Best Way to Remove Drywall

[Augus7us]

I'm going to re-finish my basement. If you can call what it is today finished...

The PO put up framing and drywall but finished it by filling the joints with mud and painting it. When I say filled the joints, that's exactly what I mean. He didn't fill the bevels or use tape he just put mud in the "crack" or joint and painted it... I posted photos when I bought the place and the consensus was to tear it down

So what is the best way to do that without making a huge mess? I've watched some videos and seen everything from guys using magnets to find screws and removing every screw!!! To guys doing it tv style and just hammering it out.

What do you guys like?

 

[The Cobbler]

punch a large hole with a hammer, grab it and pull it off in pcs

 

[PCustoms]

Leave it up and re-mud the joints?

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, there are two ways that work; either Brute Force or Manual Labor.

 

[rustyjames]

Punch a hole, then use a garden hoe to pull from the back side.

 

[Citation]

Can you use a magnet to find the screw heads? If yes, is unscrewing the panels an option?

 

[bad_idea]

I removed the drywall from the walls in my attached garage at my last house to insulate. I ran the sawz all with a short blade down the wall between each pair of studs. It came off in large chunks that way. To minimize dust generated with the sawz all, hold a shop vac close to the cut and follow the saw. Be sure the filter in the shop vac is rated for drywall dust or it will just blow right out the other side.

 

[klassenl]

I removed the drywall from the walls in my attached garage at my last house to insulate. I ran the sawz all with a short blade down the wall between each pair of studs. It came off in large chunks that way. To minimize dust generated with the sawz all, hold a shop vac close to the cut and follow the saw. Be sure the filter in the shop vac is rated for drywall dust or it will just blow right out the other side.

This is what I do as well.

 

[Hank11]

I'd ask a real drywall finisher to come look at it and see what it costs for him to make it nice. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Lynden]

I removed the drywall from the walls in my attached garage at my last house to insulate. I ran the sawzall with a short blade down the wall between each pair of studs. It came off in large chunks that way.

I also use a short blade in a reciprocating saw. Short blades can be purchased (see links below) or you can make one by putting an old blade in a vise, braking it and shaping the tip on a bench grinder. The blade should have about 1-1/4" of teeth remaining. I cut along the same side of all the studs, top to bottom along the wall. This gives the most leverage when pulling off the pieces of drywall.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3JDGV2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91QcNK9NCQL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

 

[MWitte]

I prefer using a magnet to locate the screws or nails and remove them first. If you tear it out with a hammer in small pieces, you still have to go back and remove all the screws or nails. If you take the screws or nails out first, the drywall comes off in big pieces and you can minimize the mess in your work area. They make high strength, ball shaped magnets with a rubber type handle that makes finding nails or screws pretty easy.

 

[Dagny]

can you get at the backside? if so a 4 or 5 foot plank works well

 

[kaymccampbell]

I like a short 2x4 to break it, and knock it off the studs. Then remove the screws with a vise grips.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Leave it up and re-mud the joints?

This.

 

[PugetDude]

I'm going to re-finish my basement. If you can call what it is today finished...

The PO put up framing and drywall but finished it by filling the joints with mud and painting it. When I say filled the joints, that's exactly what I mean. He didn't fill the bevels or use tape he just put mud in the "crack" or joint and painted it... I posted photos when I bought the place and the consensus was to tear it down

So what is the best way to do that without making a huge mess? I've watched some videos and seen everything from guys using magnets to find screws and removing every screw!!! To guys doing it tv style and just hammering it out.

What do you guys like?

Pictures- let's see how bad it is- you may or may not have to replace it.

 

[BetterDays]

I removed the drywall from the walls in my attached garage at my last house to insulate. I ran the sawz all with a short blade down the wall between each pair of studs. It came off in large chunks that way. To minimize dust generated with the sawz all, hold a shop vac close to the cut and follow the saw. Be sure the filter in the shop vac is rated for drywall dust or it will just blow right out the other side.

I did this in the basement as well.
Much cleaner approach, although not as much "HGTV tear it all down with a sledgehammer" fun.

 

[gunguy]

I'd ask a real drywall finisher to come look at it and see what it costs for him to make it nice. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I'm in this camp. Did the PO mud the screws? If he did that will slow the process way down. Did the PO use glue and screws to hang the rock? if you're unsure, knock out one small section and check. If he glued, removing the screws first is pretty much a waste of time in my opinion. Note that some will use glue on the ceiling sheets and not on the walls.

Anyway, if you end up removing all the rock it gives you easy access to add any circuits, outlets, lighting you may want.

Good luck

Jim

 

[glentre]

Since you will be replacing the drywall anyway, have you looked into just laying a layer of new drywall over the old? Extension covers for the electrical outlets would be needed and some extra trim work around the doors. I don't imagine there would be many windows in a basement to deal with.

Gen

 

[larry4406]

If that’s the “level of care” administered on finishes, what was the quality standard on what’s behind and can’t be seen?

