9’ basement ceiling but can’t get 12’ sheets down there

[55stone]

Good evening. We are starting to finish our unfinished basement in a house we had built. It has 9’ ceilings in the basement but the stairs turn half way down and we can not seem to get full 1/2”x54”x12’ sheets down there.. in the smaller rooms (we hung them horizontally) where we had to put 1 **** seem anyways we just cut the sheets and then carried them down stairs when they were shorter. But in the main area down there we have some long walls 20’ to 30’ feet. We will not be able to get sheets down there without having cut **** edges and that seems like a bad idea.. am I better to just install the sheets vertical? 1 sheet floor to ceiling? I can get 1/2”x4’x10’ sheets and cut some off every sheet and run them vertically. This would only keep tapered edges together and no **** seams.. thank you guys for any help with this!!

 

[FlaGman]

Can the sheets be scored, folded in half, carried down the stairs, then unfolded and installed? Worth a try if you are going to otherwise cut them anyway

 

[The Cobbler]

yeah, I would. it's harder to tape, but given what you're working with, it's probably worth it . you may have to scab some 2x4's if they're not perfectly on 16c-c

 

[The Cobbler]

Can the sheets be scored, folded in half, carried down the stairs, then unfolded and installed? Worth a try if you are going to otherwise cut them anyway

that would serve no purpose in my eyes. you still have to tape the cuts

 

[juddspaintballs]

Cut the back side, not the front.

 

[The Cobbler]

I understood that, but you still need to screw it & tape it or it will show like a sore thumb ,

 

[Old tool guy]

Cut the back side, not the front.

Exactly. Cut the back straight and carefully, fold and unfold carefully.

 

[nadogail]

If it was easy, anybody could do it; we Garage Journal folks are exceptional and we can find a way.

 

[engineer2]

I don't see any problem with vertical. I like the idea of tapered edges being together. I had the same issue. 9 foot ceiling and could only get 10 footers down the stairs. I hired a relative who was a contractor, so I don't remember if he did them horizontally or vertically.

In our area basement flooding is always a consideration, so we try to do the lower course of drywall horizontally with green board and styrofoam insulation for the bottom 2 feet or so. That way if it gets wet for a short time, you can usually dry it out without having to tear it all out. You also need to make a way for water to drain out from behind the wall and get air in there.

 

[The Cobbler]

Exactly. Cut the back straight and carefully, fold and unfold carefully.

and that's going to not show when you fold it back open?

 

[Zeke]

You can't fold drywall unless you're doing an arch and are going to float the whole thing. Vertical is fine. There are 2 reasons to prefer horizontal, one being better shear value and two, easier to tape with mechanical devices.

 

[nmk_61802]

Not sure I understand your problem 100%.... cut **** edges aren't really different than factory. You just don't really want tapered to **** (but even that can be hidden by a good finisher). I'd probably cut and add another joint in the larger rooms.

IMO vertical wall to ceiling joints are too easy to get a stripped looking going on.

 

[johnre]

Folks, it's a basement. Not the front entry hall.

From what I've seen of some recent sheetrock work, the cut-the-back-and-fold-in-half approach seems fine to me.

 

[mike93lx]

I'd do vertical seams

 

[nmk_61802]

Folks, it's a basement, not the front entry hall.

From what I've seen of some recent sheetrock work, the cut-the-back-and-fold-in-half approach seems fine to me.

Why do it at all then?

Not really knocking the folding idea, but has anyone that mentioned this ever tried it? My experience with drywall tells me one of two things will happen.

1. The initial fold will "unbond" the paper from the gypsum on the front a short way around the fold.

2. The cut gypsum will not "fold" back together as cut and will buckle around the cut.

Both instances will require taping and blending to fix as another poster mentioned. Unfortunately this fold will most likely not be backed by a stud though resulting in bigger issues.

 

[GrayFlattop]

Good evening. We are starting to finish our unfinished basement in a house we had built. It has 9’ ceilings in the basement but the stairs turn half way down and we can not seem to get full 1/2”x54”x12’ sheets down there.. in the smaller rooms (we hung them horizontally) where we had to put 1 **** seem anyways we just cut the sheets and then carried them down stairs when they were shorter. But in the main area down there we have some long walls 20’ to 30’ feet. We will not be able to get sheets down there without having cut **** edges and that seems like a bad idea.. am I better to just install the sheets vertical? 1 sheet floor to ceiling? I can get 1/2”x4’x10’ sheets and cut some off every sheet and run them vertically. This would only keep tapered edges together and no **** seams.. thank you guys for any help with this!!

Not sure why you would buy 10’ sheets if you run it vertically. Most suppliers carry 9’ sheets - or at least they do here.

