Basement walls not 16 or 24 inch centres

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Jcarter

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I'm planning on finishing my basement this year. Walls are already framed insulated and vapor barrier is up. Problem is none of the framing has been done with a 16 or 24 inch center. Spacing seems completely random. What are my options in this case. Do I have to move boards to correct the spacing or add boards in? Do I just cut all my drywall to match the spacing as best I can?

thanks for any help
 
Welcome.

The amount of you will need is first determined by the length of board you are able to stock in the space. Board is standardly available in 8 & 12' lengths.
 
My questions had to do with fixing the centres of the boards that are not on 16 or 24 Inch centres. So that when I hang the drywall i don't have to cut every piece. The length of the boards is irrelevant at this time.

Thanks for your reply tho
 
Cutting the drywall will be much easier than removing the vapor barrier, insulation and moving the studs. It will require more material.
 
you could put up the dry wall in 10 foot length sideways and the fore only have to put up a nailed every 10 feet.
 
Ok thats kinda what I was wanting to know. I was not sure if it was going to screw anything else up for me down the road if I did have to cut to fit each piece to fit.
 
You don't need to have the drywall fall on the studs where pieces are joined. cut some pieces of 1x4 and use them to join the sheets from behind. Screw it to the end or edge of the piece that's running long and then start your next piece attaching it to the strip.

Some people when running length wise do this on purpose and use a special joining piece that has a shape cut in it that bends the ends in slightly for taping and mud.

https://www.all-wall.com/Trim-Tex-B...hMQg32cN1SYGgD94DMyFln4HT8ah1pWhoCYAwQAvD_BwE
 
You might make a drawing with dimensions of where the boards are so you know where to put nails in...
 
You do not need to move the studs.

You can add a stud to make your break if need be. If you can get 12 foot boards into the basement, then mounting them horizontal would require the fewest boards.

I don't know how long your basement wall is, but a 50 foot wall would require no more than 4 added studs and that would solve your problem for less than $25 in materials. You would want to put the studs in before you add electrical or plumbing.

You might consider screwing the new studs in place if they are difficult to nail.
 
Just my 2 cents. As a homeowner I have found it really hard to transport and handle drywall sheets longer than 8' as i'm normally working alone or with a helper that's just mainly watching me except for some lifting.

I would do the butt-boards and figure out what direction I wanted the sheets and then measure from the start wall where my joints will land and if one is to close to a stud for a butt-board to work then cut the first sheet so that wont happen. That way all the seams will be factory edges. I would screw to all the studs and the butt-boards unless one was right next to it. 1x3 or 1x4 furring strips will work fine for butt-boards as well.
 
Framing is almost never perfect for hanging drywall vertically. Professionals hang drywall horizontally so they never cut off the tapered edge in a normal wall. Hang it horizontally and cut the drywall to the center of the nearest stud. You can put a backer board to put a seam in-between studs but I'd probably only do that if it reduced the number of seams on a wall. I like working with 12' sheets when ever possible to reduce the number of seams. Also, stagger your seams between the top and bottom sheets so you don't have floor to ceiling seams on your walls. Start one sheet on the left side and the other on the right so you stagger the joints by a stud or two.
 
Thank you for all you replies and tips. This gives me a couple options to try and figure the best thing for my project.

Thanks again
 
I will hang drywall vertically when a single sheet will cover the entire space, like in a closet or a narrow wall. Otherwise it is far easier to install it horizontally and tape one long joint at 4' instead of a series of 8' long vertical joints.
 
Do as Bud suggested. You do NOT need a stud at the joint; a 1x4 works fine. And yes, hang it horizontally and stagger your joints.
 
Like @Sparky617 said it is maybe easier to hide the long horizontal seam going sideways.



I am always working on old turn of the century homes and not the last turn of the century but the 1899-1900 ones. In those days studs were spaced by the length of the framers hammer and straightness was fixed up with a good half to inch of lath and plaster studs are at least a full 2x4 and sometimes hardwood and sometime yellow pine that smells like a fresh cut Christmas tree. They also mostly have 9’ ceilings and going vertical lets me use 10’ sheets cut to length and then not have any end joints to deal with.



Sometimes I’m going over plaster and sometimes adding Furring strips over uneven studs or joists so that I can shim everything flat and get the furring strip spacing for the edges of the drywall to fall on.



The OP might just want to run horizontal furring strips spaced perfect and forget about the stud spacing.

Every job is a little different ceilings are easy to go over as there isn’t trim and outlets and all those problems and losing a little height isn’t an issue. Walls are different as are basement walls.
 
Like @Sparky617 said it is maybe easier to hide the long horizontal seam going sideways.



I am always working on old turn of the century homes and not the last turn of the century but the 1899-1900 ones. In those days studs were spaced by the length of the framers hammer and straightness was fixed up with a good half to inch of lath and plaster studs are at least a full 2x4 and sometimes hardwood and sometime yellow pine that smells like a fresh cut Christmas tree. They also mostly have 9’ ceilings and going vertical lets me use 10’ sheets cut to length and then not have any end joints to deal with.



Sometimes I’m going over plaster and sometimes adding Furring strips over uneven studs or joists so that I can shim everything flat and get the furring strip spacing for the edges of the drywall to fall on.



The OP might just want to run horizontal furring strips spaced perfect and forget about the stud spacing.

Every job is a little different ceilings are easy to go over as there isn’t trim and outlets and all those problems and losing a little height isn’t an issue. Walls are different as are basement walls.

For higher ceilings they do make wider drywall allowing you to install it horizontally. I do a lot of volunteer work (well pre-COVID) repairing storm damaged homes in eastern NC. I was working on a house that the crew before us hung it vertically and ripped the tapered edges off. On the ceiling they ran it parallel to the joists and did the same. They didn't stagger any of the joints in the ceiling. I didn't see the finished product after it was mudded. I'm glad I didn't get stuck with taping and mudding it. I'm not sure popcorn could even fix that mess. I felt bad for the homeowner.
 
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