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Grab a beer this one is a long one......

4K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  ToolSeeker 
#1 ·
Okay after a 2 week trip up north to re-rent the McMansion I am back down south (boy did it get hot down here) and we are about ready to pull the trigger on the drywall for the back half of the house. I am going to post some questions that I still need answers for and will number them for ease of answering.

Experience - have done some drywall in the past from patches to single rooms so have some experience, Picasso I am not - but will get by.

I know not to put butt joints over windows etc and will be running the drywall on the horizontal.

For the ceilings - I ripped out the older than me ceiling tile but left the firring strips so have 1 x 4's every 12 inches so have a great base for stability. We are using 1/2 inch on the lid and will be screwing. Being as that we have a great base support, I am not planning on gluing based on my experience with caulking in that it will be everywhere BUT where I want it to be.

Here we go.

1. Do I stagger the runs IE not channels with joins all in the same place -kind of like bricklayers do? Both for the ceiling and the walls?

2. I know that the lid needs to be square or it all gets hosed up. How do you determine where to start? Do you just pick a corner and go square from there or is there a trick to figuring out the layout.

3. For butt joints - on the ceiling I am going to make sure that we have the joins on a joist or at least on one of the firring strips - for the walls I know there will be occasions where we will have to back a joint. I am thinking using a piece of drywall behind and having the joint connect to that or is it better to run some wood to connect to?

4. I generally use paper tape but have been reading up on fiberfuse. Is tape still the okay way to go? Is it worth the money for the fiberfuse?

5. I am going to get a what I call a lollipop sander (the stick with the round flat head sander) is there a particular brand that is better?

6. Was planning on using general compound for everything being as that I have the time to wait for it to dry and sand etc. Can I do this or do I need to use a different type for the topcoat.

7. Right now its bloody hot down here and reaching 93 degrees. Anything I need to be aware of with respect to humidity and working in the heat. No AC right now.

8. I have read to prefill the joints and let that dry before running the coat to bed the tape. Any issues with this based on the weather here? Or is this an unnecessary step?

8. Go invest in drywall compound and sheetrock as I'm about to bankrupt the state of MS for both :laughing:

Thanks in advance

Robyn
 
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#4 ·
Installing drywall and taping is a professional job. I would highly recommend you hire a pro for this, but if you cant:

1. You should buy your drywall in a length that basically eliminates butt joints. It comes in 8-9-10-12 foot lengths and probably others.

2. Considering your apparent lack of experience, were I you, I would use self stick MR fiberglass tape. You simply tape the seam dry, and mud right over it with a 6, fully bedding and removing the excess with a 10 All Goldblatt tools. Never strike with a dry knife.

3. Buy a good paddle mixer, and put a cup of warm water in a new five and mix the mud till its creamy. Use gold bond regular mud, and gold bond rock.

4. When you screw, put two screws about 3/4 inch apart at each screw location. this gives you much better holding power.

Key Point: DO NOT OVERWORK THE MUD. Bed it, strike it and move on

Buy or rent a jack for the "Lid" as you call it. Install ceiling first, then top piece, then bottom. You may want to re-screw those 1 x 4's too, before hanging drywall on them.

Keep that small piece of plastic that comes with every can of mud. When you are done for the day, clean off the inside of the bucket with a wet sponge, so nothing dries, pur in some warm water and smooth out the top of the mud, and drape the plastic over the mud to keep it wet. Clean your tools and put on the lid.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the replies.

On the pre fill - was something that I had read in a few places, I guess if the joints are tight enough then it is not needed.

Jagans, Would love to have a professional do this but its a choice between this and replacing the AC and that wins hands down right now lol.

Will look into the different sizes to eliminate butt joints if possible. I like the idea of the butt board and it looks like that can be replicated pretty easily with scrap wood if neccessary.

Good point on making sure the firring strips are tight. Didn't think of that but will check and add a bunch of screws.

Glad to hear that the Goldblatt is good it looks like I have a bunch of their stuff already and we will definitely be renting a lift.


Thanks.

Robyn
 
#8 ·
Butt Boards are God's gift to the Drywaller! But some Building Inspectors still work for the devil, so make sure they will accept them. Also, if you make them, yourself, be sure NOT to use lift strips any thicker than 1/16. That's ALL you need, but we get tempted to go bigger.
 
#10 · (Edited)
9" wide strips with the 3/4" lift strips along the outside edges, and although some people say only 47" long, I prefer to make them 51 or 52 inches long so that they tuck behind the boards on the side too. (But you do waste some plywood cutting them that way.)
 
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#12 ·
Hey Willie or Mikegp.... I've never used butt boards.... but the way I tape...(I think I hold the world's slow record)... I'm dying to try them.

I suppose ideally you would like to land in the middle of a stud/joist bay... but, from your experience, how close , or far away, can you be from a stud or joist and still have sufficient bend in the drywall.... maybe it's just 4 1/2" (half of Willies recommended 9" butt board.

TIA

Best

Peter
 
#15 ·
The one good thing about a hurricane remodel down here is the inspectors are cool. They themselves are going/have gone through this so they have been there and done that. They are not looking to pick the place apart. They don't make you bring everything up to the current code with a few exceptions. The only thing they have asked us to add (and I agree as we were doing it anyway) was smoke detectors and a few GFCI's. I cannot rave enough about out local guys down here - whether it be answering questions or taking the time to help out with advice. Heck the day after we flooded the head guy happened to be the one doing inspections in our area and spent about 2 hours with us just giving us advice and tricks to ripping everything out.

That being said...back to the drywall. I am not sure if I can get the actual booty boards down here so if that strikes out I will look at making them. I jerry rigged one up north for the roof patch and it seemed to work.

The last time we put up rock we stood it up and this will be the first time running it horizontally. Should be interesting. I did go out and buy a metric tape measure today...still hate the fractions. Give me metric every time.

Actually getting excited...might have some walls soon.

Robyn
 
#17 ·
That being said...back to the drywall. I am not sure if I can get the actual booty boards down here so if that strikes out I will look at making them. I jerry rigged one up north for the roof patch and it seemed to work.

.

Actually getting excited...might have some walls soon.

Robyn
Hey forcedreno/Robyn..... I like your name better than butt board... should make mudding more enjoyable.

Good going

Best

Peter
 
#20 ·
Regarding Fibafuse...not to be confused with Fibatape. I am using it and I like it. It goes on similar to paper tape but lays flatter and no worries about bubble later. I also prefilled the butt joints with hot mud after notching the edges at a 45. After spying on the pro forums prefilling is a standard practice for any gaps 1/4" or bigger. I figured it was easy to do and I would hate to skip it and have regrets later.
 
#21 ·
Pre fill is only if for some reason you have large gaps to fill.
I also vote for butt boards and the fibafuse
And to do the lids if you don't want to buy a lift look into renting. where I am it runs $25 a day. Don't know how big your project is but if you have everything ready you can a lot of lid in a day. It is well worth the the investment.
Yes you can use all purpose compound on all coats. The reason most use lightweight for final is it's easier to sand.
Oh and on the fibafuse there is a bit of a learning curve using it in the corners and not cutting it. After you use it a little you can figure it out.
Don't know about where you are but in some areas 5/8" is code for ceilings, you may want to check.
 
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