hanging drywall on ceiling

Hi, I'm back with another question.

I am getting ready to hang the drywall on the ceiling this weekend. The dimensions of the ceiling are 12 x 17. Here is how the joists run:

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/plans/ceiling.html

and these are the full plans:

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/plans/plans.html

I am doing this completely by myself and will be renting a drywall jack. Now if I run 4 x 8 sheets across the joists starting with a full sheet on one end I end up with a foot wide area left over. How much do 4 x 10 sheets weigh? Hey, I think I might have answered my own question. What would be the best way to approach this job based on my ceiling dimensions?

thanks,

Mark

Hi,

Just realized something else. I still need to deal with the opening into the kitchen which adds another 4 - 5 inches into the mix. You can see it on the plans at the lower left side.

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/plans/plans.html

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/plans/ceiling.html

thanks,

Mark

drywall work

Personally ,
I would rather have the crap beat out of me
than try to hang drywall on the ceiling ....by myself....

even with a drywall jack its still tons of
fun and it still has to be finished too.....

it looks like you have a pretty good idea of
what you got to do ,

but considering the strain and possibility of
hurting yourslef,


have you even considered estimates??


either way, have a great weekend.

For various reasons related to seams and fastening, the drywall should be put up perpendicular to the joists. Do some corner-to-corner measuring and use string to check your long walls for straight, then try to begin in the corner that is the most square to the longest/straightest wall after snapping a chalk line as a guide from one end of the room to the other without ever getting closer to the wall than 48".

12' sheets would be your best bet, since 1-1/2 sheets will cover your 17' length with only one butt joint, and you can stagger those butt joints by beginning your center row with half of a sheet (6', or wherever you find a joist near that dimension).

12' sheets might sound scary, but I have hung them by myself (in my much-younger days!) using only a "T", and your use of a jack should make that job simple.

4x8 half inch panels run appx. 55 -60 lbs., so a ten footer is 1.25 times that. When I did my kitchen I used 14 footers, three guys, no lift. Use a ten and an eight for each row, and stagger the joints. While I generally agree with Lee's points above, I don't see any benefit to using 1.5 twelves instead of a 10 and an 8.

Resist the temptation to eliminate butt joints by running the panels parallel to the joists.

I don't agree with Mark as to how miserable the work is, but this will be a very visible project, and you want it to look right. If you don't get there after four or five coats, consider having a pro do a final coat or two to make it right.

A few things to keep in mind:

- Use paper tape - - I've had the fiberglass mesh show cracks.
- Add less joint compound, not more. It's much, much easier to go back and add more/fill in than it is to sand off extra. For the early coats, accept some low spots.
- Pros can get a quality finish in three coats. I've reached the point where I can do butt joints in four coats, tapered edges and corners in three.
- Have a continous surface 18 - 24 inches high (assuming 8 ft. ceiling) that you can walk on the full length of a panel. If nothing else, knock something together from 2x4s.
- After you think it's "good", prime and check it again. You can still correct problems and spot prime over them.
- The "dustless" sanders that are appx. $20 and hook up to a shop vac are worth many times their cost.

TedL said:

I don't see any benefit to using 1.5 twelves instead of a 10 and an 8.

Click to expand...

I first learned drywall in new construction where we did the entire ceiling before any interior walls were present, and 12s were all we ever used. But, 18' is 18', eh?!

Absolutely. My leaning toward the 10 and 8 was to use the smallest size/weight while still staying with 2 pieces instead of 3.