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Commercial Drywall Contractors - professional commercial drywall in Illinois by Great Lakes Drywall
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Commercial Drywall Contractors

Tenant improvements, retail buildouts, restaurants, medical, and multifamily - hung and finished on the schedule your project actually needs.

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Overview

Commercial Drywall engineered for Illinois

Commercial drywall is about coordination as much as craft - hitting schedules, working around occupied spaces, and handing off walls other trades can rely on. We work with GCs, property managers, and business owners on projects of every size.
  • Office and retail tenant improvements
  • Partition and corridor walls
  • Multifamily and mixed-use construction
  • After-hours and phased work when needed
What sets us apart

Why homeowners and GCs choose our commercial drywall

01

Schedule-first mindset

Commercial projects live and die on the schedule. We show up when we say we will, we call ahead when we can't, and we work the hours the project requires.

02

Code-compliant assemblies

Fire-rated partitions, sound-rated demising walls, chase walls, and shaft walls built to the assembly UL numbers your architect and inspector expect.

03

GC and property-manager partnership

We work as sub to GCs on new construction and TIs, and direct with property managers for occupied-building repairs. Communication style adapted to the client.

04

After-hours and phased work

Occupied offices, medical, and retail often need work done after hours or in phases to avoid disrupting operations. We plan and staff for it.

05

Multifamily production experience

Apartments, condos, and mixed-use - we scale crew size to schedule demands and maintain consistent finish quality across dozens of units.

06

Clean handoff to other trades

Painters, electricians pulling wire through walls, and MEP finish trades all benefit from drywall that was hung to spec and finished on time. That's what we deliver.

Commercial drywall - the projects we handle

Office tenant improvements (TIs): full-floor buildouts, single-suite reconfigurations, executive offices. Retail buildouts: storefronts, back-of-house, fitting rooms. Restaurants and food service: kitchen walls (with attention to health code panel requirements), dining rooms, restroom areas. Medical offices: exam rooms with sound-rated partitions, imaging rooms with lead-shielded assemblies coordinated with the shield supplier. Multifamily and mixed-use: apartments, condos, common corridors and amenity spaces. Assembly, warehouse, and light industrial where drywall is called out.

Fire-rated and sound-rated assemblies

Commercial construction lives on rated assemblies - 1-hour and 2-hour fire-rated walls between tenants and around exit corridors, and STC-rated sound assemblies between offices and residential units. These aren't ordinary walls: they require specific panel types (Type-X or Type-C), specific fastener patterns, specific joint treatment, and often insulation and resilient channels. We build them to the UL assembly numbers on the drawings and photo-document construction for the inspector when required.

Tenant improvements - occupied vs. vacant

Vacant TI is straightforward: full days, all trades running, standard sequencing. Occupied TI is different - the surrounding suites are working, the building is open, and drywall dust cannot end up in the neighbor's server room. We do occupied TI regularly: containment barriers to adjacent tenants, careful noise/dust management during business hours (or after-hours work), and elevator/loading-dock coordination with the property manager. It costs more per sq ft than vacant work, and it should - the constraints are real.

Multifamily production

Multifamily is a different animal from custom residential. Repeat unit types mean we can optimize crew size, panel staging, and finish sequencing across dozens of units at once. We coordinate with the GC's schedule down to the day and staff up when needed. Consistent finish quality across every unit is non-negotiable - the last unit finished should look like the first.

Repairs and maintenance for property managers

Beyond new construction, we handle ongoing repair work for property management companies: tenant move-out patch-and-paint, water leak repairs, impact damage in common areas, elevator lobby refresh, and rated-wall repairs after MEP work. We invoice cleanly with property numbers and can be on-call for urgent repairs across a portfolio.

Methodology

How a commercial drywall project runs with our crew

01

Estimate & scope confirmation

We review drawings, walk the site (occupied or shell), and provide a written scope with schedule and price.

