[lacyj]

Hi,
We started hanging the sheetrock on our new house and aren't sure if we're supose to do the ceiling first or the walls first. We did the first room by doing the ceiling first and when we hung the wall board it was too long. We had to trim of between 1/4" and 1/2" off each sheet. The wood framing has been up for about a year and is now dry, could it have shrunk that much? Should we start the second room by doing the walls first and then trying to fit in the ceiling rock? Or, continue as we have been, trimming each piece?
Thanks for any advice,
lacyj

 

[gspig]

By doing the ceiling first, you are supporting the edges of the sheetrock. You could hang the ceiling second if you put some wood between the rafters for the ends to screw into.

 

[Guest]

Hi,
We started hanging the sheetrock on our new house and aren't sure if we're supose to do the ceiling first or the walls first. We did the first room by doing the ceiling first and when we hung the wall board it was too long. We had to trim of between 1/4" and 1/2" off each sheet. The wood framing has been up for about a year and is now dry, could it have shrunk that much? Should we start the second room by doing the walls first and then trying to fit in the ceiling rock? Or, continue as we have been, trimming each piece?
Thanks for any advice,
lacyj

Not sure how you are doing the walls but sounds like you are doing it vertically. The walls should be done horizontally. If the walls were built correctly you shouldn't have to trim sheetrock except around doors and windows.

 

[lacyj]

Yes, we're hanging the wall vertical, so that the untapered edges are at the top and bottom. The beveled edges that need tapeing are up and down. That's the way it shows in the books, we have. If you ran them the other way, how do you get them flat?(At the taping stage?) We have scrap wood along all the edges, at ceiling level, so that we can screw the sheet rock in. We could hang the rock either ceiling then wall or wall then ceiling. It just seems easier to fit, by doing the ceiling first. It's just to two of us doing it and ceilings are hard to work on.

 

[sdrew]

Just let someone else do it,.. that's the PROPER method !!!!! Taping and sanding is worse though !!!!

 

[FolioMark]

I'm with Sdrew on this one too. The drywall man is worth every...I repeat EVERY penny you pay him. The how to books say anyone can hang drywalll ..which is true....but not everyone can do it right and get it smooth. Hanging and finishing
drywall with your beloved is the quickest way I know to end up in the divorce court or facing a murder charge. It doesnt matter what method you use, its gonna be a pain in the neck. Hire a Drywall man. You wont regret it for a minute. And think of the pleasure of walking into the house in 3 days time to smooth perfectly taped and mudded walls ready for primer and paint. Ohhh Bliss OOHHHH Rapture. and NO Im not a drywall man nor do I play one on TV. Just bitter experience.

 

[Highground]

Yes, we're hanging the wall vertical, so that the untapered edges are at the top and bottom. The beveled edges that need tapeing are up and down. That's the way it shows in the books, we have. If you ran them the other way, how do you get them flat?(At the taping stage?) We have scrap wood along all the edges, at ceiling level, so that we can screw the sheet rock in. We could hang the rock either ceiling then wall or wall then ceiling. It just seems easier to fit, by doing the ceiling first. It's just to two of us doing it and ceilings are hard to work on.

Do the ceiling first. First wall sheet next to ceiling running horizontally all around the room. Next do the bottom sheets. That's the way the pro told me to do it.
Cut out around doors and windows...no seam within one stud of door or it will crack over time. Work from the top down. Worked for me.

 

[lacyj]

Having someone else do it, is not an option, I'm laid-off and DH is retired. Money is very tight. We started with the hardest room first, the master bedroom, and it's almost done. We're doing the closet now. It's been about a week, for just the one room. It's a small house, 1000', the living room/kitchen area has a vaulted ceiling, we can get some friends to assist in hanging that part. We're still talkin' to each other, and have become very good @ "measure thrice and cut once... The measure twice, cut once, wasn't working very well...

 

[ajoys]

Hang the ceiling first.

The walls get hung horizontal. You can get drywall in lengths longer then 8' so if you have a room that is say 10'x12' then you will only have horizontal/tapered edges to tape (not counting the corners of course) and they will be in the middle of the wall etc....

By hanging vertically and using longer drywall you will have much fewer joints to tape.

Another tidbit, when hanging over door/window/light fixture/electrical boxes etc... just hang the drywall right over with just a few screws first, then use a drywall router to cut out the openings by using the opening as your guide with the drywall router bit and then finish screwing it on. Makes the job go much faster.

