Any tips for installing drywall?

[Krassus]

Gonna have to drywall a huge basement (over 1500 sq ft) myself. Any tips? I have very little experience with drywall, so any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[bunker]

Repost!

 

[Kalvin00]

Have a couple friends help, if possible.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: bunker
Repost!

GAWD I FVCKING HATE THAT WORD

 

[bunker]

Originally posted by: redly1

Originally posted by: bunker
Repost!

GAWD I FVCKING HATE THAT WORD

Did you happen to notice the wink and tongue sticking out which would suggest jest?

 

[sillymofo]

Time is your best friend.

 

[SSibalNom]

its always easier to cut things a few MM smaller than larger, saves a lot of time in cutting and refitting, the space will be filled with spackle anyway and will look the same at the end, dont worry about the drywall being exact. remember to cut with the razor blade on the proper site to cut pieces.... other than that just use drywall nails and its pretty simple

 

[Crazymofo]

Pay someone else to do it is the best advise I can give... drywalling sucks!!!

 

[Curly01]

Don't use drywall nails. Over time they work loose and you'll have nail heads popping out. Install the drywall length wise. much easy to mud and finish the the seam. Leave the bottom of the drywall off the floor about 2 inches. If you are doing the ceiling, get a drywall lift and do it frist. Measure all places to be cut at least twice.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Curly
Don't use drywall nails. Over time they work loose and you'll have nail heads popping out. Install the drywall length wise. much easy to mud and finish the the seam. Leave the bottom of the drywall off the floor about 2 inches. If you are doing the ceiling, get a drywall lift and do it frist. Measure all places to be cut at least twice.

Excellent...

Also, when it comes down to paying an extra 5 dollars vs. piecing together 3 pieces to save on waste... pay the extra $5 for another sheet. The fewer joints, the better

 

[mattgyver]

Originally posted by: Crazymofo
Pay someone else to do it is the best advise I can give... drywalling sucks!!!

I agree; have someone else do it. It's a pain in the ass.

 

[DrPizza]

oh, and other good piece of advice.... don't be impatient when applying the spackling... build it up in layers, starting with a 6 inch blade and progressing to a 12" or longer blade. Otherwise, it'll end up looking like sh*t and you'll regret the little bit of extra work (which actually turns out to be easier work in the long run).

Also, for sanding between layers, use the screen stuff.... regular sandpaper clogs too easily. They'll know what you need at the hardware store. They also have a holder for the screen that attaches to the end of a shop-vac. Get one of those... you'll appreciate it when you're not hacking up gypsum from your lungs for the next 2 months.

 

[KenGr]

Generally good advice here. It's not remarkably complex. Just don't overwork it. If you have to fill and sand more than a couple of times, you're doing something wrong. After it's finished paint it with a good quality drywall primer. A lot of people just use an extra coat of paint and that will not give you as good a final product.

HOWEVER - I've done a lot of drywall over the last 30 years and the last time I finished a basement, I hung the drywall and hired a top quality finisher to come in and do the finish. It took him only about a day to finish an entire basement and it was perfect.

 

[TheNinja]

Good advice so far. I have two main pieces of advice.

1.Use screws not nails.
2.Measure twice, cut once (not the other way around).

 

[Evadman]

If you use screws, invest in a big ass screw gun like a 1/2" dewalt corded drill. Also, use the bits that will not allow you to over drive the screw. They have a large metal collar.

if you are putting up 1/2" drywall, use 1 5/8" coarse screws. Coarse because they go in faster.

Use one screw in each corner, and one per linear foot in the field. This means you should have 28 screws per 4x8' sheet.

use 5/8" firecore on the ceiling.

Buy a 4' drywaill t-Square.

Sharp knife++

Wear steal toe boots if possible.

 

[Ornery]

I'll give you one tip I recently learned, and it's a good one. First of all, use paper tape instead of fiberglass mesh. When doing butt joints (no tapered edges), wet your paper tape before laying it in the mud. Make one pass over it to squeeze excess mud from underneath the tape, then smooth it over with a mud filled knife in one clean pass. Don't leave anything behind to sand. The next, and with any luck, the last coat is the only one you want to sand very lightly. Use Durabond 90 for that first coat, and you'll be able to apply the finish coat a couple hours later.

It's worth learning how to apply it well, so it won't need much sanding. Takes a little more effort, but it's worth it. Make the final coat more wet. About the consistency of... moistened toothpaste, I guess.