Sheetrock/drywall dudes - advice needed

[Sled Puller]

16 sheets for 10 x 12? Did you buy all 8 foot sheets? If thats the case, there is the high bid for mud. They HATE butt joints. Your sheets should be 10 and 12 footers, horizontal, with the short sheet on the lower side if the celings are shorter than 8 feet. That gives you one horizontal joint around the room, way below eye level.



Don't even tell me you stood the sheets up, and have a full vertical joint every 4 feet!!!!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I could barely manage getting 4x8 sheets around the corner and up the stairs into the 2nd floor. There's no way I'd do 12' sheets.



I didn't hang them vertically - but the previous owner did on the one wall in the front room downstairs. *rolleyes*



The other 'neat' thing about the 2nd floor of my house is that the (expletives withheld) previous owner built the walls with full 8' studs... so the ceilings are slightly higher than 8'. Idiot. That probably would also contribute to a high quote... :-{}



Thanks,



Matt

 

[Sled Puller]

heheheheh!!! 8'-3"? SWEEEETTTT!!!LOL



A long time ago, it has been said drywall guys would hang 3/8 vertical, then go over it again with 3/8 or 1/2 horizontal to make a stronger wall. I have never seen it done in person though.



It could be plaster and lath, so you are still ahead of the game. Or maybe now would be a good time to price paneling? :-laf

 

[rbattelle]

The other 'neat' thing about the 2nd floor of my house is that the (expletives withheld) previous owner built the walls with full 8' studs... so the ceilings are slightly higher than 8'. Idiot.

At the risk of looking like an idiot, why is it wrong to use full 8' studs?



Ryan

 

[Sled Puller]

Pre-cut studs, allow for the sole and double top plates(top and bottom of the wall) to make your interior wall at 8 feet. 92-5/8" if I remember right.



If you used a standard 8" stud (96") THEN added the sole and top plates, you are going to be over 8' by a few inches, therefore screwing just about every step after the rough framing.

(BTW rough framing is not serious. If you take time to make sure things are plumb and level, true and even, drywall is much easier, alos finsh trim, hanging doors, etc. . )



Either make your wall shorter than 8', at 8', or way over, but 8'-3" bites. :-laf

 

[Bill Lins]

You could always use a tall base molding (1x4 or even 1x6) to make up for the extra wall height. Just a thought.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Here's a crude drawing of what Gene's talking about...



I plan on using tall base molding, but I still have to fill in the gap with something. I plan on using wood ripped down from 2x4s. If I don't fill in the gap, the molding won't sit plumb and it'll be next to impossible to nail it at the bottom.



Thanks,



Matt

 

[rbattelle]

Either make your wall shorter than 8', at 8', or way over, but 8'-3" bites. :-laf

Okay, thanks guys now it makes sense to me. Great diagram, Matt.



Matt, what about using some crown molding in addition to the tall baseboards? Looks really nice (people think it's fancy), and it should be able to cover a couple inches of wall.



Ryan

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Thanks, Ryan. I get a kick out of reading and creating diagrams - always have since I was a kid.



Bear in mind that I'm finishing this house up in order to sell it. I don't want to get too fancy. After the drywall is painted and the trim is up... I will quickly approach the point of diminishing returns if I keep putting money/effort into the place. I gotta cut it loose before I invest too much and end up getting less at closing.



Cheers,



Matt

 

[rbattelle]

Bear in mind that I'm finishing this house up in order to sell it. I don't want to get too fancy. After the drywall is painted and the trim is up... I will quickly approach the point of diminishing returns if I keep putting money/effort into the place. I gotta cut it loose before I invest too much and end up getting less at closing.

I know, but crown molding can be had very cheaply, if you don't care that it's real wood. And it's not difficult to install.



Ryan

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Well, gents - we took the plunge and slapped some mud on the walls this past weekend! Starting on Saturday AM, I ripped down some furring strips and other scraps with the table saw to fill in the gap between the bottom of the 'rock and the floor - that took a while since the floors aren't completely level...



