Vertical or Horizontal Drywall Installation?

[The Money Pit]

I've got a guy who wants to install my drywall vertically instead of horizontally for my walls that are 8' in my garage. He says it's less joints for him to mud and tape. He also wants to use 4'X8' sheets. I told him I might use 4X12 sheets and he didn't like the idea. I would think there would be less joints with the 12' sheets. He used to do drywall work but he doesn't do it for a living. I asked him if I had someone else hang it, if he would finish it. He doesn't seem like he would want to work it out that way. Just need some opinions.

 

[PAToyota]

As a DIY'er, I typically have done the joints vertical because it is easier to deal with the tapered joints and not have to deal with the **** joints. Personally, I've never had any luck getting a **** joint to look right - but that is just me, not a professional.

Now if your walls are less than 12' long, I'd definitely go horizontal and use the 4' x 12' because you'd only have one tapered joint to tape.

Technically, going horizontal is more structurally sound since you're spanning across more studs. But that is rarely an issue with residential construction. I would recommend going with 5/8" Type-X for the fire resistance and added impact resistance for a garage setting.

 

[bmwpower]

I've always done horizontal. Tapered joints are easier to mud when you can reach the whole length by walking side to side instead up and down a ladder. Always use the biggest sheets you can. He probably doesn't want to do big sheets if he's doing it alone. And yes, it is more structurally sound to go horizontal. You'd be surprised how much rigidity drywall lends to a wall. **** joints aren't that hard to do, it just takes more time. You have to feather everything correctly with big knives in order to make it look seamless.

 

[ovilla]

What is the preferred method for hanging the upper sheets, when hanging them horizontally? Should the top sheet be aligned the same as the bottom sheet or should the ends meet at the center point of the bottom sheet? I've seen them both ways and am confused as to how the professionals do it.

 

[OldCarGuy]

It’s a trade off rigidity verses ease of installation. By placing drywall horizontally you get a seam that isn’t backed by studs around the entire room. In that case 5/8” drywall is a must. I would use 8’ sheets of fire rated 5/8” drywall installed vertically leaving the factory edges over the studs. Thus simplifying the mud work.

A trick for **** joints is to remove the top paper of the drywall wide enough to inset mesh style fiberglass seam tape. Then mud.

 

[BowtieNut]

I used to hang drywall in the summers back when I was going to school, and we always did the sheets horizontal. But then again, we had a professional come in and tape/mud it. Oh, and stagger the **** joints - you don't want two **** joints lined up on the same stud.

 

[xsponge]

Lots of different ideas here, personally and professionally, I would agree with PAToyota as far as using 12' sheets horz in a run less than 12'. I would also remphasize what bmwpower said about the value of hanging horz as far as structual strength. Allways stager the **** joints, and never cut back the paper as was suggested by someone, or you eliminate alot of the gain of hanging it horz for strength. I too would use 5/8" firecode, when it comes time to mud it, make sure that the bottom taper joint gets a coat or too of mud just to fill the taper void. **** joints are easy to finish ya just gotta spread em out further, or feather them out further, whichever terminology you prefer. Horizontally hanging it will put the weakest point of the sheet, which is the ends, where there is no paper, the paper is actually what gives a sheet of sheetrock its strength. Anyways, it puts that end of the sheet in position to be nailed/screwed to a solid piece of wood that is held rigid by the fact that the other piece of rock either above of below is on the same stud in the middle of the sheet.

 

[tomstin]

How long are the spans? Sheet rock comes up to 18ft long as I recall. Use the biggest sheets possible and horizonal, the joints will look much better. The largest I used was 14ft, pretty tricky, but only one horizonal seam, wall looked REAL nice!

 

[MAINIAC]

I agree with most of all these answers except if your trying to use sheetrock to add structual strength your haven't built it tough enough. not to say it doesn't add ridgidity but it shouldn't be a concern. if this guy wants to hang and tape vertically, let him have at it. He will know to land joints on a stud and unless your rocking to a living area BOCA doesn't require fire code 5/8. Make sure to mark your studs so when you want to put up shelving/hooks etc you will be able to find then easily after rock is finished and painted. Just my 2 cents.

 

[D-Cal]

I used 5/8" type X hung vertically. My ceilings are 9ft, so I used 4x10s.

I found some good lessons about mudding and taping here:
www.drywallschool.com

If I could impart one piece of wisdom, it would be: smooth and feather the mud as much while it's wet as possible, and take your time sanding it - don't rush and don't allow yourself to get so tired that you make mistakes and not sand enough. The smallest mistakes will show when you paint.

