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💾 Archived View for zaibatsu.circumlunar.space › ~visiblink › phlog › 20210214 captured on 2024-08-25 at 02:41:56.
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Well this is a very different post. Most people will just 
want to move on...

tfurrows mentioned that he will soon be installing some 
drywall, so I thought I'd share my tips on tools, materials, 
and techniques. I'm sure I have forgotten things in the 
tools and materials lists. I'll likely update this post if I 
recognize any omissions.

There are a couple of product links below, which seems so 
contrary to the spirit of gopher. My apologies, but they 
were the easiest way to go.


Tools: 


	get a carrier like this: 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stanley-Panel-Carry-Orange-93-300K/202262083 
For less than $10, your back will thank you forever. It's 
great for carrying plywood sheets too. 


	if you're doing a ceiling, consider buying or renting a 

lift, like this: 
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Troy-Professional-Drywall-and-Panel-Hoist-DPH11/203900041 
I've done the ceilings in most of my house over the years 
and the lift is so much more civilized than wrestling panels 
to the ceiling and jamming those 2x4 T's up under them. If 
you're working alone doing ceilings, the lift is an absolute 
necessity.


	a utility knife, a drywall saw and a drywall square for 

cutting panels. 


	a drywall dimpler bit for your drill -- and the screws. 

Choose a screw length that will prevent you from hitting 
anything electrical. I hesitate to make a recommendation on 
the screw length, because I don't know the electrical code 
where you live.
 

	you'll need at least a four inch and a ten or twelve inch 

taping knife. For holding the mud, a hawk is better than a 
drywall pan, but you'll have to figure out how much you want 
to spend. If you can borrow any of this stuff from friends 
and neighbours, all the better.


	a foot-long sanding block and some metal screen 

'sandpaper' for sanding across joints. 


	foam sanding blocks are great for finishing and doing the 

inside of corners. You don't need many of them and they seem 
to cut down drywall much better than anything else.


	vacuum bags for a shop vac, if you have one.



	a five gallon bucket is always good to have around.



Materials: 


	buy the lighter drywall panels. I generally look for 

"feather lite" or something like that. I don't even know why 
they make the original kind any more.


	the pre-mixed mud in the boxes that the contractors use is 

the best. I use the joint compound for the first fill and 
the finish compound afterward. The lite stuff sands easily 
(it almost comes off the wall like icing sugar). It also 
dents easily, but it hardens up once you prime it.


	drywall tape and corner pieces.



Techniques:


	if you're drywalling rooms with walls less than 10 feet 

long, hang the panels horizontally across the studs on your 
walls. Doing so minimizes any 'waviness' in the studs. 
Anywhere that it's possible, buy panels that stretch the 
full length of the walls. Panels are usually available in at 
least 8, 9, and 10 foot lengths. That leaves you with only 
a single center seam (and the corners) to mud later.


	nail or screw in a couple of pieces of wood just a little 

over 48" down the studs from the ceiling to rest the top 
panels on when you're putting them in. Then remove the 
temporary rests and put in the bottom panel.


	if the walls are longer than a single panel length, you'll 

probably want to hang the panels vertically.


	measure twice, cut once. I don't know how many times I 

have marked out a cut improperly and caught it by 
re-measuring.


	I tend to use paper tape on the flat joints and inside 

corners.  The metal/paper outside corner pieces are great. 
You put a layer of mud on the corner, press a metal corner 
into it, squeeze the mud out from behind as much as possible 
by running your knife over it, and then mud over it.


	for me, the inside corner pieces just seemed to create 

more work, but I'm sure some people swear by them.


	use the stick-on mesh tape on ceiling joints. You can use 

it elsewhwere too instead of the paper tape, but on the 
ceiling it's great because it allows you to focus on putting 
the mud up without having to hold the tape in place.


	avoid butt joints (where you are joining two of the 

non-indented ends of panels) if you can. Sometimes it's 
unavoidable though.


	think long term when you're sanding and mudding. It's 

going to take several days. Unless you're more talented than 
I am, or manage to make one of those inside corner knives 
work, you can only do one side of a corner at a time. 
Everything needs to dry between coats. So realize that (even 
though you're going to get dirty on multiple occasions), 
it's best to plan to mud for a few hours and then walk away 
until the next day, when you'll sand and mud again.


	bring the shop vac with you when you sand. Some sanding 

blocks have a vacuum attachment that sucks air through the 
sanding screen. I find that the screen plugs a lot. So I 
just hold the vacuum below whatever I'm sanding. It keeps 
the dust down a fair bit. If you do this, wear hearing 
protection. Of course, you'll need a dust mask too. I prefer 
the rubber respirators. Good luck finding decent N95 paper 
masks that actually conform to your face these days.


	watch a few different youtube videos. You'll absorb 

different things from each person. There's a guy named 
Shannon with a channel called HouseImprovements who explains 
things very well. I also remember watching a channel called 
Vancouver Carpenter when I was learning to do butt joints. 


	if you're pulling down any old drywall, it may contain 

asbestos. Protect yourself, your family, and the people who 
work at the landfill by following the local requirements for 
removal -- or hire a professional to do the demolition work.