Drywall Repair Around Apartment Windows — After Installs and Leaks
The new windows are in, but the walls around them in every unit are torn, or a leak left the drywall under the sill soft.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
Drywall repair around apartment windows covers the wall torn up when old frames come out and the wet, crumbling drywall under sills that leaked. JMB Builders patches, re-beads and finishes each opening, matches common textures as closely as a patch allows, and quotes painting as its own line. Apartment buildings across the Twin Cities metro and north to St. Cloud, priced per opening. Send photos for a reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
- Priced per opening, painting a separate line
- Returns, bead and patches at each window
- Texture matched as closely as a patch allows
Full-frame window replacement takes the old frame out to the studs, and the drywall around it rarely comes out clean. Leaks leave a different mess: drywall under the sill that is stained, swollen or soft enough to push a finger through. On a building with dozens of windows, those are dozens of small drywall jobs, and they need to look the same in every unit.
Each opening gets the same steps: cut back to sound, dry board, check the framing behind it, patch, set new corner bead at the returns, tape, three coats of mud, sand and prime. Wet drywall is not patched over; the water source is found and fixed first, or the patch stains again.
Texture is where expectations matter. An orange-peel or knockdown wall can be matched closely, but a patch on an old, painted wall is rarely invisible until the whole wall is painted. We say that on the quote, and painting is quoted as its own line: the wall, the room, or left primed for your painter.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- Access to each unit, with the notice to residents your lease and Minnesota law require
- Whether painting is on our quote or done by your painter
- Any leak history for the openings with water damage
- Furniture moved back from the windows, or tell us and we price it
What JMB supplies
- One look at every damaged opening, with a line per opening on the quote
- Drywall cut back to sound board, framing checked behind it
- New drywall, corner bead, tape and three coats of mud
- Texture matched to the wall as closely as a patch allows
- Primed, ready for paint
- Drop cloths, dust control at each window, daily clean-up
- Painting quoted as a separate line when you want it
How it is priced: per opening
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Size of the patch: returns only vs. the wall under and beside the window
- Water damage that goes into insulation or framing
- Smooth wall vs. orange-peel or knockdown texture to match
- Plaster walls in older buildings, which take a different repair
- Number of openings in the same unit and units in the same run
- Painting the wall or room, quoted as its own line
Send a photo of a typical damaged opening per unit with a tape for scale, and tell us whether the wall is smooth or textured.
How long it takes
Drywall needs drying time between coats, so each opening takes several short visits over a few days. We run units in sequence so the visits overlap.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
After full-frame installs
Returns rebuilt with new board and corner bead, the wall edge patched where the old frame tore it, ready for trim or paint.
Water damage under the sill
Soft or stained drywall cut out back to dry board, insulation and framing checked, patched and primed after the leak is fixed.
Plaster walls
Older buildings with plaster get a plaster repair or a drywall patch skimmed to the plaster face, priced per opening.
Repaint the wall
When the patch has to disappear, painting the whole wall or room is quoted as its own line.
Drywall Repair Around Apartment Windows — After Installs and Leaks: questions, answered
Will the drywall patch around the new apartment window show?
A patch is finished flat and textured to match, but on an older painted wall it often shows until the wall is painted. Matching texture closely is doable; matching faded paint is not. Painting the whole wall, quoted as its own line, is what makes it disappear.
Should water-damaged drywall under the window be replaced?
If it is soft, swollen or crumbling, yes; it is cut out back to dry board. A dry, firm stain can be sealed with a stain-blocking primer. Either way the leak has to be found and fixed first, or the new patch stains again.
Do you repair drywall after another company replaced our windows?
Yes. We patch and finish openings left torn up by another installer, priced per opening. We check a few units first to see whether the windows were foamed and sealed, because a drafty frame behind new drywall causes cracks and condensation later.
Do you fix plaster walls around apartment windows?
Yes. Older buildings often have plaster, and it takes a different repair than drywall: loose plaster secured, then patched with plaster or a drywall piece skimmed flush. We tell you which method each opening gets on the quote.
How long does drywall repair take in an occupied unit?
Each opening needs several short visits over a few days for the mud to dry between coats. Residents stay in the unit; we keep dust at the window with drop cloths and clean up each visit. You give the entry notice your lease and Minnesota law require.
Do you paint after the drywall repair?
Painting is quoted as a separate line, the wall or the whole room. Or we leave the patch primed and your painter or maintenance crew paints it. Many owners paint the unit at turnover and have us leave it primed.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
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Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All apartment buildings pages
Where we work
Apartment & Multifamily Window and Door Projects near you
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