Good luck.

 

[The Money Pit]

All good advise. I had another guy come out and look at the job and he was asking me if I wanted to leave the rear rail hangers for the garage doors where they are and not remove them and re-install them after the rock was up. I don't know how it would look if it was done that way or if I would mess up the sheetrock by trying to re-install them later. I'm a little leary about hiring this guy because he was asking me what I wanted to do with some things. I checked him out on my states Contractor Board website and found out he's not a licensed contractor. He was a nice enough guy and seemed honest but I don't know what I'll do. I'll get a few more estimates before I make a decision. The thing is, right now it's so hard to find people that want the work because they are so bogged down with current jobs. It's frustrating because after I get it installed I can move along with finishing it up and getting my final inspection.

 

[bmwpower]

I've always dropped the door rails in order to install the sheetrock. Looks better that way, IMO.

Guys that ask you what you want to do could be good...could be bad. Hard to say. I will say that my mason (who sucked) asked me what I wanted to do on just about everything. My impression was he either wasn't creative enough to come up with ideas to offer me or he didn't want to bother thinking too much on the job. The funny thing is when I told him what I wanted, half the time he would say "Oh, you don't want that!". Um, yea I do, you a$$. Be carefuly with this guy.

Why not try to install the rock yourself? A bunch of guys on here have done it (including myself) without too much trouble.

 

[customperformance]

If you have the time and paitence and can rent or borrow a drywall jack do it yourself. For me I try to do everythign myself even though sometimes I would have gotten things done faster by paying someone else. Ever since one job i overpaid someone else to do and when i picked it up it was unfinished and for what was paid i could have boughten all the equipment done it myself and still had money left over. I would much rather do a job myself and have it be an ok job than pay good money for someone else to do a substandard job and be unhappy about it and have it be a constant reminder.

 

[D-Cal]

I did it myself, and was glad I did - but mostly because I learned a lot. I do things myself primarily for that reason and tell myself that it's OK to make mistakes and take a lot longer than a pro would. Sanding an 800 sq. ft ceiling will painfully point out under-used muscles. I rented a lift, and bought some tools like a 4ft drywall square which I have used several times since. Hindsight says I should have rented or made a stable but rolling platform I could stand on and reach the ceiling easily for mudding, taping etc.

If you want it done fast and right, hire a professional rocking crew not a handyman. They will blind you with their speed in getting it done. Aside from drying times, a couple of hours at most for a single large room like a garage.

Around here there is a massive shortage of workers. It's tough to even get someone to come out and estimate, let alone do the work. If you're an out-of-work tradesman, come to Alberta.

 

[PAToyota]

If you do end up doing it yourself - rent the drywall jack AND rent one of those Porter Cable drywall sanders. They are so nice! You get a bit sore just from holding the weight of the thing while you're using it, but it does not compare to the SORE that you are after sanding by hand. Also, the attached shop vac cuts down on the dust tremendously. Still wear a dust mask, but you (and your shop) won't be coated with dust.

 

[The Money Pit]

After completely exhausting my resources, I finally found the guy who did the rock in my house. The good news is that he's going to hang the rock in my garage. The bad news is that I've got to take out the end window to get it boomed into the second story to keep the window from getting torn up. I need to get the siding fixed so I will have that taken care of when I have the window put back in. I'm not sure what he's going to charge but I know he'll do a good job and won't stick it to me on the labor. He also knows a finisher. It's a relief to get the garage construction out of stall mode but it's stressful getting everything lined up for the final steps of the construction.

 

[Bill K]

You should have gone down to one of the new housing devlopments in your area and find the drywallers then struck up a deal. Most love side work especially when paid in cash.
Davy Crokett to Jim Bowie at the alamo. Damnit Jim we can't let em get in.
They will have this place sheetrocked in 15 min.

 

[The Money Pit]

I'm just tired of looking. I thought of scouting out the new construction sites but the rock guys are usually in and out in a day or two. This is a side job for the guy who's doing it for me. I haven't talked to him in over 4 or 5 years so I'm not sure who he's working for during the day. He said him and a couple of other guys could knock it out in 4 or 5 hours. Sometimes it's like I take one step forward and 2 steps back. I'll probably be working on it all winter finishing the trim, laying carpet, tile in the bathroom, hanging cabnets, etc. I had set a completion date of Christmas but it looks more like Christmas of '07.

 

[Coach James]

"Davy Crokett to Jim Bowie at the alamo. Damnit Jim we can't let em get in.
They will have this place sheetrocked in 15 min."

