Best way to remove drywall

Either tearing it off in as big of chunks as you can keep it in OR taking a sawzall down either side of the stud and taking it out in 4'x14.5" pieces. The later is easier becasue you get rid of all the big pieces and only have to clean up little pieces but you need a sawzall and you have to be VERY carful around wires and pipes.

Yeah, I don't think I would be comfortable with the sawzall idea. I would be worried about cutting through stuff I don't know is behind the wall. Do most people just smash with hammer and tear off?

Is the drywall nailed or screwed on? I removed a lot of basement drywall that was nailed in place and found the best (not necessarily the fastest, but certainly the cleanest) way to do it was to remove all the nails I could find using a Dasco Pro double ended nail claw bar (Home Depot or Lowes) that was tapped under the nail with a hammer. To find nails buried in compound, I tapped the compound with the edge of the hammer head. This would generally exposed the nail... surprising how easy it was to find the nail pattern that the installer use. If I could get 50% or more of the nails out, the whole piece could generally be removed in big pieces with minimal dust and debris. Once removed, I used a box knife to immediately score and break the piece into smaller pieces for easy disposal.

jason007 said:

I am a new DIY'er. I am going to remodel my basement family room and need to remove the old drywall. What is the easiest/fastest/cleanest/best way to do this? Thanks for all suggestions.

Jason

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Easiest/fastest? Leave for the weekend, invite college kids over for weekend party in basement, pick up drywall off floor Sunday/Monday & houl outside, fumigate entire house! J/K

There is no "clean" way to demo drywall. Knock a hole and start tearing it off the studs. Hope it isn't glued, but I recommend glue when you replace it. If you sawzall down either side of the stud (time consuming and dangerous) you still have a strip of drywall ON the stud that has to be pulled off...

I use an adz for my demo, with a 3' handle. Just tap it into the wall, pry the rock off, using the stud as leverage. Great for ceilings. Be safe, GBAR

Modify a sawzall blade down to where it only has about a 1/2" of stroke/cut (I put the blade in the saw, mark the length, then put the blade in a vise and work it back and forth until it breaks).

Then you can go right over and down the studs without fear of cutting wires and such in the wall. Saves a bunch of time - makes for mostly big pieces when broken out.

If a big demo - a three man crew works well. Two to cut and tear out, another to continually haul to the dumpster.

When I have to remove drywall and keep the mess to a minimum I start at a corner and cut it with sawzall, once it is cut I don't try to just rip it off, I have found that if I get a vibration ( sorry only way to describe it) going it will usually pull the sheet free from the next stud. Then I can remove an almost full sheet of drywall, assuming ( sorry bad word) that it was not glued.

cheers