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Ask 10 Journeyman Drywallers and you get 15 different answers. Belive it or not, everyone of them is the right answer.
While most visitors to this website are experienced construction professionals, even the best of us can get stuck on an obvious yet simple problem. The information on this page is just one opinion.
Rookies: The old adage that practice makes perfect, applies with drywall. So don't expect miracles when you first start learning to hang, tape and texture. Over time, you'll move up the curve.
Ceilings come first: Install ceilings first, then the walls. Not only is it nice to get the toughest part done first, but the edges of the boards on the walls will help support those on top. It's important to know what will be installed above the ceiling. If it's unsupported insulation, the drywall may sag because of the weight. Other ceiling sagging problems are caused by the condensation of water within gypsum panels. The simple rule: Keep it dry.
Gary Acton, product line manager for Goldblatt Tool in Kansas City, said to hang the top sheet first when you're hanging horizontally. "Come down from the ceiling four feet and simply nail a board onto the wall," he said. "You can set your sheet up on that board, so you don't have to try to hold it while you put your nails or screws in."
Selecting fasteners: Nails are common fasteners, but also pose a potential problem: They may pop out when the wood to which they are attached loses moisture and shrinks. The moisture content of most framing lumber is 15 to 19 percent. After installation, the moisture content will drop about 10 percent. This may not happen until the first heating season, however, and one of the signs of the shrinking lumber may be...nails popping out of drywall.
Special drywall nails, such as annular-ringed and cement-coated nails, help ensure good anchoring and minimize popping. When choosing, select the shortest nails that will do the job. In experiments conducted by the Forest Products Laboratory and Purdue University, shorter nails usually resulted in less space between the stud and the nailing surface after the wood shrinks -- which means fewer nails pop out.
Most professional drywall contractors opt for special Phillips-head drywall screws because they cut into the wood, hold tighter, and are less likely to work loose than nails. These screws are designed to depress the face paper without tearing it. Gene Hand, technical services representative for United States Gypsum, recommended drywall screws. "You can set the screw guns so that they automatically insert the screws slightly below the surface of the wallboard," he said. This process gives you more uniformity and helps make the finishing job easier when you apply joint compounds and tape.
Sticking to it: Some pros like using a glue with nails or screws.Using an adhesive means you use fewer nails or screws, and still provides strength equal to or greater than nails or screws alone. The pattern of the adhesive is important for structural strength. Use a single bead on studs and joists that fall in the center of wallboards. Apply adhesive in an S pattern on studs and joists where wallboard edges meet. Work in small areas when using adhesive, and don't apply more than can be covered in 15 minutes. If it's exposed too long, it'll begin hardening and skimming, which will prevent a good bond between the panels and the studs.
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Dealing with damage: Short of being damaged by abusive hard knocks, drywall panels are durable and will easily withstand normal handling. That doesn't mean they don't require some special care, however. You should store them away from moisture and strong sunlight. Water-soaked gypsum boards will sag and deform easily. Prolonged exposure to sunlight may discolor the face paper and make coating it more difficult.
Gypsum boards with damaged edges -- such as the plies of paper separating or the paper loosening from the gypsum core -- are more susceptible to ridging after joint treatment. When you find boards with damaged edges, cut them back to sound board before you install them.
Water-damaged panels also can cause problems, because the paper's bond may fail and delaminate. Dry wet boards completely as soon as you find them. If any area of the paper is delaminated after drying, peel it back to where it bonds soundly and skim-coat the entire area with joint compound. If there is extensive loose paper, replace the board.
Taking advantage of technology: Even if you aren't planning to get into drywall in a big way, a variety of tools can help you. "The fastest thing I could advise would be the inside corner tool, and possibly a corner roller," said Gary Acton. "Inside corners take longer to do than anything else, because you can only do one side at a time. With the tool and the roller, you can do both sides at the same time."
"Automatic taping tools let you tape and finish drywall three to four times faster than doing it by hand," said Susan Elise Singer of Singer Drywall in Greenville,SC. The tools speed up finishing by allowing you to apply mud and tape at the same time. Singer acknowledges that drywall contractors typically think in terms of, as well as purchase and use, sets of automatic tools. "It probably isn't cost-effective for a painting contractor, who only gets occasional drywall jobs, to buy a whole set of tools," she said. However, you probably don't need a complete set of tools -- at least not in the beginning. "There are some tools in the line that will speed up work enough that they are worthwhile, even if you only do one or two drywall jobs a month," Singer said. After you are familiar and proficient with the simpler tools, you can graduate to the automatic taper.
Paint Links
Allied Manufacturing
Benjamin Moore
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The Wonderful World of mud: Tape ceiling joints first, then wall joints, and finally the corners. Always do the angles last.To tape joints, first spread a layer of mud over the tapered edges of the boards. This helps partially fill the joints and provides a good surface to which the tape can adhere. Embed the tape in the compound by drawing the flat edge of a knife along it. Use sufficient pressure to squeeze out excess compound from the tape's edges. Don't get heavy-handed, however. Be sure to leave sufficient mud under the tape for a good bond.
After you've applied the tape, apply a thin coat of compound over it. This helps minimize curling and wrinkling along the tape's edges and makes the tape easier to conceal with subsequent coats. Remember to extend and feather out all subsequent coats of compounds about two inches beyond each previous coat. When filling fastener depressions, use just enough mud to level the dents and bring the compound level with the panel's surface. Using mesh tape rather than the conventional paper tape is another option. "That eliminates one step," Gary Acton said. "You don't have to do the bed coat."
Because the ends of gypsum board are flat, butt joints often are difficult to conceal because the raw edge of the paper may expand and create ridges. If you make an eighth-inch 45-degree bevel on the end of the board with a sharp utility knife, you'll keep the paper ends apart and reduce expansion problems. You also will minimize future problems if you make sure the ends are loosely butted together and not touching tightly.
Like other materials, gypsum board expands as temperature rises. For example, 100 linear feet of board will expand one half-inch if it's installed at 28F and the temperature rises to 72F. It's important, therefore, to install it at comfortable working temperatures -- above 55F -- to minimize expansion. You'll see the same amount of expansion when relative humidity changes from 13 percent to 90 percent.
Plugging the hole: When patching a hole, Gary Acton said not to lose too much time trying to be perfect. "Don't try to get the new piece of board to fit too tight. A little gap won't hurt anything, because you're going to put tape over the edge of it," he said. Leaving up to an eighth of an inch all the way around is fine, Acton said.
An equal amount of time can be lost "fussing" with lines left by the knife in wet mud. Neophytes "go back and try to smooth that line out, and then make another one, or two more, and they play with the mud too long," Acton said. "You can sand all that out a lot quicker later."
Acton also added that a wet sponge can save time if you have a single patch, or several small ones. Particularly in occupied places, where you want to keep dust to a minimum, sponging can be a quick way out -- you don't have to run out to the truck for the dustbuster.
