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How drywall is planned on San Antonio apartments and multi-family builds: unit-by-unit production, sound-rated walls between units, and fire separation.
By SCCI Drywall. Published 2026-10-22.
Apartments, townhomes and senior living communities put drywall to work in a different way than a custom home or a single office suite. The quantities are large, the layouts repeat, and the schedule usually depends on turning units over fast. At the same time, the walls between units carry real performance requirements for both sound and fire.
The advantage on multi-family work is repetition. Once the crew has hung, finished and textured the first unit of each floor plan, they know exactly how much board each room takes, where the tricky corners are, and how long each step runs. A good drywall contractor turns that into a rhythm:
Noise complaints are among the most common issues in apartment living, and most of them come through shared walls and floor-ceiling assemblies. The International Building Code, which San Antonio and most Texas cities adopt in some edition, includes sound transmission requirements for walls and floors separating dwelling units. In most editions, that target is an STC (Sound Transmission Class) rating of 50 for lab-tested assemblies.
Hitting a tested rating depends on building the assembly exactly as designed. Common details include:
One unsealed gap can undercut an otherwise well-built wall, so careful installation matters as much as the materials. Our article on soundproofing interior walls explains how sound travels through drywall.
Walls between units and between units and corridors are typically fire-rated. That means Type X or other rated board installed to a tested design, with joints taped and fasteners covered, and penetrations for pipes and wiring sealed with approved firestopping. Learn more in our guide to fire-rated drywall.
Bathrooms, laundry closets and kitchens call for moisture and mold-resistant board, and high-traffic corridors may benefit from abuse-resistant panels that stand up to moving furniture and carts.
When a resident moves from one unit to another, or a maintenance tech patches a wall years later, the texture should look the same everywhere. Settling on one texture, such as orange peel or medium Monterrey, and holding the spray settings steady across the project makes future repairs easier.
SCCI Drywall has the crew capacity to staff multi-family projects across San Antonio and South Texas, from a single building to phased communities. Call (210) 875-0280 or request a bid.
The International Building Code generally calls for STC 50 for walls and floor-ceiling assemblies separating dwelling units, or STC 45 when field tested. Check the code edition your city has adopted.
Mass helps, but sealing gaps, adding insulation and decoupling the layers usually matter just as much. A wall is only as quiet as its weakest point.
A single, consistent texture makes future patches blend in and keeps the property looking uniform when units turn over.
SCCI Drywall serves San Antonio and all of South Texas with drywall installation, drywall repair, remodeling, metal stud framing, light gauge framing and acoustical grid ceiling systems for residential and commercial projects.
Phone: (210) 875-0280
Email: sccidrywall@gmail.com
Hours: Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM