Research Outline

Louisville Drywall Installation

Goals

To obtain an in depth market report on the drywall installation industry in Louisville, Kentucky to include: (1) number of firms exclusively focused on drywall installation (by revenue size); (2) total market size (revenue or total square footage); (3) market size for past 5 years (revenue or square footage); (4) how many square feet of drywall installed per year (5) amount of drywall installation for past 5 years; (6) number of housing starts for last 5 years (2016-2020); (7) aggregate square footage of those housing starts; (8) largest home builders with market share; (9) largest drywall suppliers with average price charged; (10) total square footage of drywall sold in the past 5 years; (11) largest drywall installation companies with market share; (12) 3-5 year new housing starts projections (with total square footage); (13) projected drywall installation market size for next 5 years; (14) calculate market share for Affordable Drywall with provided numbers and determine if market penetration has increased/decreased/remained the same over the past 4 years; (15) sources available to monitor the drywall installation industry on an ongoing basis (paid or free); (16) sources available to monitor the monthly home starts or new construction square footage; (17) sources to monitor total drywall supplier sales; and (18) ways to regularly benchmark drywall installation industry (sales or square footage) going forward.

Early Findings

  • The drywall and insulation installation industry is valued at $46 billion in the U.S. (2018 data)
  • A more recent IBISWorld report is paywalled, and there was no indication that data was broken out by state, let alone by metro region.
  • HomeAdvisor provided a list of 26 drywall installers in the Louisville area. Only one on the list appeared to be primarily/exclusively focused on drywall installation: Danny Robinson Drywall and Palstering Service.
  • The NAICS Association provides data on the top businesses in the drywall and insulation contractors space in the U.S. None of the top 10 companies listed were in Louisville. Much of their data is available to purchase, although it is not clear what level of detail is provided.
  • While the U.S. business census provides data by metropolitan statistical area (MSA), the numbers are only provided for the NAICS large sectors (for example, construction) rather than individual NAICS codes (for example, code 238310-Drywall and Insulation Contractors).
  • This table provides data on the new private housing units authorized by building permits (single family only) for Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-In from February 1988 to December 2020.

Summary of Findings

  • Based on the brief research conducted in the initial hour, it is unlikely that the level of detail requested on the Louisville drywall installation industry will be publicly available.
  • Much of the data requested may be available on a U.S. basis. If that is the case, we could provide U.S. data and then look for reporting that indicates how the Louisville MSA compares to the U.S. as a whole.
  • Additionally, the data that was found appears to combine the drywall installation industry with the insulation installation industry. Therefore, if U.S. data is found to be publicly available, these two industries are likely to be combined.
  • Based on our initial research, we propose we begin by spending time simply identifying the resources that may be available to address the questions asked. This will almost certainly have to be focused at the U.S. level, although we will attempt to find sources that are specific to Louisville or at least Kentucky. Once the sources are known, it will be easier to determine what data can actually be provided, and further research can be launched.