February 10, 2006

Basement: Drywall

Sure, it's more than a month before I'll be thinking about actually *doing* drywall work, but with bids coming in at $25-30 labor per panel (4'x8') to hang, tape, & texture I need to know now whether I can attempt this or not!

I'm not exactly mental, but I dragged my nephew to a Clinic.

Home Depot hangin' & tapin' Drywall clinic, to be exact. Which meant there were 2 people in attendance and we got a personal, 2 hour tutorial on how to hang it high and keep it dry.

Fantastic! I mean, you could fill a Brittany Spears gossip column full of the drywall knowledge I don't possess.

Still, that won't stop me from sharing what I learndeddd ;-)

First: The DIY drywaller has some assistance. In recent years, several products have come on the market to make it possible to A) do drywall by yourself if need be and B) get it done quickly without too much swearing and banging of heads.

Me? I plan to use every labor-saving device.

First of all, ceilings go first. Why? Dunno. They do. That means I'll rent the Panel Lift drywall tool for $30/day. Knock it out in a day or two, call it done. $30 or $60 to keep from lifting 4x8 panels over my head for 20 hours? Priceless.

When putting those drywall sheets in, I've splurged on a $15 drill bit accessory called the Dimpler that allows you to drive screws in to exact depths into drywall. Brilliant! (especially seeing how poorly I did freehand during the clinic). There's a cheapie version for $2.50 that's not depth-adjustable.

Which leads me to the first of many debates without conclusive answers in the drywall world: nails or screws.

The answer: For me? Screws. Easier to work with, hold better, don't get nail pop(out) as often. On the other hand, nails are fast and cheap.

Other 6-of-one-1/2-dozen-of-ta-other debates:

  • 4x8 or 4x12 foot drywall panels: go 4x12 if you're a pro, 4x8 works great considering most basements are about 8 feet tall, a perfect fit. And yes, you hang drywall verticall for best fit, as the long sides of drywall are beveled to allow you to tape/compound them later using mud without creating big bumps and ridges in the wall.
  • 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch thick. Mostly 1/2 inch is fine, but 5/8 is good in fire-danger areas, or where you just like to spend extra money.
  • Paper tape or that fiberglass weave self-adhesive tape: Talking with lots of people leads me to believe this is a personal preference issue. I'll try both and report back on which I like. Potential benefits of new fiber tape? Saves one step as you don't mud first ("mud" being a 3-letter word for Joint Compound), you simply stick the tape on and then mud over.
  • All-purpose Joint Compound or the new Light stuff? I say light. Apparently all-purpose could be slightly stronger, but for simple basement stuff, Light has advantages: dries much faster, 30% lighter mud, doesn't shrink as much, and you just use the Light for all 3 coats. Using the regular means you switch to a finishing coat with another product for the last coat.
  • DIY or hire drywall work out? This is another one where 1/2 the folks say "it's a bit dirty, but go for it." The other 1/2 say screw that, hire it out. I was with the 2nd half, but then the bids came in ;-)
  • Use all the available new tools or don't. This isn't an iffy question for me, but maybe for someone doing a very small project or *really* trying to save money.
  • When sanding, use a flashlight to find shadows created by poorly sanded areas

    For me, the money-saving portion is not having to hire out to a drywall contractor. And, in general, I'm expecting to save about 60% on the project by not hiring a basement company to do the work. So the $30 rentals? Not the place to save money.

    Speaking of rentals, there are a couple more goodies to talk about. After the 3 coats of mud I expect to be doing a lot of sanding down to create a smooth wall surface. They've got a rental machine that looks like a long vacuum tube with small orbital sander on the end. Basically, "dustless" sanding that is both high-speed and very clean. $44/day, one day needed.

    Then comes the texture. Many houses around here have what's called knock-down. We'll be going for something smoother if possible. The Magnum TexFinish machine will be pumping out the texture, hopefully to create an orange peel fine finish as they call it. $68/day, one day needed.

    Tip From Neighbor: And even with rentals there's a cheapie way to handle it. Get the 4-hour rental, rent after 5pm and keep it until 9am the next morning. For example, that texture sprayer is only $48 for 4 hours/overnight. The electric drywall sander is $31 overnight, I might give that a whirl.

    Quick hits:

  • Clean with water and windex.
  • I'll be adding 4x8 panels of soundboard to certain areas, such as the ceiling and bedroom for added sound protection.
  • for an extra hard wall (say, one where you expect kids to bang balls against it or bounce off it or whatever) try 1/4" thick plyboard, then cover with 1/4" thick drywall (didn't know it existed until last night).
  • thin drywall is *also* useful for bending into shape for curved walls!
  • Tools... Find and use them all. Better sanders, inside and outside corner edgers. It's all relatively cheap, especially if you're doing a large basement and can then plan on loaning it out to friends 'n' family later

    Posted by BilFish at February 10, 2006 11:19 AM