Cutting Drywall Cleanly???

Tom5151 · 10-05-2009, 12:44 PM

Hello,

What’s the best way to remove drywall kind of cleanly?

I need to remove a 40 inch wide X 18 foot long section of drywall from a ceiling. It is 40 inches out from the wall and runs the length of the room. The ceiling rafters run perpendicular to the piece I need to remove. Eventually the whole ceiling will be taken down and replaced but I want to just take out this one section right now so that I can do some other work.

What’s the best way to cut a nice clean line so that I can have a nice edge to butt new temporary drywall up against? I am either going to put up new temporary drywall or just put up a temporary sheet of plastic but either way I was hoping for a straight clean line. The thought of using a circular saw upside down across the whole room seems a little uncomfortable at best. A recip saw will leave a ragged edge. Maybe a straight edge and utility knife to score a line and then rip down the stuff that needs to come down?

Thanks,
Tom

12penny · 10-05-2009, 12:57 PM

tom...drywall "jab" saw and a shop vac. Clean up the ragged paper with a utility knife held at a angle.

Your plan would work if you break the board up, otherwise you have to cut all the way thru. To break it down you would have to score the top of the sheet.

Lots of dropclothes because it makes a mess nomatter how you do it. A fan in the window helps pull some of the dust outside.

rustic · 10-05-2009, 01:43 PM

i have used the utility knife method with a new blade. it takes a while, but i have cut drywall clean through. (remodeling)

Make your first score with the staight edge and then keep scoring until you cut deep enough. it may tend to stray off the line but i keep the scoring strokes short.

MinConst · 10-05-2009, 05:02 PM

The jab saw is the easies and fastest way. Us a circ saw and your neighbors will have dust in their house :-) You will never make a perfect cut that won't need to be taped and finished so get it down the easiest way. Rock saw.

**Gary in WA** · 10-05-2009, 05:12 PM

I use my old jig saw with a blade broke to 5/8" on the far stroke. Use a blue, not red (permanent) chalk line. I remove the shoe on the saw, attach a clear 1'x1' piece of clear plastic (chair cover which protects motor brushes), replace the shoe and usually don't use a shop vac if the floors are covered and partitioned off room with painter's plastic. Not much dust anyway. No worry about wires or pipes.......
Be safe, Gary

Tom5151 · 10-05-2009, 05:26 PM

thanks very much gentlemen....

The new drywall that i put back up will be temporary for maybe 8 months or so then the entire ceiling is coming down. I'm not even going to tape and mud.....just something easy to cover any gap. So i think the jab saw method wil get me a clean enough line that I can butt some new stuff up to it. Thanks for your help.....