Coach

 

[The Money Pit]

Ok, I found my sheetrock installer. He's not on a tight schedule and will not rob me on the price. He knows a finisher so I don't have to look any further. I called to have the rock delivered and the only places that have a boom truck won't do it unless the front window is removed. I got a guys # from my rock guy who is going to come by Sunday and take it out for me and look at fixing the siding where my first siding guy botched it up. I called back to have the rock delivered and now they are telling me that they can't get it in because the R.O. is only 46" and not 48". It will be plenty wide to angle it in. It's only 42 sheets. The guy at the rock supply co. told me a month ago that they could do it if the window was out. Will they be able to angle it to get it in the window? I'm getting frustrated. So close but yet so far.

 

[bmwpower]

Tell them to walk it in with you and some guys. I've done this before.

 

[The Money Pit]

They don't want the liability if they mess anything up is what I'm thinking. That's why they told me to remove the window so they wouldn't have to replace it if it got banged up. My rock installer told me to tell them that he would be there and pull it in the window himself. It also sounds like they don't want to work for the delivery fee they are charging me. Also they don't consider it a full load because it's under 150 sheets. I guess it's not cost effective for them, but how else am I going to get the rock up to a second story? I can't cary 12' sheets up the stairs! They won't fit!

 

[bmwpower]

I guess you have to pull the window then. Seems like people want to do less and less for more money everyday.

 

[The Money Pit]

Yep, it's nuts. I'll post what ends up happening. They've got plenty of room but don't want to waste their time delivering it even though they are less than 5 miles from my house and getting over $200 to deliver.

 

[oldgoat]

I called about havng the sheetrocking done on my garage and the contractor sent out one of his employees and he gave me a quote. Sometimes the companies are busy enough and are willing to let their employees do the small jobs like garages. They couldn't get to my garage with the truck and hand carried it back there. Only took a few minutes and to me it would seem easier just to do it than taking out a window and trying to fit sheets of rock through it. I think it was less than $50. for delievery also. Hope you have good luck either way. Also if you do the sanding I bought a attachment for my shop vac at Lowe's that cut down on the dust a bunch and wasn't very much I think something like 20 or $25.

 

[The Money Pit]

Called the rock company back today. I told the guy who sets up deliveries I had taken the window out and was ready to order and set up delivery. He then told me that they need at least a 50" vertical R.O. to get the rock in and couldn't do it. I told him that I understand his delivery guys just want to drop and go and if he didn't want the job there was another rock co. that was a little more expensive and I would call them. He IMEDIATLEY changed his tune and all of a sudden he CAN get it in the opening. Amazing... Delivery is set up for Friday. I'll post what happens. For some reason I don't think this is the end of it.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Why not put them horizontal .and then where the 2 pieces join at 4 feet up the wall place a board like a chair rail. It will cover the joint and give you some protection from knocks and bumps, you could even use the board as a base for cabinets and shelves

 

[The Money Pit]

Well, I get a call around 11 this morning and they are on their way to deliver the rock. They had a boom truck, I guess they have to have one for each delivery in case they need to boom some to a second floor or just simply put it on the ground. the only thing I had to do was take the flood light dome and bulb out so they wouldn't hit it. Half an hour later, they were done with no problems at all. I have no idea why the guy at the rock company had an issue with delivering it. The worst that could have happened IF it wouldn't fit ( I knew it would though) was they sit it downstairs and it would have to be cut to be moved upstairs. My installer called me tonight to let me know he would be here around 8:30 am to start. He said they would be done hanging it in 3 or 4 hours. He's cutting me a good deal. 8 bucks a board to hang and about $10 to finish. That's a big chunk out of the "to do" list on this thing. Once the rock is finished, I can paint, hang cabnets, trim it out, lay the carpet upstairs, finish the bathroom and I'm done! I had set a completion date of Christmas of this year and I just might make it.

 

[firebird 97]

18 bucks finished is a good deal I used to trim house's back in the late 80's early 90's and that was the going price for sheet rock back then.

 

[The Money Pit]

They worked on it most of the day Saturday. Got done with the upstairs, hallway, downstairs closet, and 1/2 of the ceiling downstairs. They were going to come back today and finish hanging it but I guess decided to take the day off. They are supposed to come back Monday morning and finish it up. Hopefully the finisher will have it done by the end of next weekend. Once that's done it's all down hill from there!

 

[The Money Pit]

They showed up early this morning with the finisher. They were done hanging the rest of it by 11am and the finisher got the upstairs taped and the 1st coat on. It looks and feels totally different. I had to move things back in tonight because it's supposed to rain the next 2 days. I'll get pictures up soon.