| Author | Message | ||
     Ratbuell |
Well, I have to drywall the ceiling in a 7'x27' room. My friends are all smart enough to be busy on whatever day I end up doing it, so it looks like I'll be doing it solo. I hatehateHATE taping and mudding and sanding so I want to use standard 4x8 sheets, cut to the 7' room width, instead of more manageable but more-labor-intensive-to-finish small pieces. Any advice? One room, not worth buying any kind of jack tool or anything like that. Thinking maybe a couple 2x4s that I can prop up as legs once I muscle a panel into place, to hold it while I shoot the screws? | ||
| Sifo |
I've done it using some 2x4 T pieces. Hard to imagine getting it done without a second person though. Three people makes it much easier. Sounds like you've done this sort of thing before, given your hate for the task. The one thing I would point out is that not all drywall mud is created equal. Taping the joints should be done with the hard mud, but that stuff simply doesn't want to be sanded. The easy sand mud is what you want your final coats done with. As the name implies, it's easy to sand. It holds up poorly when used to tape the seams though. Some mud knives in various widths up to about 10 inches, or more helps a lot. Even cheap plastic ones are far better than trying to get a wide seam of mud even with a narrow spreader. Feel free to hit me up for any other questions you may have. | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Assuming the joists run the 7 ft direction, strap the ceiling with furring strips 16" on center 90 degrees to joist direction. I've never come across framing accurate enough to hang parrallel. Screw furring strips to the long wall 3/4 down from your framing, prop a sheet against it and roll it up, hold with your noggin until you get 4 screws in. the furring strips also give a bigger target | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Does it have to be drywall? what about an Armstrong tile or plank ceiling? No mud, no paint | ||
| Doz |
The panel lifts are worth it, even to rent for just a day is like under $50. | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Doz, agree but tough to use in a 7 foot wide space | ||
| Zane |
Best advice I can give you is that sometimes it makes sense to farm a job out. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I've already done the furr strips - ceiling joists run on the 7' dimension. I had to insulate the joists (used to be a porch; someone enclosed it as a sunroom and the inspector flagged it for not being insulated...dammit). I ran old paneling parts on the 27' dimension to a) hold the insulation up and b) attach the sheetrock to. Good idea on the 3/4" lower "rails" on the 27' walls...hmmm..... And I have a full assortment of knives, from a 2" corner blade all the way to a 12". I've done plenty of spot patching and repair, this is just the first time I've "gotten" to actually install a whole ceiling. Shying away from paneling because 1) drop ceilings are a pain in the ass to get level (and they'd hang too low in this space), 2) this is a rental so I want zero maintenance and the least possibility for damage, and 3) the floors are hardwood and I think paneled ceiling would look funky - and not in a good, "retro" way either. I'm thinking 2x4 tees, and side rails...and a lot of cursing. I'll probably attach a tee to my stepladder so there's support in the center as well as the end rails... | ||
| Hootowl |
It’s called a dead man, in the trade. You’ve got the right idea. But as has been noted...those lifts are cheap to rent. I’ve hung many ceilings. Even with two people, it’s always a bitch. A lift takes a lot of the frustration out of the job. | ||
| H0gwash |
I hung a "sound deadening" gypsum ceiling in one of my rental bedrooms without a lift once. Never again!!! The 2x4s on ladders sounds like a good thing though. | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Armstrong are not a "drop" ceiling, they staple to your furring strips, however they need to be on 12' centers,for the tiles anyway. If a rental that's what i"d do, put em up and done. 3/4 prepainted cove around the perimeter or a small crown | ||
| Griffmeister |
Did my bathroom once, only five feet wide so it was tight quarters. I just made a couple of 2x4 tees, propped up one end then picked up the other. Don’t remember, may have used a couple of screws to keep things from slipping. Not my favorite thing to do, aren’t those jacks adjustable? | ||
| Greg_e |
https://www.harborfreight.com/drywall-panel-hoist- lift-62484.html Search craigslist, etc., someone might be selling cheaper. If you rent the house, you'll probably be doing this again, might be worth owning the tool. | ||
| Gowindward |
1000 times over ....rent a panel lift. Makes it an easy job. | ||
| Aesquire |
I agree, rent a panel lift, or have 3-4 helpers with T's, multiple ladders, etc. There's more than one way to.... ( don't want to skin a cat...) use brute force and numbers. If you've got 3 buddies without already broken backs, buy pizza, beg yourself a party. It's going to cost the same, and you'll have company, mocking your technique all the way.  (Message edited by aesquire on February 11, 2018) | ||
| Oopezoo |
+1 for getting a panel lift if you are doing it yourself. We have a HF special and it does the job just fine for the occasional DIY. That being said....I had always hung my own drywall. Helped my Dad put an addition on, finished a basement, done plenty of repairs over the years. Then I needed to redo the living room/dining room wall in our current house. We removed tongue and groove knotty pine planks from the previous owner and pretty much destroyed the underneath drywall in the process. We have vaulted ceilings and a fire place in the middle of it to deal with as well. A friend's husband pleaded with me to let him do it (he hangs drywall for a living). long story short.......I am never hanging drywall again, even if I have to pay someone. He showed up, did it, was cleaned up and gone in less than 2 hours. I basically just held the end of the pieces and tried to stay out of his way. That would have taken me all damn weekend, and with a LOT more scrap. I still finished it all myself, but it was a huge time saver. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I'm stubborn (and broke, lol)...and I'm 6'4", not out of shape. I'm gonna try the rails and a tee in the center. Once I get the first piece up, I'm sure I'll be looking for cellular signal to call reinforcements... I definitely like the pride that comes with doing it myself. I've done the whole bathroom (plaster patches - the whole place was plaster and lathe, new tile flooring, subway tile 4' up the sidewalls with no-rot plastic top trim, new lighting, added an exhaust fan, refreshed all the plumbing), removed a wall between a tiny kitchen and a tiny dining room, making a decent sized (and bright, with tons of windows) eat-in combo room; re-done every inch of the electric (1951 cloth hot/neutral wiring out; brand new, code-spec hot/neutral/ground, GFI, new panel, new arc-fault breakers); all new all-LED lighting; all-new ceiling fans...all with my own 2 hands. It's taking a while, which equates to lost revenue, but the upside is I own the building, and the other apartment has been rented out for the last 4 years so its rent feeds the reno budget upstairs. Currently I'm slightly in the black; once the second gets rented, it'll start behaving like the retirement plan I envisioned it to be. | ||
| Aesquire |
My mother recently bought new counter tops. Quartz composite. Very nice. But lacked the raised back splash of the original. So Mom went shopping for tile. She also found a few rosemaled tiles for accent. ( see rosemaling, a Norwegian country habit of painting flowers on everything during winter when they're bored. ) Sister took a few days off and over Thanksgiving week she and Mom did all the work of installing tile. Lots of YouTube instruction videos. Home Despot had a small Rigid tile saw on sale, cheaper than the Harbor Freight model & better. Also cheaper than renting. So they had me do almost all the tile cutting. ( figuring I've run spinning death machines professionally ) I also changed out all the power plugs & switches to the new color scheme, while the ladies did all the hard work. ( the visible stuff ) Lots of pie & leftovers and cookies. The ladies did a great job. I learned a lot. Best tip was the caulking. Lay the bead of caulk down. Spray with Invisible Glass cleaner, use fingertip to fillet bead, wiping hand with paper towels between swipes. The Invisible Glass cleaner makes the caulk not stick to counter tops or tiles, leaving a clean and neat corner. Very trick even if you do burn through the paper towels. | ||
| Ratbuell |
A wet rag or washcloth will also clean your finger, without wasting paper towels. I've done the same thing, with a glass of water. Apply bead of caulk. Dip finger in water. Fillet. Wipe finger with wet rag. Dip in water. Repeat as needed. If you get any caulk outside the desired bead, let it DRY, then it's easy enough to remove, effectively, "overspray". | ||
| Aesquire |
With the Invisible Glass cleaner ( other brands may work as well ) the caulk won't stick to counter tops or tile. No cleanup at all. The paper towel part was from same video. Wet rag is probably better. | ||
| Airbozo |
I've done countless ceilings with drywall. My own vaulted at 14' were quite the chore even with 2 people. In the past I screwed a 2x4 to the wall, just below where the edge of the drywall would sit, wedged one end in the space above it and then used a 2x4 tee to hold up the other end (place the tee a short bit from the end) and then screwed it into place. The screw holes where I mounted the 2x4 patched up pretty easy. Hanging drywall was my first job ever and I got pretty good at it and then mastered taping and finish. If you are diligent with your knife work, there is almost no sanding. A moist tile sponge makes sanding the taping mud a bit easier. If I was close, I would offer help. | ||
| Ratbuell |
 Not too hateful. Still sucked, but went smoothly enough. 7 sheets cut to 87"x4'. Well...6. The last section was 87x36. Rail on one wall, tip into place, slide a 2x3" tee under the other end and screw the sheet to the joists. Cut the light can holes and the duct opening in place. Nothing fell, no damage, only moderately sore shoulders. SANDING will suck. It always does. At least the room is 80% windows, and I can get some air moving as I sand. Gonna mount the walls first and mud/sand everything at the same time. (Message edited by Ratbuell on February 12, 2018) | ||
| Doz |
Interesting on how different building is from place to place. What are you using for a vapor barrier against the walls-just curious. | ||
| Zacks |
For DIY, I suggest something called Sand N Kleen. Pick it up at a home improvement or on line. Uses a shop vac and is basically a water filter for the dust. Did this when I remodeled the kitchen which has open 2 sides to the rest of the house. Looked at zipper walls etc, but this made it a pretty much dust free operation. We had to do some patching inside a post office and I had the guys get one. Post Office and grey/white powder on the floor is not a good idea... | ||
| Greg_m |
For cleanup after sanding sweeping damp sawdust around will get the bulk of it. | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Looks good! A lift would have been more trouble in that space | ||
| Ratbuell |
The floor is currently asbestos 7x7" tile. It's getting swept up and/or shop vac'd once all the sanding is done, and I scored 400sf of prefinished maple hardwood off craigslist for less than $1 a sf. Guy moving to CO, selling all his materials. Got his air nailer and a huge box of nails too. Near perfect match to the rest of the apartment - close enough to go in a separate room anyway, and I plan to do some patching inside the apartment as well - and I'm gonna lay it right on top of the tiles. No abatement required. If there's some dust left...meh. Nobody will know. | ||
| Orman1649 |
Looking good...I'm nearing the end of a renovation in my master right now. I'll spend the weekend doing my favorite things in the world...mudding, taping, and texturing...whee! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Starting to come together. I'm just tired of losing revenue...wanted it done and rented by July 4 last year, but my dumb ass went and got a day job. That screwed it ALL up! Still got a list though. Finish the drywall in that room. All switch plates. Breaker box. Water heater. Electrical final. Kitchen (empty room with hot/cold/drain stubs at the moment). Refinish the kitchen hardwood - it's had vinyl on it for 67 years but I think I'll go back to wood. Paint. Trim. Attic flooring (unfinished, but still need something besides joists since it is a walk-up). And re-deck the porch off the kitchen. Yeah. "Almost" there. | ||
| Orman1649 |
I hear that...I wanted mine done before my son was born...he'll be 3 in June. |
