Drywall, Gap or No Gap

[Rincon]

I am about to begin hanging the drywall in my basement and have been told two different ways for hanging it. I am going to hang it horizontally, but my question is whether or not to leave a gap between the sheets or to butt them up together. If I am to gap what would the distance be? I am told about an 1/8th. I have hung drywall before however just helping hold and cut, and never paid much attention to the gap or not.
Thanks

 

[Quattro]

There is no reason to leave a gap. Drywall sheets now come with a beveled, or "scooped out" long side that mates up to a corresponding beveled edge of the next sheet. They do this so you can lay in mud, tape, and more mud and not worry about creating a hump in the wall. This will work well for you.

I'm about to drywall my basement as well, but only the top 4 feet of the walls. The bottom 4 feet is brick, and I don't want to cover that. The problem I'll run into is making the vertical seams between sheets look good...since there is no bevel on the short ends, as far as I know.

 

[Rincon]

Guess you could run them vertically so that you keep the beveled edges, however it would mean more cutting and mudding right? I was wonderig about the non beveled edges. I am not planning on mudding, just the hanging. In an effort to keep costs down.

 

[Quattro]

Ah, I see...yes of course you will still have non-beveled edges contacting each other...duh! Man, I'm losing it!

Yes, I plan to hang mine horizontally to reduce the number of cuts. Even knowing that, I don't see a benefit to leaving a gap. You'll just have to fill it with compound anyway.

 

[BLZBUB]

No need to leave a gap between sheets. The taper you hire will know how to handle this condition and it will not inflate his price. Just make sure your install is solid. Eight screws on the edges, six in the field is the rule of thumb.