How to Hang Drywall
Sheetrock is produce by the United States Gypsum Company, and it is a brand name for their gypsum wallboard product. This product is also known by other names like: drywall, plasterboard, gypsum board.
Hanging drywall is known to be a job for big strong guys, but in fact, with a few guidelines and some info, hanging drywall can be done by just about anybody.
Hanging Drywall is almost kind of like hanging wallpaper. The biggest problem with drywalling is the size and weight of the sheets. Weighting in at about 40lbs. each, and their sheer size, it makes it awkward to handle it sometimes. And the sheet are petty easy to damage, if dropped the corners or edges could crumble making it harder to finish with compound.
TIPS :
- Consult a number of people if needed in the store where you purchase your materials. Most salespeople are more then happy to share what they know about hanging drywall.
- Know the building codes. It is vital to obtain a copy of one's county “code” guide. These are quite strict on the way drywall should be installed, how far from each other should the nails or screws be, what types of drywall should be made use of (there's special water-resistant drywall utilized in bathrooms). When the drywall just isn't done to “code” , inspectors could come in later and tell you to redo the work, or end up charging you fines for not complying.
- Look out for objects like fixture or others. Don't forget that these objects will have to be cut out, watch cut drywall. Measure these out just like if you were doing wallpaper, cut them roughly, they can be adjusted a little once you start putting the sheets up.
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- When Hanging Drywall, you will get much better results when you have less joints, the bigger the piece the better. So when you doing around a window, consider cutting out from a full sheet instead of piecing it in with many smaller cuts. Will make your life much easier in the end.
- The gaps in between where the seams are could appear enormous to you, and you might ask yourself is your going to be able to make this very rough looking drywall job look beautiful when it comes down to the taping and finishing. Surprisingly, everything should be all comes together when we are taping, it really hides a lot of the drywall mistakes.
- Still not convince to try it yourself ? Call a local drywall company and ask them if you could come by one of their job sites and observe a crew at work. If you're able to hang wallpaper, you could hang drywall. Definitely.
Things You'll Need :
- Utility Knife
- A Drywall Hammer (if possible a drill)
- A real straight edge or drywall square
- Lots of nails or screws
Step 1:
Get rid of the older drywall (except if you're starting fresh and there's no older sheetrock). The outdated drywall will really need to be pried out from your studs and ceiling joists by using a crowbar or other tools (often pulling it out with your hands once you have a hole to start with), becoming pretty mindful to not connect with any wiring beneath the drywall.
Step 2:
Make sure that you clean up the mess real good before you start. When you get to the drywalling and there is a bunch of little pieces in the way, it will make for a difficult job. This could be considered a excellent time to pull out the shop vac and run it on the bottom edge of the partitions. And of course, you could always use a broom.
Step 3:
Clean the expose studs free of nails and/or old screws left behind when demolishing, or else the pieces will not sit flat or even worst, will break the board from behind when final screwing. They could either be taken out or hammered in to the wood studs. (Its probably best to get rid of them so that you don’t put another screw on top of them later.)
Step 4:
Purchase the drywall. Pay a visit to your favorite home improvement warehouse. Drywall is offered in various measurements: 4’ x 8’, 4' x 10' and 4’ x 12’ would be the most common. The 4’ x 8’ is easiest to move around, and works for just about any job. It really only cost just a few dollars per sheet of the 1/2" drywall thickness(this is the average thickness which will work very well for many jobs). Haul it back home FLAT (in the box of a truck) so that it does not crumble or bend. If you got to keep the sheets for a few days before you put them up, leave them flat and on top of each other so they don't warp, or get damaged.
Step 5:Gather your tools and supplies. You don't need very many tools to hang drywall. You'll need a utility knife and spare blades, a hammer (or drywall drill if your going to be screwing the sheets down), a real straight edge for reducing and measuring (they make drywall T-squares just for this), and a lot of drywall screws or nails. With nails you end up making more of a “divots” because of the hammer face, which is big. They are covered easily later with compound, but will need more attention then if you were using screws. Screws would be the “instrument-of-choice” for professionals and home owners.
Step 6:
Hang the toughest part first-the drywall ceiling, click to learn how to drywall ceiling. In which order you hang the ceiling actually matters.. That is a two or three people job if you haven’t rented a drywall “lifter” which lifts the items straight up by hydraulics and all you do is nail or screw the pieces on the joist. Start with the ceiling and then move onto the wall.
Step 7:
The drywall should be installed horizontally, which might seem like more work, but is really isn't. Start with the top piece, butt it up real nice to the ceiling, and then nail it or screw it down. Its nice to have a helper for this part. When you done the top start the bottom of the wall, and also start from the other end of the wall for that your butt joints are staggered. When you encounter a light fixture or a cut out of some sort, please visit the cut drywall page. Screw it down from the top down popping 2 screws in very stud.
Warnings :
- It would be a very smart idea to shut off all the power to that area while doing this work, since it almost impossible to tell where the wires may run behind the drywall
- Wear a face mask, removing drywall make dust and particles which are best left on the floor, not in your lungs.
