Drywall on tall walls

[itb76]

I understand it's best to hang drywall horizontally, staggered if possible, but the framed parts of my exterior garage walls are 114-1/2" high. In this case wouldn't it be easiest to order 4 x 10' sheets, cut 6" off the end, and hang them vertically? Thankfully the ceiling and interior wall were done when the house was built.

I appreciate your feedback.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

You're going to need 12 foot sheets correct? i have heard of drywall being hung vertically with no problem.

 

[tfi racing]

I'd would still lay them horizontally and come up with a way to make up that 1/2 inch,a lot less waste and a lot less taping.How close are you getting to the slab?Maybe a tall baseboard or 2x curb or MDF strip would do the trick.

 

[mmg440]

That would be three sheets height horizontally (what ever length you choice to work with or buy). If hung vertical you would what the 12' sheets for sure even though they would work out nicely for horizontal . Two horizontal seams or more verticals. I personally would go horizontal. It would be a preference of what you want to tape and what will be easer to hang for you. The way I see in this case not much different ether way.

 

[Kevin54]

Drywall can go up either way on walls, but most drywallers prefer horizontal for ease of hanging, taping, mudding. And id your walls are 144 1/2" then three 12' sheets horizontally will work just fine. Just be sure to stagger your seams by at least 4' for strength

 

[itb76]

My mistake, I originally posted the wrong height; I'm afraid I had one beer too many after Thanksgiving dinner! The walls are 114-1/2", or 9' 6" with a 1/2" gap at the bottom which I understand is what you want. Going horizontal would leave me with the bottom course of drywall only 18" high. Is that preferable to hanging them vertically?

 

[Piper]

If it were me I would for sure hang the drywall vertically. The big point here is that when you do that you have tapered edges on the drywall to mud. Dealing with the ends of the drywall (non-tapered) is a drag and with them vertical you don't have to. I've done a ton of drywall and always avoid taping and mudding the end of the panel if possible. Sure it's a bit harder to hang the boards but the finished wall will be as smooth as silk. Now before I get a ton of flak about "oh you don't know how to finish the panel ends properly" -- I do. I just like to make my job easier. Vertical is easier.

Piper

 

[Kevin54]

Going horizontal would leave me with the bottom course of drywall only 18" high. Is that preferable to hanging them vertically?

Nothing wrong with that. That will give you two pieces @ 18" out of one sheet of drywall and a 12" piece of scrap. Unless you can use that 12" piece somewhere else. But you will have scrap no matter what. Just sit and figure which way leaves the least scrap. Ideally, you want hardly any scrap and the least seams possible. Drywallers like to work from ground level mainly and it makes it easier for someone doing mudwork to go with the drywall horizontal. But it is also 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. If it is run horizontal, then you have the non tapered seam at each end of the drywall that has to be feathered out farther each way so it all blends in when sanded. If the drywall is ran vertical, then all you have is tapered seams that need to be mudded and taped. These blend in to nothing if done correctly and will make a smoother wall. But a good mud guy can make any seam look good. Personally....if it were me and I was hanking it and mudding it, I would buy 10' sheets and hang it vertically. If you are going to do it all it is your preference. If you are going to hang it and someone else finish it, ask them what their preference would be.

 

[buzz]

One disadvantage to hanging vertical is that the wall will not have as much strength as when they are hung horizontally. So if it's on a long straight wall, might want to hang it horizontally to give it full strength potential. I forget any exact numbers, but recall hanging 1/2" drywall horizontally would be stronger than hanging 5/8" vertically.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Its a garage gentle man not a palace.

Hanging vertical is fine. Yeah its not as strong as it would be if hung horizontally. But the wall itself must be strong enough by itself if the code book allows it to stay with bare studs. And finishing tapered joints is a lot easier then finishing but joints.

Glen
________
Dodge Daytona

 

[dmogto67]

Go horizontal, and hang the 18" piece with the cut edge down toward the floor. That will give you a factory edge to factory edge joint when you hang a full piece above it. You won't have to tape/mud any **** joints that way.

 

[toadjammer]

They also sell 54" wide drywall, you will have to check with your local dist. to find out availability in your area. SOme of the Menards in my area carry it and the gymsum supply places definatley have in in 12' lengths.
Toad

 

[6768rogues]

I would hang it horizontally with the piece in the middle. Most of the finishing is in the same location. Vertical will work ok, but flex in a tall wall would be more likely to cause a crack in a vertical orientation.

 

[z28toz06]

I think if you placed a nailer between the joists at the first 4 foot tape joint/seam it would be just as strong as hanging horizontally. The only place that this seems to be an issue is when hanging rock on a ceiling. It tends to sag when you do that. If you took a 2 foot by 2 foot piece of sheetrock out of a sheetrock panel I don't think you could tell where the top or the side of it was. Sheetrock, like concrete, has compaction strength and no shear strength, (which is why they put steel in it) so by putting some cat walks for nailers at the tape joint you would increase its shear strength.

When I do finish my walls I will place 4x8 panels of plywood of some sort along the bottom 4 feet, so I can hang anything I want along it and not worry about punching holes in it or moisture, etc. I have 10 foot walls So I would do 4x8 sheet at the bottom and then buy 12 foot rock panels and cut them in half.

 

[Kevin54]

Go horizontal, and hang the 18" piece with the cut edge down toward the floor. That will give you a factory edge to factory edge joint when you hang a full piece above it. You won't have to tape/mud any **** joints that way.

You still have **** joints at each end of the piece of drywall. Which is fine, it just needs to be feathered out a foot or two each way of it to blend it all in. Here is a pic of when I filled in an archway between the kitchen and family room. Notice that each side of the drywall consisted of a but joint due to the existing drywall and then filling in the space with new. You can get a good idea as to how much it is feathered out by the screw holes being 16" on center. The wall looks as flat as can be with no noticable signs of any build up. But with it being a **** joint the farther out it is feathered the flatter it will look.

 

[itb76]

Got it, thanks for all the input. I'll price the 4x10 sheets vs 4x8 and see which way to go. Doing 4x8 sheets horizontally may be the way to go, lighter weight (I'm not big) and maybe easier around the electrical boxes. May not be as soon as I think; I've been cleaning the garage for two days and still have work left before adding a few outlets and insulation. I'll try to take some photos when I'm done.

 

[5wndwcpe]

If it were me I would for sure hang the drywall vertically. The big point here is that when you do that you have tapered edges on the drywall to mud. Dealing with the ends of the drywall (non-tapered) is a drag and with them vertical you don't have to. I've done a ton of drywall and always avoid taping and mudding the end of the panel if possible. Sure it's a bit harder to hang the boards but the finished wall will be as smooth as silk. Now before I get a ton of flak about "oh you don't know how to finish the panel ends properly" -- I do. I just like to make my job easier. Vertical is easier.

Piper

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