Placing Drywall

Installing drywall can be easy, but taping the joints between panels requires some practice. Some do-it-yourselfers install the drywall themselves, then call an experienced drywall taper to finish the job.

Although it's easy to figure how much drywall to buy (just compute the square footage of the walls and ceiling), it takes some planning to end up with as few joints as possible. The standard-size sheets for walls measure 4 X 8 feet. They are usually installed with the long side running from floor to ceiling, but if you can eliminate a joint by placing them horizontally, do so. All drywall sheets are 4 feet wide, but many building-material outlets offer 10-foot and even 12-foot lengths. The most popular thicknesses of drywall are 1/2 inch (walls) and 5/8 inch (ceilings), but check your local building code for requirements.

Use T-braces to install drywall on a new ceiling.

Use T-braces to install
drywall on a new ceiling.

Consult a dealer to learn how many nails, rolls of tape, and how much joint compound you will need. As a general rule, 1,000 square feet of drywall requires about seven pounds of coated drywall nails, a five-gallon pail of joint compound in mixed form, and a 500-foot roll of tape.

Each outside corner requires one metal cornerbead. Drywall tape is used for inside corners. Note: many drywallers now use drywall screws instead of nails; buy the same quantity of screws as you would nails, and consult your dealer on the length of screws necessary; it varies with the thickness of drywall. These are installed with a drill, preferably one with a drywall setting, which allows the drill to "ratchet" or slip when it senses the screw is fully seated. This prevents "popped" screw heads. Ask your dealer to show you such a drill if you don't already have one.

Placing Drywall

To install drywall on the ceiling and walls of a framed room, you'll probably need an assistant, especially for the ceiling. Here's how to cut and install panels:

Step 1: Construct a pair of T-braces from 2 X 4s about an inch longer than the distance from floor to ceiling. Nail 2 X 4s about 3 feet long to one end of each longer 2 X 4 to form the Ts. Alternately, adjustable T-braces can be rented.

Make sure you form a

After you drive each nail in, give it an extra blow to dimple
the surface without breaking the drywall face paper.

Step 2: Cut drywall panels to size. Use a sharp utility knife along a straightedge to cut drywall. After you make the cut through the face paper, place the board over a length of 2 X 4 laid flat on the floor, or some other type of support, and snap the scored section down. The gypsum core will break along the line you cut. Then turn the panel over, cut the paper on the other side, and smooth the rough edges with very coarse sandpaper on a sanding block.

Step 3: Install drywall panels on the ceiling. If possible, try to span the entire width with a single sheet of wallboard to reduce the number of joints. Position and wedge the T-braces against the drywall sheet to hold it in place until you finish nailing it.

Step 4: Drive nails at 6-inch intervals into all the joists covered by the sheet. Start in the center of the drywall panel and work out. Give each nail an extra hammer blow to dimple the surface slightly without breaking the face paper.

It is not necessary to

It is not necessary to dimple the nails of outside cornerbead,
because the surface will be covered with drywall putty.

Step 5: When the ceiling is finished, cut and install wall panels. Carefully measure for any cutouts in the drywall, including electrical outlets, switches, or light fixtures. To make cutouts, draw a pattern of the cutout on the wallboard, drill a hole on the pattern line, and then use a keyhole saw to follow the pattern.

Step 6: Space the nails 6 inches apart along studs, but start nailing 4 inches from the ceiling. Butt the wall panels against the ceiling sheets. Dimple all nails. Nail metal outside cornerbeads to cover any outside corners.

Now it's time for the artistic part -- taping. That's covered in the next section.