 

[waltseed]

Lacy, no reason you can't do it.
Do the cieling first. Then the wall sheetrock will cover the ends that don't always come out even.
Then I always do the ways vertical. If the walls are about 8 feet tall, then you can suport the sheetrock with a special tool that levers up the sheetrock as you step on the tool. The tool is really just a bent piece of sheet metal. With it I have done drywall by myself. Not that I recommend doing it by yourself. But it can be done.
Ceiling first, covering the corner with the wall with the vertical sheetrock, then cover the little gap at the bottom with baseboard.
Actually, the guy I learned from liked to not use baseboard so everyone could see that he had done a perfect job and didn't need baseboard to cover anything. But I found that I have things to cover unless I work too slow.

 

[Kelle in MT]

Sheetrocking and taping isn't that big a deal once you get the swing of it and have the right tools. Do the ceiling first, and I'd check with your homeowners insurance company to see if you had water damage how they would handle it. Some good friends of ours got flooded a few years back and the insurance said they would only replace the bottom 4 ft of the wall, unless the water level was higher than that. By laying the wall horizontally you will only need to replace full 4x8 sheet all around the room. Our friends sheetrock had been done vertically, so they had to cut and piece the whole perimeter of the room. It doesn't make a difference in it's appearance when finished but could save you some hassle down the road. Make sure you get your mud thin enough to spread on smoothly and apply the joint tape( paper, as the woven is worthless) and mud as your first layer. Don't worry about being to precise and you can knock down any rough spots when it's dry. Sand the first coat lightly removing any rough or high areas. The second coat of mud you'll use this to fill in any imperfections, you'll also want this to be applied with a medium width knife. sand again when dry being sure to sand all edges totally feathered and smooth, without roughing up the paper on the sheetrock. Apply your third and final coat of mud with a wide knife, being sure to keep the coat as smooth and light as possible. Give it a final sanding with ultra fine sand paper. Primer and paint.
Corners are a bit tricky. Inside corners use the joint tape folded down the center lengthwise, mud both sides of the corner and apply tape. Smooth the tape and sqweege out excess mud. Let dry, now add a medium coat of mud being sure to feather out the mud onto the wall more, dry and sand. You may need a third light coat to remove any blemishes. Outside coners you buy metal corner and mud over the top of it, down both sides keeping it as smooth as possible, feathering it out onto the wall. A second coat maybe needed to fill in any areas in need of filling.

Hope this helps and just remember to take your time and you can remove it and start again,that is when it's still wet. I'm not fast at mudding, but I rarely have to sand it, just use the knives to knock down any high spots. Good luck.

PS. Take the money and rent a ceil jack for sheetrock for your ceiling. It's a blessing to those who would have to stand and hold it while someone else is screwing on the sheetrock. I know, I've helped hold up many sheets

 

[mimsmommy]

You have my empathy as you two work on this project together. My DH and i did most of the drywall ourselves to save money--and i will second the save your marriage and hire someone advice! I have not so fond memories of the two of us trying to hang ceiling drywall. we made a brace of a couple of 2x4 so that the piece could be proped up--it was like a T. you probably have the specs for one in your how-to book, but it did help us. We hung our ceilings first and then hung horizontal--that's how my dear father said we should do it-- and since he was doing gen contr for free, we didn;t argue!

You will be amazed at what the finishing can cover, just don;t get in a hurry when you go to tape and finish. It may take more passes and sandings to get it just right than you would like--but the finished project will be worth it. You might also look into having the walls texturized. it is a very small cost compared to the other finishing costs-- and it really adds to the finished look, and hides some flaws(ceilings esspecially).
mimsmommy

 

[lacyj]

Thanks everyone,
I know, we can do it, it's just weird,that there isn't a full 1/2 inch space on the bottom edges of the walls. We're using a roto zip to trim the rock. We built 3' off the ground and live on the side of a hill, if the water ever gets that high, it'll be because of THE BIG QUAKE, and we'll have beach front property.... we're 150 miles inland....
Is there anything I need to know about using greenboard around the shower???????????
thanks again,
lacyj

 

[ajoys]

You can use green board on the bathroom walls but not on any walls that will get directly wet (shower walls)

Don't use it on the ceiling either unless you have 12" oc joist spacing.

 

[Kelle in MT]

Water flooding can be caused by a leak on water lines, washer hoses, overflowing bath tub( started and forgotten by a child ) etc.....

 

[Frank in AZ.]

Kelle wrote:

"PS. Take the money and rent a ceil jack for sheetrock for your ceiling. It's a blessing to those who would have to stand and hold it while someone else is screwing on the sheetrock. I know, I've helped hold up many sheets "
----------------------------------------------------------

Of all the great advice posted ... this is the best.
There are many acceptable ways to hang, tape and mud the walls, but there's only ONE sane way to hang the ceiling ... RENT A JACK. The few $$$ it cost's to rent one is well well WELL! worth it.

Have fun,
Frank in AZ.

p.s. Also, there are inexpensive phillips head bits specifically made for driving DW screws to the proper depth. Pick up a few when you go to rent your ceiling jack.

 

[lacyj]

We were going to use the greenboard behind the shower walls. The walls are preformed plastic, but are in five pieces, two angled corners, the back and two sides. Hadn't concidered getting enough for the whole bathroom. I thought it was only necessary, behind the shower area. The bathroom will have tiles floor and probably have tile half way up the walls, also. Sort of like chair rail height.
The 1/2 inch clearance on the bottom or the rest of the reg. wall board is supose to be for accidental flooding, isn't it?
lacyj

 

[ed/IL]

Agree with the ceiling jack. Rent one for the day and do all ceilings that day. Some rental stores give you free Sundays if you rent Saturday and return first thing Monday morning. If you have the time use it on the wall top sheet. Sheet rock is hung across the studs not with them. For ceilings glue and screw. If you have any stud to out of straight shim with cardboard or shave a little off to true it up a little. For the do it yourselfer I recommend marking the stud / screw lines, only take a second and can be a big help getting the screw in the correct spot especially on the ceilings. If you have seams on the non tapered side of the rock be sure to stagger them. No 4 way intersections of seams if possible. Be careful to not hit any wires in the wall with screws. Make sure you have phone wires, etc., run to every room. Also for the do it yourself person it is easier to hang then tape. Do you closets at the end of the job and use the smaller scraps if they fit rather then cutting into a new sheet. There is a cheap tip for your drill that sets the screw at correct depth with small dimple. Not to deep or sticking out to far to mess up your tape job. If you can feel a screw with a dry trowel it is not deep enough and will mess up your tape job. Take care installing your corner bead. No dents nailed tight and square to the wall. If it moves you can not tape it right.

 

[Guest]

Actually, the guy I learned from liked to not use baseboard so everyone could see that he had done a perfect job and didn't need baseboard to cover anything. But I found that I have things to cover unless I work too slow.

Any good contractor would laugh at this. MAKE SURE you leave an inch or so gap between the wall and floor. Otherwise, one spill or toilet overflow and the water will seep into the wall and the drywall is ruined.

Unlike most others here, I recommend careful work with the trowel, as I find sanding to be the most tedious part of the job. Here's a tip: A wet sponge can be used to smooth small imperfections in the mud between coats--this can cut down on the sanding.

 

[ajoys]

We were going to use the greenboard behind the shower walls. The walls are preformed plastic, but are in five pieces, two angled corners, the back and two sides. Hadn't concidered getting enough for the whole bathroom. I thought it was only necessary, behind the shower area. The bathroom will have tiles floor and probably have tile half way up the walls, also. Sort of like chair rail height.
The 1/2 inch clearance on the bottom or the rest of the reg. wall board is supose to be for accidental flooding, isn't it?
lacyj

Green board is just moisture resisitent, not water proof. This is why it is used on the walls in the bathroom and on the ceiling if you have the proper joist spacing, it will not be effected by occasional moisture from steam etc...

Green board on the walls is an OK subtrate for the tile as long as it is not inside a shower or on a tub surround. For the walls and a tub surround use a cement backer board with a moisture barrier, either plastic sheet or felt paper, behind the cement backer board.

A lot of tract homes just use the green board in showers and tub surrounds to save money but over time, 2-7 years, the green board will get mushy and the tiles will start to fall off.

As far as the preformed plastic panels for the shower, follow the manufactures directions. I only have experience in building showers with tile walls and floors.

When you put the tile on the floor, make sure you have the proper substrate.