and custom home builders throughout Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Our residential drywall packages include complete board supply and hang, tape, all finish coats to specified level, and coordination with the painting and millwork trades that follow.
For residential basement suite applications, our drywall scope includes the fire-rated assembly installation required for suite separations under BC Building Code — correct Type X board, specified fastener patterns, and joint treatment that maintains the ULC assembly rating. This documentation is provided as part of every suite separation drywall scope, supporting your building inspection process in any Lower Mainland municipality.
The drywall industry uses a standardized five-level finish system (GA-214) that defines the degree of finishing for different applications. Specifying the correct finish level for your project is critical — under-specifying creates visible defects under paint; over-specifying adds unnecessary cost. Here's what each level means for Lower Mainland projects:
Level 1 is tape embedded in joint compound only — suitable for utility spaces, plenum areas above accessible ceilings, and spaces that will never be painted or occupied. Level 2 adds one coat of compound over the tape — acceptable as a substrate for ceramic tile, or for garages and warehouse spaces with minimal finish requirements. Level 3 is tape plus two coats — the standard for spaces that will receive heavy-texture finishes like skip-trowel or orange peel, or heavy-gauge wallcovering.
Level 4 is tape plus three coats with light sanding — the standard finish for most painted commercial and residential walls across the Lower Mainland. Suitable for flat to low-sheen paint finishes. This is the baseline specification for most commercial TI projects in Metro Vancouver. Level 5 adds a skim coat over the entire surface before painting — required for high-gloss paint, semi-gloss in critical lighting conditions, and premium residential or commercial spaces where any surface imperfection will be visible.
Our crews are equipped and trained for all five finish levels. For most commercial TI projects in Vancouver's Class A office market, Level 4 is standard. For premium residential renovations in West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Vancouver's high-end residential market, Level 5 is increasingly specified — and we deliver it correctly.
Fire-rated drywall installation is a specialization within drywall that requires specific knowledge of ULC-tested assemblies. Every rated assembly — 1-hour suite separations, 2-hour stairwell enclosures, shaft wall assemblies — must match the tested ULC configuration in every detail: board type and thickness, fastener type and spacing, stud gauge, and joint treatment. Substituting any component from the tested assembly can invalidate the rating.
SteelStud.ca installs fire-rated drywall assemblies across the Lower Mainland with complete ULC documentation. We specify the assembly by its ULC certification number, provide a written fastener schedule, and install to the tested configuration. Our documentation package supports your permit application and building inspection — fire separation assemblies that inspectors can verify against the published ULC data, without requests for additional information that delay your project schedule.
BC's coastal climate requires moisture-resistant drywall systems in any space with water exposure or humidity potential. Bathrooms, laundry rooms, utility spaces, below-grade applications, and commercial kitchens all benefit from moisture and mould-resistant board. We supply and install moisture-resistant, mould-resistant, and abuse-resistant gypsum board as specified — correctly fastened, taped, and finished to ensure the system performs as designed in BC's wet climate.
Drywall work in BC carries specific WorkSafeBC requirements: stilts regulations for ceiling drywall, dust control protocols for sanding operations, and handling procedures for heavy board in multi-floor commercial projects. Every SteelStud.ca drywall project includes a site safety plan, current first aid certification on site, and full WorkSafeBC coverage for all crew members. Commercial projects in occupied buildings across Metro Vancouver require additional protocols — elevator booking, noise management, and dust containment — that our crew manages as a standard part of the job.
Bundle your drywall and framing with SteelStud.ca for single-source accountability, seamless scheduling, and one point of contact. Colin estimates both scopes together — one package, one crew, one call. View Framing Services →
Thirty years in BC construction means Colin Hamilton has seen every way drywall can fail — and every way it can succeed. Corners that crack because the corner bead wasn't properly embedded. Joints that telegraph because the mud wasn't feathered properly. Ceilings that show every fastener because the board wasn't floated before finish coats. Level 5 that fails under paint because the skim coat was applied over a dirty or incompatible primer.
Our crews are trained to avoid these failures systematically — not by inspecting the work after the fact, but by executing correctly the first time. That's the benefit of a direct crew model: Colin sets the standard, Colin trains to it, and Colin is accountable when it isn't met. No subcontractor variability. No "my crew's different from the owner's crew" excuses. The same standard, every project, across all 20 communities we serve.