Even before we opened the bucket of mud, we each had a beer - I had 3. We started out by covering all the screws and then we tried our hand at taping a horizontal joint. I used the lightweight mud straight out of the bucket (Sheetrock brand) and the next day, I had to tear out about 3/4 of the joint because it looked like it lifted out.



I bought a 4. 5 gallon bucket of the normal weight mud and mixed in slightly less than two caps full of some stuff called 'No Pock' I ran across at Menards. Link... This stuff seemed to really help bury the tape - which is the biggest PITA of this whole process of taping joints. If you slap down too much mud before applying the tape - you run the risk of getting bubbles in there. If you don't have enough mud... it doesn't stick.



I'll have to take some pictures of the progress, but we got almost all the joints completed in the bedroom and the hall. My wife and I worked as a team - she put down the 1st layer, I layed the tape and smoothed it out and she covered it and did the final works on the 1st coat. So far, this system seems to work well.



Thanks again for the advice, guys. Once this stuff fully dries we get to see how much of our work has to be redone. :-laf



Cheers,



Matt

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Full speed ahead! Like an idiot, I didn't take any pictures this weekend - I had the camera and everything.



All that is left to do upstairs is to put up that inside corner bead stuff. I plan on using the metal stuff with the tape already on it.



I've also discovered this self-adhesive perforated tape - it works MINT... especially on butt joints without the bevel. We're really starting to get the hang of this and the wife mentioned the following (paraphrased) the other day: "Don't use this against me and don't be mad, but I'm glad that we're doing this ourselves. It isn't taking long and we're having a lot of fun and saving a lot of money. " She's a great gal and I don't blame her for wanting to get it done quick, but she's now aware that we can do almost anything by ourselves.



It just didn't feel right to hand over $2200 for this job. Now that we're more than 60% finished after only a few days work - it's money in the bank. Thanks again for all the advice, guys.



Thanks,



Matt

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

Heck, if things get too out of hand you can always go for the stalactite look and feel:-laf



Good luck, patience, elbow grease, and great peace be upon you marriage

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Heck, if things get too out of hand you can always go for the stalactite look and feel:-laf Good luck, patience, elbow grease, and great peace be upon you marriage

Thanks, man.



Matt

 

[Jengle]

Hey Matt! Wanna bring your "Crew" to my house for some work? I gots beer! I hate finishing drywall. BTW... Stage II CP3 eliminated the surge. I can hold 45psi, solid on 9x9. Now I need some bigger sticks to burn all this fuel that can be pumped in there.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

The 'crew' took a break from sheetrock duties last weekend. I was too busy moving snow, but plan on hitting the mud/tape hard this coming weekend.



Cheers,



Matt

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Here are some shots of the bedroom/bath - 1st coat of mud. I used the Sheetrock brand paper faced metal strips for the corners. I HIGHLY recommend using this stuff - it works very well and creates a clean, tight, and strong coner. It's ~$100 for 50 8' pieces, but it makes the job go quick and easy and the results are sweet.



I also used some perforated self-adhesive tape on the ceilings - this stuff was also well worth the extra coin.



I also ran into this neat little setup for cutting crown molding - not that I'm planning on using any with this project, but wanted to pass along the info to others since it looked neat: http://www.cutncrown.com/



Thanks to all that provided advice and words of encouragement - she'll be up on the market soon!



Thanks,



Matt

 

[JApol]

Your Hired !!!

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Your Hired !!!

When do I start? Can I charge $50/hr for 40hrs of work like I was originally quoted for this project?



The pictures do a great job of hiding all of the flaws that you can see up close... but we've still got 1 or 2 more coats of mud to go yet.



Thanks,



Matt

 

[PLaFrombois]

Matt



I think you need to post some before pictures, just so everyone knows what you had to start with. How's the stairwell to the upstairs looking? I still smile at our adjustments to the drywall, and finally having to take the boxspring apart in order to get it upstairs.



Paul