Drywall question

howie777

I'm looking to drywall my garage tomorrow. I have already put in the insulation and all that is left is hanging the drywall.

I'm only doing walls (no ceiling as it is already done), with 4'x10' sheets and planning on hanging vertically instead of horizontal. Its a 10' tall wall hence the 4x10 hanging vertically. I have a couple questions.

1) Some of the drywall I have is a bit banged up, like they strapped it really tight at some point and is a bit damaged. I'm assuming once I screw it to the wall it won't be a big deal and mud/tape next spring will cover any of that up. Is this a good assumption. Obviously I do not want to return any of this stuff.

2) would a drywall lift be any help? I need to push the drywall up against the ceiling. This is where I was thinking the lift may help. Some people think they are a waste if your not doing the ceiling though.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

polkfarmboy

1/ its drywall so anything thats wrong is very easily fixed with mud it dont matter

2/ If your a loner and dont have no one to help then yes a lift would be awesome but make sure you do it all quick because its spendy to rent them

3/ Drywall that is not mudded is against the fire code and illegal so try slap at least one coat on it

mrbiron

Howie,

#1 - You are going to tape the edges of the drywall anyway so any breakage will be covered with mud and tape.

#2 - If you are hanging drywall vertically, the lift isn't going to do anything for you. I bought a lift for my basement remodel (best investment i have ever made. did my ceilings by myself). The lift will help you if you are hanging horizontally on the wall. Vertical install, just stand the piece up. Take a piece of wood/scrap drywall and place it on the bottom edge of the sheet you just stood up. Use a pry bar wedged under the bottom of the wood/sheetrock. Step on it with your foot to force the sheet upwards, tightly against the ceiling. Screw.

PFB is correct. You need to tape off the wall and ceilings. Emissions from your car/gas equipment can rise up between the sheets and make it's way into your living space possibly causing you to not wake up one morning. :twisted:

5/8 Sheets of of Drywall can be heavy for an individual by himself...get some help.

WilliamM2

Also, don't know what code is there, but usually if it's an attached garage the ceiling and the wall between the garage and the house need to be 5/8". The rest can be 3/8". If the ceiling isn't finished, you have to drywall all the way to the peak (of the rafters) on the house side, whether you drywall the rest of the garage, or not. In my area, they required that I drywall to the peak, even though the ceiling was also finished. Makes a nice firewall.

And absolutely no insulation can be left exposed, unless it's fire rated like Dow Thermax or similar.

halo71

Speaking from experience. Rent a dry wall lift! Your back will thank you.

howie777

Thanks for the info.

I had no idea I was suppose to mud/tape right away. I'm only planning on waiting due to the weather. The few buckets of compound I found said temp > 55 and Its getting cold here in Michigan. But I'll see what I can do.

Yeah I can just wedge something under the drywall to lift it up. I will have a couple people to help be but this new drywall is 25% lighter than the older stuff (They only have this newer stuff at HD or Lowes it seems) and isn't too bad to handle by yourself. But it is always easer with help!

Howie

mrbiron

I'm only planning on waiting due to the weather. The few buckets of compound I found said temp > 55 and Its getting cold here in Michigan. But I'll see what I can do.

I'd suggest you hop to it!...There is a product out there like duct tape that you can apply to the seams but i can't think of it's name. It's expensive. Get a space heater for the day. If you have multiple guys helping you, have one chase with the tape while you hang.
If need be, you can use Durabond 90 to tape the seams. The problem is it dries in 90 minutes giving you about 15 minutes to really play with it. Also it's a powder and you have to mix it yourself. Can be had at HD.

Just thinking out loud...

WilliamM2

I drywalled my garage and addition at the end of November, and I'm in northern Michigan as well, I borrowed 2 electric space heaters, and it was enough to keep a 26' x 28' garage with 12' cielings at 60 degrees easily. Although after running for a couple weeks, did raise my bill about $50.

Also good when you go to paint it, which I recommend, as drywall turns yellow fast if left unfinished.