I tore out all of the “finished basement” at my current home. It was like an onion and never quit. Evil wiring, joists hacked and wounded, etc.

The drywall demo was brute force. Window box fans blowing dust outward and door to basement from upstairs propped slightly to allow makeup air for the fans.

 

[rcktsled]

Since you will be replacing the drywall anyway, have you looked into just laying a layer of new drywall over the old?

Definitely the best plan by a mile.

 

[ace10]

Removing drywall screw by screw?

Sounds like a taxpayer-funded project.

 

[cmandp]

The wife and I usually hammer holes and pull pieces off. Sometimes I'll score it with a utility knife first but usually only when I'm trying not to damage any surrounding drywall.

I would agree with what others said about what is the quality of the work behind the drywall if they finished the drywall that way. So IMO I'd tear it all out and start over.

 

[Bert_]

I pulled down a couple rooms worth of drywall by removing the screws first.

Nothing had been mudded yet so it worked very well and quick. Nothing bigger than 4x8 sheets and lots of scraps pieced together. Drywall is to cheap to deal with that.

Found a few gaps with no insulation once it was down.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Removing drywall screw by screw?

Sounds like a taxpayer-funded project.

Hahaha!

 

[HaiKarate]

Sounds like a job for "day laborers!

 

[APEowner]

I don't like handling material twice. I use a claw hammer and my hands to pull chunks off that I can either pitch out the window into a dumpster or into several trash cans. When all the available cans are full (or as full as I want to carry) I make some trips out to the dumpster or truck for a change of pace. Screws will sometimes come out with the claw hammer but if they don't then I spin out the ones that I can with the cordless driver and use vice grips on the others.

 

[Augus7us]

Thanks for the tips all!

The thought of fixing what this guy did has crossed my mind, and was mentioned when I originally posted about this. However, now that I've been here a few years I've decided to split the finished part of the basement into two rooms. Since he ran the entire basement on one circuit, no hvac and he didn't build in between the posts. He built next to them... I can fix a lot of that.

Since I'm finishing the inside of my barn, I have a lot of the supplies I need to fix all this and convert it into an office and gym.

Not looking forward to tearing it out but its a necessary evil. Sounds like I might be using a sawzall and removing some screws. For whatever reason he didn't paint the ceiling. I think he was drunk when he did it and left it as is instead of sanding it and fixing it. Might be easier to remove some of those screws.

 

[dwasifar]

If you're going to use a saw, make sure there's nothing you might cut into behind the surface. If there's insulation behind the drywall, you definitely don't want to be ripping into that with the saw. Ditto wiring and plumbing.

Personally, I'm of the hammer and crowbar persuasion. It's a mess, but it doesn't kick as much dust into the air as the saw will. Unscrew the remaining screws or cut them flat with a sawzall or oscillating saw.

 

[rustyjames]

Drywall screws snap off clean by hitting with a hammer.

 

[DGersic]

If that’s the “level of care” administered on finishes, what was the quality standard on what’s behind and can’t be seen?

I tore out all of the “finished basement” at my current home. It was like an onion and never quit. Evil wiring, joists hacked and wounded, etc.

The drywall demo was brute force. Window box fans blowing dust outward and door to basement from upstairs propped slightly to allow makeup air for the fans.

I did that once. Completely reworked the walls and ceiling in daughter’s room. Fixed all of the cracks and damage. Skim coated and sanded, with a box fan blowing out the window. Was working on this in the evening, after work. Finished up well after 1am.

Daughter’s room has west facing windows, at the inside corner of an L shaped house. The other inside corner is the bathroom window, facing north.

Bathroom window was open, with a light breeze blowing from the north.

Finished cleaning the bathroom around 4am...




Sent from my iPad using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[TTMotorsports]

I removed some drywall that was cracking at the joints bad by obtaining a long sawzall blade like 10 or 12" long and putting a slight bow to it and find the studs and cut along them to remove the screws and remove the pieces. A shop vac used for dust made it very tolerable. I saw someone had like a homemade 20" long sawzall blade so they could do 2 sets of studs are once when you could get from the side. He welded a sawzall blade, than a piece of strap sheet metal to the end and another sawzall blade to the end of that. The studs kept it from shifting side to side and light pressure let it work great.

 

[Showkey]

Overlay has real merit.

Pull it off the wall in large pieces by punching a hole...........100’ of wall should be down on the floor in a hour. 2 more hours to carry up the stairs. Out the window is time saver, container on a slide is an option. Another hour for vacuuming.

Unscrewing .........takes way to long.
Sawing creates too much dust for little gain.

It’s going to dirty and dusty anyway you do it........so do it fast as possible to minimize the pain.

 

[glentre]

For removing drywall, try grabbing large pieces and rock them in and out from the wall gently so you don't break off small pieces. The rocking action will result in the screws pulling through the drywall so you can do several bays at a time. Then just break off the screws with a hammer.

Glen