02

Pre-construction coordination

Confirmation of rated assemblies, panel types, hang date coordination with framing sign-off, and material staging plan.

03

Hang, tape, finish

Crew sized to schedule requirements. Rated assemblies inspected before finish work covers them. Level 4 or Level 5 finish per specification.

04

Punch & handoff

Walkthrough with GC or PM, punch-list items completed, sign-off, and clean handoff to next trades.

Service Area Map

Commercial Drywall service area

Great Lakes Drywall provides commercial drywall across Illinois.

Illinois service area
Frequently Asked

Commercial Drywall - answered

Do you work as a subcontractor to general contractors?

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Yes - most of our commercial work is as a drywall sub to GCs on new construction, TIs, and multifamily. We can also work direct for property managers and business owners on repair and small-scope work. We provide W-9, insurance certificates, and any required project-specific documentation.

Are you insured and bonded for commercial work?

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Yes. General liability, workers' comp, and additional-insured endorsements available for GCs and property owners as required by contract. Bonding available on projects that require it.

How much does commercial drywall cost?

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Commercial drywall pricing varies widely by scope and complexity: standard office TI drywall runs $3-6 per sq ft (hang and finish), while rated assemblies, shaft walls, or high-end finish specs run higher. We provide firm written quotes after scope review - no allowances or open-ended pricing.

Can you build fire-rated and sound-rated assemblies?

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Yes - 1-hour and 2-hour fire-rated walls to the UL assembly numbers your architect specifies, and STC-rated sound assemblies for office and multifamily demising walls. We follow the assembly detail exactly (panel type, fastener pattern, insulation, sealant) and photo-document as needed.

Do you work after hours or on weekends for occupied buildings?

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Yes - occupied office and retail TIs often require after-hours or weekend work to avoid disrupting operations. We plan and staff for it. There's a premium for off-hours work, but it's usually a small fraction of the cost of disrupting a tenant's business.

How do you handle occupied-building dust and noise?

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Full plastic containment with zip-doors, negative-air where needed, protection of adjacent tenant spaces, coordination of noisy work with the property manager's tenant-notification schedule, and daily cleanup. Occupied-building work is our specialty on many of our commercial jobs.

Can you scale to a large multifamily project?

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Yes - we scale crew size to schedule requirements and have run multifamily projects with dozens of units. Consistent finish quality across every unit is the non-negotiable - we don't cut corners on later units to make schedule.

Do you handle medical office or specialty rated assemblies?

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Yes - medical offices with sound-rated exam rooms, imaging rooms with lead-shielding coordination, and specialty rated assemblies for tenant type. We work from the architect's assembly details and coordinate with any specialty suppliers.

Do you offer property-management on-call repair service?

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Yes - for property management companies with multiple buildings we offer priority-response repair for water damage, impact damage, and rated-wall repairs after MEP work. Clean invoicing with property numbers, photo documentation, and consistent crews across your portfolio.

Does Illinois weather affect drywall work?

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Yes. Lake-effect humidity swings, freeze/thaw cycles, and dry winter forced-air heat all move drywall subtly. We plan panel acclimation, use appropriate joint compounds for the season, and time coats so seams don't crack when your house cycles from 65% summer humidity to 20% winter humidity.

Our Disciplines

Other drywall services we offer

The full range of Great Lakes Drywall specialties - each linked by the keyword our neighbors search for most.

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Drywall Repair

Patching holes, cracks, and damaged sections cleanly.

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Sheetrock Installation

Sheetrock is the brand-name gypsum board most Illinois homes are built with. We repair, patch, and install it.

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Drywall Hole Repair

Doorknob holes, small patches, large holes, and every size in between - matched and paint-ready.

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Wall Crack Repair

Settlement cracks, seam cracks, corner cracks, and stress cracks - fixed so they stay fixed.

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Drywall Painters

Drywall repair coordinated with painting - one crew, one schedule, one warranty.

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