If you really want to use 12’ sheets, you could cut a large egress window in the foundation wall or remove the stairs temporarily.

Perhaps running the sheet’s vertically looks more attractive when you consider your options.

 

[Dig Doug]

Is the ceiling already hung?

can you take apart the stair railing / wall ? To stock the drywall

**** joints get taped anyway so whats 3 joints instead of 2 - stagger your **** joints! Do Not stack them

make sure your studs are flat and true - aligned ( not wavy in /out ) take a level/ straight edge and check them !
That will make the drywall finishing work way easier

a Pro taper will be able to make it awesome! They are Magicians and can make things disappear !!

 

[WildBill]

You are already going to be butting ends together, so not sure why it matters. Just make sure you end on a board or add backing, also cut a angle on each edge where they **** together to hold mud. At least thats what I did 18 years ago in my basement, and you can't see any seams. Or run them upright. Either way I would be tempted to leave an inch clearance on the bottom and hide it with baseboard just in case of moisture.

 

[wssix99]

1) Cut a hole in your stairwell wall.
2) Pass the sheets through the hole and down into the basement.
3) Patch and repair the slit you created in the stairwell wall. (Or better yet - Install a trap door in the hole so you can get the pool table, couch, etc. more easily down there.)

 

[The Cobbler]

1) Cut a hole in your stairwell wall.

actually this is a great idea, if it gives you the clearance you need, and you might just have to cut between 2 studs .might save a lot of work in the long run.

 

[rancherbill]

Pop the windows in the bedroom. Escape type windows are big and a 54 should go through on some models.

Otherwise bring normal 48" inch dryway through the windows. Put the 4' on the top and the bottom off the wall and put a 1 foot piece in the middle. Then you are just doing one wide joint instead of 2 joints especially the one that normally would be on the floor.

 

[wssix99]

^ Yea, this is how its done during new construction but in reonovation situations folks forget

actually this is a great idea, if it gives you the clearance you need, and you might just have to cut between 2 studs .might save a lot of work in the long run.

^ Yea, this is how its done during new construction but in renovation situations folks subconsciously put themselves "in a box" defined by the drywall that's already been put up.

 

[The Cobbler]

In the mid 80's I renovated an upstairs to an old house. The stairs were small and L shaped. about 5' was all that would go up. I took out a window and had the drywall craned in. back then the cranes weren't as common place as they are now.
there was quite an audience on the street watching it all in action .

 

[larry4406]

In new construction, we often cut a hole in the sub-floor and chute the drywall thru it to the basement. We also crane/boom it thru 2nd floor and attic windows.

 

[55stone]

Thanks for all the responses. lots of ideas, to answer some of the questions. yes the ceiling is done or will be. There is a egress window already but its not big enough to get the sheets i was talking about in. I also dont really want to cut a hole in the wall so im passing on that.
Question for you guys, is a cut **** seam ok to put up against a factory **** seam? if it is. then i could just do that. still use the the 54"x12' sheets and just have 3 **** seams 2 would be factory **** seam to factory **** seam and one would be factory **** seam to a cut **** seam. I know I'm being difficult and its just drywall and you have to finish it anyway, also a good finisher can cover alot. just trying to make it as easy as i can on whoever i pay to finish it lol.
Thanks!!

 

[mike93lx]

Thanks for all the responses. lots of ideas, to answer some of the questions. yes the ceiling is done or will be. There is a egress window already but its not big enough to get the sheets i was talking about in. I also dont really want to cut a hole in the wall so im passing on that.
Question for you guys, is a cut **** seam ok to put up against a factory **** seam? if it is. then i could just do that. still use the the 54"x12' sheets and just have 3 **** seams 2 would be factory **** seam to factory **** seam and one would be factory **** seam to a cut **** seam. I know I'm being difficult and its just drywall and you have to finish it anyway, also a good finisher can cover alot. just trying to make it as easy as i can on whoever i pay to finish it lol.
Thanks!!

If you are paying someone to finish it, have them hang it. You'll likely be surprised at how cheap it is and if they own the hanging, their taping will be easier

 

[logical]

I did mine vertical. I am 100% more likely to get a good result with tapered joints and you don't need the extra shear load value that might come from horizontal in a basement wall.

 

[CraigStu]

While I understand the horizontal advantages I don't see the reason for doing horizontal in a basement. I like the chamfered 8, 9, or 10ft edges butted together. The are a heck of a lot easier to tape and mud for me than joints w/ full thickness edges. If you run the drywall vertical every joint will be tapered edge to tapered edge.

 

[Viper98912]

Sounds like you just need smaller sheets

 

[Old tool guy]

Question for you guys, is a cut **** seam ok to put up against a factory **** seam?

