Gyprock Installation Cost in Australia: 2026 Price Guide

Supplying and installing Gyprock costs between $40 and $90 per m² of wall or ceiling in most of Australia in 2026, with the board hung, joints set and sanded ready for paint. A standard bedroom usually comes to $1,700 to $3,300, and relining a whole three-bedroom house can run from $16,000 to more than $30,000.

Gyprock is a brand of plasterboard made by CSR, but most Australians use the name for any plasterboard, the same way people say Esky. The prices here apply to plasterboard from any major manufacturer. They include GST, are indicative only and assume a standard single-storey home. Get at least three written quotes, and check that each covers the same board, finish and cornice.

Installation prices per m² by board type

The board choice is set partly by the room and partly by the building rules. Wet areas need moisture-resistant board, walls between a garage and the house or between townhouses often need fire-rated systems, and bedrooms near a busy road may benefit from acoustic board.

Ceilings cost more than walls because the work is overhead, the sheets are usually longer and heavier, and they often need a plaster lifter or two people holding each sheet. Raked or cathedral ceilings and anything above 2.7 m add more again because of scaffolding and slower work.

What the board itself costs

Materials are a smaller share of the bill than most people assume. Labour for hanging, setting and sanding is usually 60 to 75 percent of the installed price. These are indicative retail prices.

On top of the board, allow roughly $4 to $8 per m² for adhesive, screws, paper tape, base and topping compounds, and corner beads. Cornice adds $3 to $8 per linear metre in material for standard cove profiles.

What an installation price should include

A standard plasterboard price covers fixing the sheets to the frame with adhesive and screws, taping joints, applying three coats of compound to joints and screw heads, fitting corner beads to external corners and sanding everything smooth. The usual target is a Level 4 finish, the standard finish for walls and ceilings that will get flat or low-sheen paint.

Things that are often left out, so check your quote:

• Removing and disposing of old linings, usually $15 to $30 per m².
• Fixing or adding timber or steel battens and noggings.
• Insulation in walls or ceilings.
• Cornice, or a square set junction instead of cornice.
• Cut-outs for downlights, exhaust fans and power points, which are often included but not always.
• Scaffolding for high ceilings and stairwells.
• Priming and painting.

Insulation is worth doing while the walls are open, because adding it later is far harder. Our directory lists insulation installers who can fit batts before the board goes up.

Typical costs by room and project

To estimate board area yourself, add up the room perimeter, multiply by the ceiling height, subtract roughly 2 m² for each door and window, then add the ceiling area. A 3 x 3.5 m bedroom with 2.4 m ceilings has about 31 m² of wall, less 4 m² for the door and window, plus 10.5 m² of ceiling, which gives the 38 m² in the table.

Cornice or square set

Where the wall meets the ceiling, you have two choices. Cornice is a moulded strip that hides the junction. A standard 75 to 90 mm cove cornice costs about $12 to $25 per linear metre installed and is the cheapest, quickest option. Larger or decorative profiles cost more, and ornate period cornices can run $40 to $120 per linear metre.

Square set means no cornice at all, with a clean, sharp corner made using a plastic or metal stopping bead. It looks modern, but it takes more time and skill to get straight and it shows any movement crack. Expect to pay roughly $15 to $30 per linear metre more than cove cornice, and expect more work on the ceiling finish too, since there is nothing to hide an imperfect edge.

Plasterboard costs around the country

Building styles differ between states, which changes the type of plasterboard work available. In Perth, many homes are double brick with hard-plastered walls, so plasterboard work is mostly ceilings, extensions and renovations. On the east coast, timber and steel-framed homes use plasterboard throughout.

Three worked examples

All totals include GST. Framing, electrical work and painting are excluded unless listed.

Garage conversion in Campbelltown, NSW

A 6 x 5.5 m single garage being turned into a rumpus room. The builder framed the old roller door opening and the electrician did the rough-in. The plasterer quoted the linings.

About $60 per m² of board. Turning a garage into a habitable room usually needs approval, so check with council or a certifier before you start.

Bathroom reline in a 1960s Geelong weatherboard

The old bathroom linings were stripped for a renovation. A sample was tested for asbestos first and came back clear. Wet area board went on all walls and the ceiling.

Areas to be tiled only need joints taped and set to a flat finish, not a full paint-ready finish, which helps the price. Waterproofing and tiling come after.

Living room ceiling replacement in a post-war Brisbane home

A 5 x 4.5 m living room with an old ceiling that had sagged between joists. It was tested, removed and replaced with new battens and 13 mm board.

Ceiling replacement is messy, so the owners moved furniture out and sealed doorways first. If only part of a ceiling has a crack or a hole, a plaster repair is far cheaper than a full replacement.

Older homes: lath and plaster, masonry walls and uneven frames

Pre-war homes in Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart and inner Sydney often have lath and plaster walls and ceilings: thin timber strips nailed to the frame and covered in a thick coat of lime plaster. Removing it is slow, heavy and extremely dusty, and the waste weighs far more than plasterboard. Budget $25 to $40 per m² for removal and disposal in these homes, plus a skip. Some owners keep the old walls and screw new board over the top, which saves demolition but loses a little room and needs longer screws and careful fixing into the frame.

Masonry walls are a different job again. Plasterboard can be fixed to brick or block using adhesive daubs, or onto steel furring channels screwed to the wall, which creates a cavity for cables and insulation. Furring channel adds roughly $15 to $30 per m² but gives a straighter result on uneven brickwork. Direct stick is cheaper but follows every bow in the wall.