BlueFox

Any advantage, structural or otherwise, between horizontal and vertical?

mrbiron

Any advantage, structural or otherwise, between horizontal and vertical?

Some schools of thought say that the horizontal configuration with staggered joints helps brace/support the walls better in a shear condition. I personally only hang vertically because it's easiest and i'm a lazy dude. Either way, it's the same amount of taping. You just have to do 1 long run and a bunch of small 4' runs versus individual 8' or in his case 10' runs.

Jstas

1.) Get a portable heater. You can use a kerosene based tube heater fairly safely to keep the interior warm while the mud dries. Electric heaters work too but you're probably gonna need a couple of them. I rented a small tube heater when I did my garage. Worked like a champ.

2.) If the edges are banged up real bad, you can create a patch after the drywall is on the wall. If they are just nicks and not real deep, you can fill them with mud, tape and mud over that. But sand them well and let the mud dry completely before you put more on. The mud likes to shrink and it'll crack and contract down in to the hole. So thin coats to build it up properly. Sand between coats too. Otherwise, you'll have noticeable divots in the finished product and they are more difficult and time consuming to fix.

If you want to do a patch, cut out the nicked area and measure the hole you made. Then take a piece of sheetrock bigger than the hole (I usually go with 2-3 inches o any side of the hole), flip it over and measure an area the size of the hole on the back. Draw your shape. Take a utility knife and cut the paper larger than the hole and peel it back leaving the center intact. Next, carefully so you don't tear the front paper, tap the gypsum with a hammer to fracture it and then carefully scrape it out with a screw driver or something. Now, test fit it and whittle away the excess until it fits that hole snug. Pull it out and spread mud in the hole and on the back of the paper. Stick it back in your patch hole and smooth it out. The mud will ooze out the sides, just scrape it up with your blade and make sure the patch is flat. Let it dry. Come back, sand it smooth once it's dry and then put a thin coat over the whole patch. Let that dry then come back and sand it so it's smooth. Paint with primer, check if it needs sanding again and then color coat. Take your time and no one will ever know there was a problem there. That's also a stronger patch than taping something in.

3.) You don't really need a lift for a wall. What you want to do is either buy or build a kick prop that will hold the top up. If you want it up against the ceiling, use wedges and shims at the bottom to get it where you need it. Sheets that large by yourself is not going to be easy so get a buddy to help you. Honestly. Make then hold the kick prop while you screw or nail the sheet up.

To build a kick prop, get two 2x4's 8 or 10 feet in length. Cut one to be just under 4 feet long and nail that to the end of the other 2x4 like a T. Then, cut two braces for that T from the rest of the other 2x4. Nail them together and get an old blanket and some zip ties. Wrap the blanket around the T end and zip tie it on to protect the sheets. As you lift it up, have your helper push the top of the sheet up to the wall and hold it there with the T while you get it straightened out and secured well enough so it won't fall on your head. If you can't get a helper, some rubber of some sort tacked to the other end of the kick prop will keep the bottom end from kicking out on you.

Take your time, be patient. The devil is in the details here. You can always sand the mud and straighten stuff out now. It's easy to fix screw ups. Once it's painted or finished, not so easy. Just like painting a car, 90% of the work is in the prep. This is where it counts the most. I drywalled my garage with 8x10 sheets of drywall and had two people helping me lift including a ceiling lift. Came out looking pretty good 'cause I spent about a week making sure every joint, nail and hole was where it was supposed to be and as smooth as I could get it.

polkfarmboy

Here is another tip that could save your arms ..... Dont ever use that quick dry mud if you come across any because its very hard to sand and requires alot of effort

WilliamM2

BlueFox wrote: »

Any advantage, structural or otherwise, between horizontal and vertical?

I was told that having the long seams horizontal made it less likely the seams would be noticable after finishing and painting.

I hate finishing drywall, and don't have a lot of experience. So I hung the drywall myself, and hired a pro to finish it. Can't see any seams on mine.

