Do you place your drywall horizontal or vertical?

[V-10 Killer]

Got a question for everyone who has done drywalling. When you're hanging it, do you place the drywall sheets horizontal or vertical?
My uncle has done it for 25+ years and he's recommended laying sheets horizontal so that you can reach the entire tape seam in one motion. But I've seen MANY MORE jobs install the sheets vertically. I imagine the finished wall height would play a factor. Anyway, how does everyone here do it?

 

[indyracer]

I have done it both ways, but I find horizontal easier. Just my $.02

Tony

 

[Down Under Bloke]

If you are fitting skirting and/or cornice, I recommend horizontal so you have less high spots on the joins.

 

[Junkman]

By placing it horizontal, you have the tapered seams all at a easy working distance, and if you purchase sheets that are long enough, you can do most walls with just two pieces. I have seen sheet rock that was 24' long for chimerical work. Most places only have them up to 20' lengths. I would rather waste a little material and have a better job with only the horizontal seam whenever possible.

 

[bmwpower]

Horizontal, for all the reasons mentioned. My ceiling is 14 foot+ high. I can't imaging doing sheets verticle.

I also think sheets laid horizontal provide much better strength to the wall since the studs run perpendicular to the drywall.

 

[V-10 Killer]

Great replys everyone. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[boiler7904]

How tall are your walls? What sizes of board are available locally?

Work those two together to reduce the overall amount of seams and eliminate as many **** joints as possible.

The other thing to do is hide your seams if possible. If you have 10' walls and want to run the board horizontally, put the 2' rip of board at the bottom with the cut side down. Eventaully, stuff sitting along the wall will hide that seam.

 

[1320stang]

20' drywall, 24' drywall? Longest drywall I've ever seen is 12', I once carried 2 sheets of 5/8" 12' firerock about 100'. That's when I was a strapping lad of about 20 and it about wore me out anyway. I tried just carrying one sheet after that but it broke in half.

Drywall is like particleboard, one way is not stronger than another. In my opinion, the best way to lay it is with the fewest end seams as possible, especially if you are not texturing the wall. In my opinion, texture is just a patch for shoddy workmanship. If you have 8' ceilings for 100', I'd lay 8' sheet vertically. If you're going less than 12', 12' sheets layed on their side are best.

 

[V-10 Killer]

Walls will be between 10' and 10' 8". Still a little planning to do as far as how many rows of blocks I'm gonna use. Probably wind up being 10' 4" (10' studs, 4 1/2" worth of plates, and -1/2" for ceiling drywall) worth of wall on 4" of exposed block. But if I can use 4" block, I might run the drywall right down to the ground and put a backsplash on it.
I'm looking at some custom trusses over where I plan for the 2 post lift to be so I don't have to try to heat the extra 2' of a 12' ceiling all the time.

We typically have 8, 10, and 12' lengths of drywall around here at reasonable prices. I could go to longer lengths, but I don't think I'll really need to.

I figure my interior wall dimensions will be 29' 4" x 35' 4', so I was figuring on laying them horizontal and using 12'ers. I think that would work best.

 

[V-10 Killer]

I once carried 2 sheets of 5/8" 12' firerock about 100'. That's when I was a strapping lad of about 20 and it about wore me out anyway.

Tell me about it, I used to deliver for a lumber company. Nothing would piss me off more than having a customer promise to have someone there to help unload drywall, and "forget" to be there. If they had a problem with the lumber company, I was always the one to pay for it. I can't believe the **** I put my back through for $6.00/hr.

 

[1320stang]

Don't do 1/2" rock on the ceiling, do 5/8", it's not too bad if your trusses are 16" oc but if they're 24" oc the 1/2" will tend to sag, 5/8" won't. Whenever doing drywall ceilings, we always specify 5/8".

 

[rodnok1]

The main reason for running drywall horizontal is purely cosmetic, less seams to see. If you look down a wall that has drywall vertical it will look alot more wavy since the seams are every 4 feet.To keep walls looking straight you really should run a long straight edge down the studs to make sure they are even and plane or shim if needed, few actually do it, but at least check for way out of wack studs.

 

[rotus7]

Walls will be between 10' and 10' 8". Still a little planning to do as far as how many rows of blocks I'm gonna use. Probably wind up being 10' 4" (10' studs, 4 1/2" worth of plates, and -1/2" for ceiling drywall) worth of wall on 4" of exposed block. But if I can use 4" block, I might run the drywall right down to the ground and put a backsplash on it.

If you run the drywall all the way down covering the exposed block and the block is exposed on the exterior, make sure you put some waterproofing on the block, either on the exterior or interior before covering it with drywall. You don't want the untreated block contacting the drywall because it will soak up all the moisture from the block causing all kinds of problems down the road. You don't want mold and mildew forming where it's touching the block because it will eventually spread throughout the interior of the wall.

 

[dps]

I think there is little if any difference in strength for direction, except on ceilings where mfg.'s recommend perpendicular to minimize the chance of sag. I would agree with rotus7 that you might pay some attention to the part that is over block. Even with standard stud construction I would still consider using a product like DensShield for the first 6-12" or so off the floor since the stuff is waterproof and mildewproof.

In your case I would hang 10 foot sheets vertically and make up the difference at the bottom with a waterproof product. Stud alignment and straightness make a bigger difference in appearance than having a tapered seam every 4', and even though it's a pain in the neck to crawl up and down doing vertical seams, you save a lot of time not having to feather butts (my pro friend uses a 24 inch knife to do that- 12 inches is my handling limit).

 

[Junkman]

When installing 5/8" sheet rock on ceilings, I suggest that you use 1" x 2" wood strapping spaced 12" apart. It will make for a better job, and you won't have to worry about any sagging. I use sheet rock screws on both the strapping and the sheetrock. I also did my entire garage in fire code 5/8" sheet rock because the local code required it.

 

[tintoptexan]

About the only thing I can add to this discussion is that when the Sheetrock is horizontal there are unsupported seams between the studs. If there are any hard bumps on the wall at the location of the seam, it could crack the bed joint compound. When vertical, all of the seams are on a stud and no joints span from stud to stud. If the wall is taller that the rock is long, then the unsupported joint will more than likely be higher than any abuse zone. Just my 2 cents worth. Joe

 

[V-10 Killer]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom everyone. I fully understand the waterproofing along the side blocks. I planned on sealing it with either the leftover epoxy or Drylok or something. I'm just trying to figure out how to finish it nicely inside. It might just be easier to use 4" block where it will be exposed, and run the drywall flush with the block face. Then waterproof the blocks.

 

[W-Cummins]

About the only thing I can add to this discussion is that when the Sheetrock is horizontal there are unsupported seams between the studs. If there are any hard bumps on the wall at the location of the seam, it could crack the bed joint compound. When vertical, all of the seams are on a stud and no joints span from stud to stud. If the wall is taller that the rock is long, then the unsupported joint will more than likely be higher than any abuse zone. Just my 2 cents worth. Joe

That and for a fire rated wall you have to have the joints over studs or if horzizontal you will need to add blocking.

William...

 

[cdrewferd]

About the only thing I can add to this discussion is that when the Sheetrock is horizontal there are unsupported seams between the studs. If there are any hard bumps on the wall at the location of the seam, it could crack the bed joint compound. When vertical, all of the seams are on a stud and no joints span from stud to stud. If the wall is taller that the rock is long, then the unsupported joint will more than likely be higher than any abuse zone. Just my 2 cents worth. Joe

I have always cut the rock to end on a stud so that all the **** seams are supported.