Drywall is a hard sheet of finished material that is used to cover the inner walls of houses and businesses. Drywall construction is the process of hanging walls without the use of cement or plaster. You’ll need to place drywall along with the studs that frame your home if you want to add or fully renovate a room.
Although you may hire a professional drywall commercial contractor to assist you, hanging drywall is a simple task that you can complete on your own. It’s a low-cost material to work with, and if you make a mistake, it’s easy to correct. Aside from the drywall itself, you’ll need some equipment and supplies to do the task properly. To make commercial drywall hanging a success, follow our drywall installation guide and discover some recommendations from professionals.
Materials & Tools Required
Drywall does not need a significant investment in equipment. Many of the tools you’ll need are likely already in your daily use, and the other materials aren’t prohibitively expensive.
Materials
- Drywall
- 2 x 2 (for optional crutch)
- 1-5/8-inch drywall screws
- Drywall nails
- 1-1/4-inch drywall screws
Tools
- Hammer
- Level
- Tape measure
- Taping knife
- Pry bar
- 4-in-1 screwdriver
- Chalk line
- Cordless drill
- Drywall saw
- Safety glasses
- Utility knife
- Screw gun
- Stepladder
- T-square
Step By Step Guide For Hanging Drywall
We’ve demonstrated to you how to utilize the same techniques and tools that the Houston drywall services experts use to do the drywall work quickly and cleanly.
1. Prepare The Space
Check the walls for anything that may poke through and produce bumps in the finish, as tempting as it may be to just slap the drywall on and call it a day. You’ll also want to remove any old nails since you don’t want to see any nail pops. After all, if they aren’t adequately insulated to keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There’s even a level in there! Before you begin hanging, make sure your surface is level.
2. Start With Ceiling
Measure and mark where the wallboard will go on your ceiling before you start putting it up. Measure from a corner that forms a 90-degree angle with the joists, the horizontal framework components that span on top of load-bearing walls, to determine where to place the first board.
Mark the new measurements on the first board’s edge. Place the drywall on its edge and break the extra material from the opposite side with your knee. Mark the area on the top plate where the joists cross the wall to identify where to insert screws throughout the drywall panels.
3. Install Drywall On The Ceiling
You can accurately Drywall install the panels now, that you know where they should go. Place the first board against a top corner where the edges are parallel to the frame components. Secure five equally spaced screws in a line across the whole sheet and into the frame component closest to its center after fastening the board in place. Drill the screw heads into the board far enough to imprint the paper without breaking it. Replace any screw heads that broke through the paper with a screw.
4. Measure & Install Drywall On The Walls
Measure the width of the wall and cut the drywall sheet a quarter-inch smaller than the measurement. Take some drywall glue and run it over the studs. Make sure the first board is in the middle of a stud, the vertical framing component of a wall, before applying the drywall.
Place the board against the studs by lifting so that one edge fits snugly next to the ceiling board and the other against the neighboring wall. At a suitable height, drive drywall screws into the middle of the board. As you fasten the screws into all of the studs, make sure they are appropriately spaced apart. To make it easier to cover the wall, hang the drywall horizontally to save time and place the seam at a suitable height. You’ll need more sheets if this doesn’t cover the entire wall.
5. Finishing Seams & Coating Evenly
Begin taping seams by putting down a thin layer of a compound using a 4-inch wide knife along the seam. Wipe away any extra paper tape after pressing it into the joint. When the tape is dry, use a 6-inch knife to apply a second layer of compound. Allow this coat to dry before applying a second layer.
After it has dried, softly sand it using the fine side of a dual-grit sanding sponge. Using the 6-inch knife, apply one or two extra coats on top of this. Because drywall is not tapered at the ends as it is on the edges, joints that run parallel to the long axis of the sheet should be coated to about 12 inches wide, while those that run perpendicular to the long axis should be coated roughly twice. This makes hiding the end joints more difficult, so you’ll have to cover them with a very wide seam with a very shallow taper.