Yes. You probably want to run a sharp blade down the face of the board to chamfer the face paper, to be sure no edges are standing up.

 

[duneslider]

I have this issue with my house too. This is actually the number 1 item I would have changed about my house.

Anyway, I have been taking all the construction materials in through a basement window. I have one window that I use for this and there are 4 screws holding it in, I can pop the window out in a couple minutes and slide in everything that needs to go in. 12' sheets of drywall go in great. I put a couple 2x4s from the top of the window well down to the floor and then we just slide the sheets down the hole. Works great honestly. I even slid a couch through the window a week ago. Bummer your windows aren't big enough, I put 5' wide windows in the basement so I could do this and not have an issue.

Also, the 54" sheets are expensive, I am just doing a 48 on top and a 48 on bottom and putting the slice in the middle, it isn't hard taping the seam like this and just takes a little more time than a regular seam. Other than having one more seam to put tape, on the mudding part was no different and was at a perfect working height.

 

[duneslider]

While I understand the horizontal advantages I don't see the reason for doing horizontal in a basement. I like the chamfered 8, 9, or 10ft edges butted together. The are a heck of a lot easier to tape and mud for me than joints w/ full thickness edges. If you run the drywall vertical every joint will be tapered edge to tapered edge.

Except unless you are really tall, you can't tape that seam continuously and you will be on a step stool doing the top to middle, then off the stool doing the bottom to middle. I also suspect you end up with more seams to tape in a lot of cases compared to the other way. It's way easier having the majority of your seams at roughly 48" where it is super easy to work without stools, stilts, etc. You can mud that belly band WAY faster than all those vertical seams.

 

[csp]

Get your drywall from a drywall supplier. They have 9' sheets and you don't have to mess with anything out of the ordinary.

 

[dave*99]

I don't see any problem with vertical. I like the idea of tapered edges being together. I had the same issue. 9 foot ceiling and could only get 10 footers down the stairs. I hired a relative who was a contractor, so I don't remember if he did them horizontally or vertically.

In our area basement flooding is always a consideration, so we try to do the lower course of drywall horizontally with green board and styrofoam insulation for the bottom 2 feet or so. That way if it gets wet for a short time, you can usually dry it out without having to tear it all out. You also need to make a way for water to drain out from behind the wall and get air in there.

I live in a flood zone. Lots of Densglass and similar fiberglass mat gypsum panels are used here.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I'd cut the sheets to length and hang them vertical.

 

[jonesg]

Folks, it's a basement. Not the front entry hall.

From what I've seen of some recent sheetrock work, the cut-the-back-and-fold-in-half approach seems fine to me.

they're gonna know.

 

[mike93lx]

Except unless you are really tall, you can't tape that seam continuously and you will be on a step stool doing the top to middle, then off the stool doing the bottom to middle. I also suspect you end up with more seams to tape in a lot of cases compared to the other way. It's way easier having the majority of your seams at roughly 48" where it is super easy to work without stools, stilts, etc. You can mud that belly band WAY faster than all those vertical seams.

You still need to mud the seam at the ceiling and vertical joints. A pro would absolutely run around that room on stilts, no problem.

Hire out drywall work. It's worth it

 

[jonesg]

I know I'm being difficult and its just drywall and you have to finish it anyway, also a good finisher can cover alot. just trying to make it as easy as i can on whoever i pay to finish it lol.<<

you're gonna pay the same whether you think its easier to finish or not.
any decent finisher can make anything invisible.

 

[jonesg]

Except unless you are really tall, you can't tape that seam continuously and you will be on a step stool doing the top to middle, then off the stool doing the bottom to middle. I also suspect you end up with more seams to tape in a lot of cases compared to the other way. It's way easier having the majority of your seams at roughly 48" where it is super easy to work without stools, stilts, etc. You can mud that belly band WAY faster than all those vertical seams.

homebrew foolproof methods create more problems , the main seam becomes one that is unsupported with no backing.
any pressure ,such as merely leaning against the wall, will crack the joint.
i know because i've tried it, i could care less because its in the garage.

 

[CraigStu]

Except unless you are really tall, you can't tape that seam continuously and you will be on a step stool doing the top to middle, then off the stool doing the bottom to middle. I also suspect you end up with more seams to tape in a lot of cases compared to the other way. It's way easier having the majority of your seams at roughly 48" where it is super easy to work without stools, stilts, etc. You can mud that belly band WAY faster than all those vertical seams.

I see your point but I am a lousy tape and mud-er. So the beveled edges make a world of difference to me. Standing on a 3step ladder to do the top of each joint is much easier for me than tape and mud w/ non-beveled joint.