screws near drywall butt edges

mike_a_davies

I'm drywalling my kitchen (my first drywall experience) and I've noticed that sometimes the screws near the butt edges of the panels cause small cracks to appear at the edge. These cracks are only visible when you're looking directly at the edge; they don't show though the paper. I'm pretty sure I'm putting in the screws correctly (screw head 1/32" below the paper, creating a dimple). This leads me to three questions:

1) Are these cracks a problem?

2) When screwing near a panel edge, can you get away with having the screw head be even with the paper instead of below it, since you'll be taping over the edges anyway? It seems to me that would reduce the chance of cracking.

3) Am I right in thinking that you can't avoid screwing near panel edges? (since panels are supposed to meet at framing members, which are normally 1 1/2" thick, giving only a 3/4" overlap for each panel)

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

buletbob

What we done is nail the piece up with nails where the bevel edge is. its going to be covered with tape anyway . as for the but seams I wait till the room is completed with hanging then go by and screw the entire room off. if you try and screw the butt with out the next sheet butting to it you will blow the edge out. best to wait till the next sheet is installed.
And no! the screws must be just below the surface of the sheet. if you don't you'll have to install more spackle to cover which could create a bump in the wall if not feathered out properly.

AtlanticWBConst.

There may always be some tearing of the paper, or cracking the gypsum-core, on some of the screws along the "Butt" seams.
What you need to do is slightly angle the screws so that the heads are closer towards the "field" of the board, and not so close to the edge, so that the cracking and tearing happens.
Also, stagger those same butt-end screws so that one board's attachment screws are not parellel to the one it is being attached next to. If you tear the paper, or crack the gypsum while installing a screw, attach another near it, and angled, to serve as the fastener for that area. Good rule of thumb for but seams is screws 4" to 6" apart.

Good Luck.

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