Jstas

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I was told that having the long seams horizontal made it less likely the seams would be noticable after finishing and painting.

Honestly, I have a room where someone did the long seams horizontally and I can see the seems. The sheets are sagging and creating a bump about 4 feet up the wall around the entire room. It looks like a built in chair rail made of thigh fat. I thought it was just a bad tape job and tried sanding it. But no, it's drywall. I'm going to have to rehang the entire room to fix it.

inspiredsports

With 10' tall walls hanging vertically is a no-brainer. Horizontally, you'd have to cut pieces in half to do the last 2' which would create a lot more more seams and corresponding work to tape.

WilliamM2

Jstas wrote: »

Honestly, I have a room where someone did the long seams horizontally and I can see the seems. The sheets are sagging and creating a bump about 4 feet up the wall around the entire room. It looks like a built in chair rail made of thigh fat. I thought it was just a bad tape job and tried sanding it. But no, it's drywall. I'm going to have to rehang the entire room to fix it.

I could see drywall sagging hung either way, if not hung properly. I glued all mine, as well as screws, because I have seen many sagging drywall jobs before, and wanted to make sure it didn't happen. Still looks great after 5 years. But like I said, I don't have a lot of experience, it's just what I was told to do by folks that do it for living.

Jstas

WilliamM2 wrote: »

I could see drywall sagging hung either way, if not hung properly. I glued all mine, as well as screws, because I have seen many sagging drywall jobs before, and wanted to make sure it didn't happen. Still looks great after 5 years. But like I said, I don't have a lot of experience, it's just what I was told to do by folks that do it for living.

But if hung vertically in congruent sheets, you don't get an ugly seam and bulge around the entire room. Sagging rarely shows up in vertical seams.

BlueFox

Jstas wrote: »

But if hung vertically in congruent sheets, you don't get an ugly seam and bulge around the entire room. Sagging rarely shows up in vertical seams.

From mentally visualizing this, that seems to make sense. Hung vertically, it will sag onto itself. Hung horizontally, it will sag onto the seams, which I expect to be the weak point, and would probably be more obvious. On the other hand, now you have ten feet of drywall sagging down versus four feet. So, it would appear the bottom, over time, would bulge with vertical drywall.

To bad cheap, fake, wood, paneling went out of style.

WilliamM2

Most the sagging I have seen is in the ceiling, due to not enough fasteners, or using too thin drywall. The only time I have seen walls sag, is due to moisture. I really don't think it matters which way you hang it in that case.

Most drywall manufacturers, and professional drywaller's, recommend you to mount it horzontally. I'll go with that.

decal

If you have bulges,cracks,visible seams,etc....your job was done poorly. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings or criticize anyone's skills but it's a fact. If you don't have the proper skills, you will see it in the finished product.

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

Awwww...sad liitle man living off the governments teet, can't take his own medicine. Bummer.

BeefJerky

Good lord, will you two just get a motel room. It's clear you two are just itching to shack up, so just do it and relieve the sexual tension already.

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

Willy wouldn't like it. I'd just lay there.

Damn, you aren't much good for anything, are you?

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

I just don't roll that way, Willy. You'll just have to find another man. :rolleyes:

....

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

~yawn~

Maybe if you got a job, you wouldn't be so bored?

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

yomama called in sick this week and your 'ol lady doesn't want the OT. So, guess I'll just have to be bored golfing at Turtle Bay later on this afternoon and rely on my day trades. :frown:

....

WilliamM2

Keiko wrote: »

Willy, I know you're in denial, but you really are boring to this community. I know your only source of entertainment is watching houseflies copulate on the walls of your mobile home, but don't you want something more outa life, pathetic little man? I'd really like to stay and chat with you, but I gotta get ready to get my game on. Happy flogging, Willy!

....

kcoc321

Only thing I would add is to take pictures of everything before you cover it up.....And did you remember to run the speaker wires or at least flex conduit??
You know it could be a man cave some day