Hang drywall vertical or horizontal

nickm1024cobra

In a couple months I will be ready to drywall my basement. Roughly 1600 sq ft. Height is roughly 7'. I know they normally go horizontal. Either way my waste is going to be the same, and if I go vertical the butt joints will be eliminated. I'm hanging it and paying someone else to do the finish work. Which way do you recommend? Thanks!

joeg679

I'm not a contractor and I don't know if you are allowed to do this, by code, but I would hang it vertically. Like you said, you would get rid of that butt joint and if you are allowed to, you could put an extra 2x4 every 4 feet so the seams land on a stud. If you do it that way, you will only have to tape and mud the indented seams and you may be able to do that yourself and save a lot of money.

nap

it seems most of the pro's that post here like horizontal but to me, it seems vertical would be better. With horizontal, you have an unsupported joint all the way around the room where you stack the sheets. You also have butt joints without the reduced edge. If hanging vertical, as long as you use sheets tall enough, there are no unsupported joints and you can install it so there are no butt joints without a reduced edge.

I hate bulging joints and it seems there isn't a mudder left in the world that can keep away from them even when using the reduced edges. It is impossible to eliminate them if you don't have reduced edges.

but, hang on for some of the guys that actually do this for some more opinions.

RickyBobby

Vertical for sure. Keep it up off the ground at least 3/4".

There have been posts on here relating to eliminating butt joints but I do not feel they are applicable to your project. Stand 'em up and be done with it.

General

Drywall is stood up in commercial, railroaded in residential.

Anti-wingnut

We got a winner!

To the OP. Stand them up, then all your joints are on the recessed edges

stoner529

I am all for vertical. as long as its nailed down correctly. I have no clue as to the real reason it is railroaded with the exception of you dont want a perfectly 8 ft vertical joint when you railroad it so they stack it. I am thinking they do it this way to reduce stress on the board if it is hung vertically but there is probably no real reason. vertical is faster make the board 6'11 1/4" and you will be fine if you said the height is 7' from ceiling. Good move on hiring the finisher to do that stuff.

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rditz

my brother-in-law is a boarder and when I asked him why he hangs it horizontally, he gave me the following reasons:

1) it creates a tighter fit to the ceiling boards (because you install the top board first)
2) it is quicker to board and to mud
3) they use 8', 10' and 12' depending on room dimensions, so they can cover more area with less boards
4) railroad pattern is stronger and keeps everything tight (thus I think reduces some cracking.

if mudded well, you should not see any seems anyways.

downfall is that you will need a helper to help with holding the sheets up while you screw them on.

just my $0.02.

rod

General

rditz hit the nail.

Standing boards up creates a LOT of seems.

Most typeical rooms you can buy the drywall to fit the length of the wall, 14', 16', etc. That means each wall only has 1 seem down the middle. Think about how many seems would be needed standing 4' wide drywall up. Even in a larger room like 24' you could use 2 X 12' boards and only have 2 seems on the whole wall.

In the end you have a strong system with less seems.

joeg679

That sounds logical, but it just seems that it is so much easier to tape and mud a seam that is indented. But, if you are hiring a pro to do the taping and mudding, it doesn't matter. Maybe the OP should call the guy who is going to do the taping and mudding and see what he prefers as far as the hanging goes.

rditz

I am by no means a pro at mudding, but what I have learned about the process is to do it in multi-thin coats. if you do that, the butt seams that are not indents will not be noticeable... you do have to own at least a 10" trowel to fan your joints out either side.

rod

nap

well, less noticeable.

and that is very dependent on the lighting and wall finish. If using a gloss or semi gloss, those joints will be noticeable. Eggshell is a bit better. Natural lighting from a window as you look towards the window will make just about anything short of a perfectly flat wall look bad.

General

And that's why you don't want to stand up boards and have so many seems standing out at you in a house.

nap

No, that is why you want those seams to be finished properly so they are not visible. If finished properly, they will not stand out. It is only the poor quality of finishers in todays industry that make such an installation look bad.

General

You'll argue anything, even when someone is agreeing with you...

Does this place have an ignore function?