Old timber frames are rarely straight. Studs twist and shrink over decades, and a plasterer may need to plane high spots or pack low ones before hanging board. That time should be in the quote. If a plasterer prices a 1920s bungalow at the same rate as a new project home, ask how they plan to deal with the frame.

Levels of finish and when Level 5 is worth paying for

The Australian and New Zealand standard for plasterboard linings, AS/NZS 2589, sets out levels of finish from 0 to 5. Level 3 is meant for surfaces that will be covered by tiles or heavy texture. Level 4 is the normal finish for most rooms with flat or low-sheen paint. Level 5 adds a thin skim of compound over the entire surface, so the paper and the set joints have the same texture.

Level 5 matters where light hits the wall at a low angle: long hallways with a window at one end, walls beside floor-to-ceiling glass, ceilings with lots of downlights, and anywhere you plan gloss or semi-gloss paint. In those spots, joints that look perfect in normal light can show as faint bands. If your design has those conditions, ask for Level 5 in the quote rather than complaining afterwards. Our plastering cost guide covers setting and skim coating in more detail.

Licences, fire and wet area rules

Plasterboard work is licensed in several states once it passes a value threshold. In NSW, dry plastering, which covers plasterboard, fibre cement sheeting, cornices and suspended ceilings, needs a contractor licence for residential work over $5,000 in labour and materials including GST. The NSW Government dry plastering page sets out the category. In Queensland, the QBCC requires a licence for building work valued over $3,300, explained on its page about when you need a licence. In Victoria, domestic building work over $10,000 generally needs a registered practitioner, so check with the Building and Plumbing Commission. In other states and territories, check with Building and Energy, Consumer and Business Services, CBOS, Access Canberra or the NT Building Practitioners Board.

Fire-rated walls and ceilings must be built exactly as the tested system specifies, including stud spacing, screw spacing, board layers and sealing of penetrations. This applies to walls between a garage and the house in some situations, and to walls between attached dwellings. The National Construction Code sets the requirements, and the manufacturer's system guide shows how to meet them. Do not substitute cheaper board in a fire-rated wall.

In wet areas, the board must be suitable for the location and installed to suit the waterproofing system. Homes built before 1990 may have fibre cement linings containing asbestos in bathrooms, laundries and eaves. Test before removing anything, and use a licensed removalist where required.

DIY hanging or hiring a plasterer

Hanging plasterboard is heavy, awkward work, and setting it well is a true skill. A 13 mm ceiling sheet 3.6 m long can weigh well over 30 kg, so ceilings need two people and ideally a hired plaster lifter, which costs about $40 to $80 a day. Walls are more manageable for a handy owner.

The finishing is where most DIY jobs fall down. Three thin coats of compound, feathered wide and sanded smooth, take practice. Poor setting shows through paint as ridges, bumps and dips, and fixing it means more compound, more sanding and more paint. A common compromise is to hang the board yourself to the plasterer's instructions and pay a plasterer to set and finish, though many plasterers prefer to hang their own board so they can stand behind the result.

How long plasterboard installation takes

A two-person crew can hang a few rooms of walls and ceilings in a day. Setting then needs three coats, each left to dry before the next, so even a small job spreads across three to five days. A whole-house reline often takes two to three weeks. Cold or humid weather slows drying.

Expect dust during sanding, even with vacuum sanders. Seal off doorways, cover floors and take out anything you do not want coated in fine white powder. Painting can usually start once the final sanding is done and the surfaces are dust-free. See the house painting cost guide for typical painting prices.

Lifespan and future maintenance

Plasterboard that stays dry lasts for the life of the house. The common problems later on are hairline cracks at joints and cornices as the frame moves, popped screw heads, dents from furniture and water damage from roof or plumbing leaks. Small cracks and dents are cheap to fix during the next repaint. Water damage needs the leak fixed first, and soaked board usually has to be cut out and replaced rather than dried and patched.

Choosing impact-resistant board in hallways, kids' rooms and rental properties costs a little more up front and saves repairs over time. In bathrooms, a good exhaust fan vented outside protects the ceiling board from years of steam.

Ways to keep plasterboard costs down

• Combine rooms into one job so the crew is not setting up and returning for small areas.
• Do the strip-out of old linings yourself or with labour help, once any asbestos risk is cleared.
• Choose standard cove cornice over square set unless the look really matters to you.
• Use Level 5 only where the lighting calls for it.
• Have electricians and plumbers finish their rough-in before the plasterer arrives, so no one cuts holes in new board.
• Make sure the frame is straight. Plasterers can pack minor problems, but badly out-of-line studs show through.

Reading a plasterboard quote

A good quote states the board type and thickness for each area, the area in square metres, the level of finish, cornice profile or square set, who removes old linings, whether insulation is included, and the expected number of days. It also names the licence number where your state requires one and confirms public liability insurance.

Watch for prices quoted per sheet without a clear scope, quotes that do not mention setting at all, cash-only pricing and large deposits. NSW caps deposits for residential building work at 10 percent, and Victoria at 10 percent for contracts under $20,000 and 5 percent above. For other states, check with your regulator. You can compare tradespeople in our directory of plasterers and Gyprock installers.

Getting labour help through Yakka

Yakka Labour connects you with local workers for the labour-heavy parts of a plasterboard job. That includes stripping old linings once they are cleared of asbestos, carrying sheets from the delivery truck into the house, stacking them where the plasterer wants them, and cleaning up offcuts and dust at the end. Plasterboard is heavy and awkward, and an extra pair of hands on delivery day is good value. Businesses with bigger programs may also want to read about plastering labour hire in Sydney.

Plasterers listed on Yakka can quote the hanging and setting. For fire-rated systems, any structural framing and anything above your state's licence threshold, make sure the person doing the work holds the right licence.