Drywall Joints.

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Which is easier, Wall board up but need to make it closer to the floor. Vertical installed. Want to run horizontial strips 8inch for filler. Do I want to butt joint or butt and recessed side for easier mudding Thanks
 
My ceilings are over 8 foot just under 9 foot. When I did mine I like the sheets vertical and leave the space at the bottom to fill in with pieces I cut off making the upper section. When I get an edge piece that has the contour I use that and tape and feather out the butt joint side. I use the mesh tape.

There are many different ways to do it that’s just works best for me. I guess I could have used longer sheets and not had to work with the joints. But working alone 8 footers are about my limit.
 
Best to do ceiling first in case the room is out of squarte that hides it, easier to fill. For beginers it is easier to stand the up just buy 10 ft sheets. Have a look at the foot jack for lifting them into place. Have you framed in any exposed concrete foundation walls?
 
When I have walls over 8' I use a 54" sheet on the top and a 48" sheet at the bottom running horizontally .All you have is 1 factory joint in the center and very easy to finish at that height.
 
I always try to use a building supply company especially because they deliver to where i need them. But I've never seen 54" drywall. Is it special order?
 
It's been around for years but lumber yards seldom carry it. New construction always uses a more specialized supplier. Same is true for all the trades.
 
If you are doing a ceiling by all means do it first. I agree with Neal it’s the easier way to make a tight looking corner and also the wall sheets being below it will help hold it up.

I have done the splice piece once and it worked really good and if I was stripped down to the studs I think I would run sheets across and do the splice at the end joints.

There is a company that makes the part but here is the DIY version.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/tips/invisible-drywall-butt-joints.aspx
 
If you are doing a ceiling by all means do it first. I agree with Neal it’s the easier way to make a tight looking corner and also the wall sheets being below it will help hold it up.

I have done the splice piece once and it worked really good and if I was stripped down to the studs I think I would run sheets across and do the splice at the end joints.

There is a company that makes the part but here is the DIY version.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/tips/invisible-drywall-butt-joints.aspx

A freind of mine tried this and found the screw would pull thru the drywall before it would bend into place. He never thought of wetting it like you would when bending it in a curve.
 
60" drywall is fairly common around here for 9 and 10 foot ceilings. You won't find it at the home center but a drywall supply house will have it. If you're doing 9' ceilings you use one 5' wide and one 4' wide. For 10' ceilings use two 5's. I haven't seen 54" wide sheets which would be 4' 6" wide, not saying they don't exist I just haven't seen them. I don't work in the trades so there is a lot of stuff out there I haven't seen.

If you're hanging sheetrock on stud walls IMHO and in the pros opinion it is better than hang it horizontally. IF all your studs line up perfectly and you land on a stud in the center of it with the sheets vertically go ahead and go vertical. Or if you have a narrow wall and one sheet covers it go vertical. However, in real life you may find that your studs aren't perfectly spaced and cutting the factory tapered edge off is never my first choice. It isn't a big deal to shorten a piece on the 4 or 5 foot side to line up with a stud. Going horizontal allows you to stagger the butt joints which makes them less noticeable than a single joint from floor to ceiling.

If you can handle it working horizontally with 10's or 12's depending on the room dimensions can sometimes eliminate the butt joints.
 
Sparky, makes a good point, standing them up requires that the layout of the studs is perfect.
I guess that's why pros make the money would have done things different. Just used 1/4 over existing plaster. Plaster and lathe in an 100 yr old house. Ran a level across bottom of drywall and cut then I cut some strips of drywall for the bottom. My mudding leaves something to be desired but I think it will work out, Thanks for the input. Next time will ask first.
 
I see that horizontal layout a lot, and it always puzzles me. More seams and more butt ends to work with. I usually see the one long horz. seam across the wall.
That plywood trick still has me scratching my head.....
 
But joints just need to taper out wider to make them look good. In new construction, they order for each room and get sheet up to 16 or 18 ft and you seldem see many but joints and they do popcorn spay on the ceiling cheaper than trying to get a perfect job

Laying plywood on it's side for outside sheeting is the preferred method with offset joints, provides a stronger wall, but we have never been called for turning the odd sheet the other way. We are required to have a vent hole somewhere in every cavity in outside sheeting, the space between the upper and lower sheets gives us that.
 
60" drywall is fairly common around here for 9 and 10 foot ceilings. You won't find it at the home center but a drywall supply house will have it. If you're doing 9' ceilings you use one 5' wide and one 4' wide. For 10' ceilings use two 5's. I haven't seen 54" wide sheets which would be 4' 6" wide, not saying they don't exist I just haven't seen them. I don't work in the trades so there is a lot of stuff out there I haven't seen.

If you're hanging sheetrock on stud walls IMHO and in the pros opinion it is better than hang it horizontally. IF all your studs line up perfectly and you land on a stud in the center of it with the sheets vertically go ahead and go vertical. Or if you have a narrow wall and one sheet covers it go vertical. However, in real life you may find that your studs aren't perfectly spaced and cutting the factory tapered edge off is never my first choice. It isn't a big deal to shorten a piece on the 4 or 5 foot side to line up with a stud. Going horizontal allows you to stagger the butt joints which makes them less noticeable than a single joint from floor to ceiling.

If you can handle it working horizontally with 10's or 12's depending on the room dimensions can sometimes eliminate the butt joints.

I am a remodeling contractor,not a sheetrock contractor but hang some drywall several times a week.sometimes whole houses.I have never seen 60" wide drywall but hear it is available on special order with a minimum of one pallet..I buy 54" drywall form a local lumber yard on a regular basis.It is also available at the local Home Depot and Menard's stores.
Anytime you can hang board horizontally and have one factory seam down the middle at an easy height to finish you are obviously better off.
 
I see that horizontal layout a lot, and it always puzzles me. More seams and more butt ends to work with. I usually see the one long horz. seam across the wall.
That plywood trick still has me scratching my head.....
yes,One horizontal seam with a tapered edge down the middle at a easy height to finish.In place of a vertical seam every 4' all the way down the wall.
 
Hard to argue with the pros. But I'm a homeowner without a crew, so too long and/ or too wide...........

I guess i only notice the bad ones when I see those horz. seams, but I see them too often. I like the idea of working at a comfortable level,, though.
 
A freind of mine tried this and found the screw would pull thru the drywall before it would bend into place. He never thought of wetting it like you would when bending it in a curve.


When we did the joiner strips we attached the one side solid to the already hung sheet and then attached the side that could cause you problems with screws pulling thru. It’s the same problem you get when trying to get any first screw on a wall or ceiling where the sheet has to deform a little because of the framing being out or when adding a layer over old plaster or such. Drywall board is pretty strong when you look at the total number of screws or nails holding it but it’s quite weak when you are trying to bend it with just a single screw.

The way we did it and it worked for us was take it slow and work several screws down together and do that end of the sheet before the rest of the sheet allowing the sheet hump out just a little. Doing ceilings and irregular surfaces and using props as I don’t have a lift, I have many times used a small square of wood with a hole thru it for a screw or even a strip of wood with a couple holes to draw the sheet up tight first then get as many screws in as I can and then remove the strip and screw it there. I know it’s a little time consuming and as a DIYer I don’t care about time as much as a pro might and also I have found getting those edges down and dead flush save me more time later with mudding.

I have never tried water except a failed attempt when I built the archway last year. I ended up doing that with slitting the back side. Worked much better. Drywall is funny stuff it will bend a lot but it wont bend fast. If you leave a trimming leaning against the wall or across saw horses over night the next morning it will have one heck of a bend set into it.
 
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