Installing drywall is a popular home improvement project that can transform the look and feel of a room. This may seem intimidating at first, drywall installation is actually a fairly straightforward process as long as you have the right tools and follow a few key tips. Here are some tips for installing drywall in your home:
You might be asking yourself what is drywall (wallboard/sheetrock). Well to produce drywall crushed natural gypsum or synthetic gypsum is heated to dehydrate the feedstock. Next the gypsum is mixed with water and additives to form a slurry which is fed between continuous layers of recycled paper on a long board machine.
As the board moves down a conveyer line, the calcium sulfate recrystallizes or rehydrates, reverting to its original rock state. The paper becomes chemically and mechanically bonded to the core. At this time the board is cut to length and conveyed through dryers to remove any moisture.
There are 7 different types of drywall that can be used.
- 1. Regular Drywall or White Board
- 2. Green Board Drywall
- 3. Blue Board Drywall
- 4. Paperless Drywall
- 5. Purple Drywall
- 6. Type X Drywall
- 7. Soundproof Drywall
We are not going to cover all of them in this article. We are just going to cover the basic residential drywall types.
In residential constrution Regular Drywall and Green Board Drywall are most commonly used.
Regular Drywall or White Board:
Regular Drywall “White Board” is the most commonly used drywall for residential drywall installation . It is the least expensive and it comes in a couple different sizes. For instance you can get it in 3/8″, 1/2″ and 5/8″ thicknesses. You can also get it in 1/4″ but that is used more for placing over an existing surface.
However the standard drywall in the USA is 1/2″ thick, while the other two are “not standard” some building codes might have different requirements when it comes to standard thickness. This would apply more to commercial type applications.
Green Board Drywall:
In the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room for instance you want to use the Green Board “Moisture Resistant Drywall” it has a green wax covering that makes it more resistant to water than regular drywall. Green board is made of the same materials as regular drywall, but its paper covering is coated in wax. It is also often used as a tile backer.
This drywall is not completely waterproof, it’s made to prevent moisture from building up on it (don’t use it if water is going to get directly on it). It is a more durable drywall than regular drywall. It’s also cost a bit more as well.
Tools Needed for Drywall:
Here are some basic tools needed for installing drywall.
TOOLS:
Drywall Screw Gun:
This is a power tool that you use to run the screws into the drywall and fasten the drywall to the studs of the wall or the rafters in the celling.
Note: When you are putting your drywall screws in it is very important that you have your drywall screws inset into the drywall at a particular depth.
Drywall screw guns are designed to set your screws in at the proper depth so they don’t go though the paper coating on the drywall and keep it from sticking out to far and causing you problems when you are applying your drywall mud. “Click Here To See More About Applying Drywall Mud“
There are a number is different brands of Drywall Screw Guns, you also have a choice of corded or cordless guns as well.
Drywall Tee Square (Wallboard Tee Square):
The T- Square is use to make straight cuts on your drywall so when you do your drywall installation joints together you don’t have a big gap in between them to try and fill later.
Drywall Utility Knife:
You have a wide variety of utility knifes that can be used for cutting drywall.
The stander utility knife works great.
Drywall Saw:
Drywall Saws are another way that you can cut your drywall boards.
These are more commonly use for cutting out wall sockets, outlets and widow openings.
Drywall Taping Tools:
There are different ways you can go about putting the tape on your drywall.
Depending on how much you want to spend and how much drywall you are installing there are tool’s that will make your job a lot easer and more efficient.
Now of cores the cheapest way is to do it by hand with your putty knife.
Drywall Putty / Taping Knife:
Putty / Taping knifes are different than utility knifes.
The putty knife is used to spread the drywall mud it is also used to scrape off extra material.
They come in a verity of lengths for different stages of mudding.
Note: The mud pans come a few different sizes so you want to make sure the pan you get will fit the biggest putty knife you are going to be using.
Drywall Skimming Blades:
Skimming Blades are used when finishing the drywall installation and mudding proses. This is were you will make your drywall look smooth and give it the finishing touches.
Sanders:
Sanding is one of the most important part of drywall installation.
It is what makes the drywall look good. If the sanding is poorly done the room is not going to look good.
With any other step of doing drywall there a multitude of way you can go about doing the sanding and a large verity of tools you can use.
Drywall Texture:
After you get your drywall taped and sanded you then can put on the texture that you want.
One way you can do this and get a few different types of texture is with a texture sprayer. They will usually come with a couple of different tips for different textures.
Secondly you can do a skip trowel. The way this is done is by putting drywall mud on one of the bigger putty knifes and then skimming it acrost the drywall.
Thirdly you can do a smooth finish. This is by far the hardest one to do. If you are not really experienced at finishing drywall the chances of you be able to pull this off is very unlikely.
Painting Drywall:
After you are finished with the texture you can then paint.
I have found that the fastest and easiest way to do your painting is with a paint sprayer. However if the carpet and flooring is all ready installed you will have to take the time to cover it so you don’t get over spray on the flooring.
On the other hand you can do it the old fashion way with a paint brush and roller. Generally of course this could take a bit longer to do than with the paint sprayer. Especially if you are doing the hole house.
On the other hand if you are just doing a small room this could be the way to go because you want have to do as much covering and taping.
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