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Drywalling Tips
To many do-it-yourselfers, drywalling is a less than desirable task. It is also something that when done incorrectly, can cause even the finest construction to look shoddy. In drywalling my home I chose to hang the drywall myself, but hired a professional to complete the mudding and taping. This strategy resulted in significant cost savings while still allowing for a professional-looking finish. Here are some drywall tips I learned to help you with your project, and to reduce the time required to mud and tape.
- Drywall can be hung with drywall nails, but using drywall screws can help prevent nail ‘pops’, sags in ceilings, and cracks and holes in the spackle. For ½” drywall use 1-5/8” screws and for 5/8” drywall, use 2” screws.
- To cut drywall, use a utility knife (with a sharp blade) and a drywall-specific T-square. This will ensure your cuts are straight and that the edge of the square runs the entire width of the drywall board.
- Avoid running the drywall seams the length of any wall or surface. Stagger your boards for a better finished look.
- When drywalling the walls, hang the boards horizontally as opposed to vertically. As with staggering your seams, this will also provide a better finished look.
- Leave a 1/8” to 1/4” gap on corners. Trying to get an exact corner is frustrating, and due to the rough edge on the cut drywall, almost impossible. This will also help speed-up the mudding and taping as the edges will not have to be ground down in order for the corner beads to sit flush.
- Measure twice, cut once. Apply this practise to all cuts and cut-outs (ie. electrical outlets, light fixtures, etc).
- When working around cut-outs, try to make sure they are not too close to the edge of the drywall board (ie. at least 12” away) so there is plenty of room for the seam tape and spackle.
Aside from the above, try to keep your surfaces unblemished (ie. free of cuts, cracks or tears), and minimize spacing between seams, corners and cut-outs. This will speed up your mudding and taping process and help provide a smoother finished product. Good luck!
See photos of other homeowner’s drywall projects in Central Roost’s Project Gallery.
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August 31st, 2006 at 12:14 pm
When using a screw gun, use drywall screws. 1-1/4″ screws are needed for 1/2″ drywall, and 1-5/8″ screws are needed for 5/8″ drywall.
http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/drywall/drwl_1.htm
I like more than 1/8″ electrical safety margin so I follow the above advice when sheeting to 2×4 material. In the case of joists and as long as the electrical holes are more than 1-1/4 away from the nailing face I’ll use longer screws.