# Hanging Drywall



## Beebers (Sep 30, 2010)

I am attempting to hang drywall over my stone walls. They are brick that have had been plastered over. The plaster is chipping and horrible looking (really old house). Basically I want to hang furring strips then attach the drywall to that. It is on an upstairs landing so there is no moisture problem. The questions are do I have to use anchors if I am using Spax masonry screws. Is there a difference between these and Tapcons (besides the color)? I tried using fluted nails and could hear the brick falling apart on the far side of the block. The stone is not brittle, it was just a matter of me pounding the snot out of it to get it in. Just looking for some insight before I start tomorrow.


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## shawnlee (Apr 13, 2010)

Yes it is better to use some type of masonary screw to attach the strips with.........make sure they are long enuff to get into the meat of the wall, not just the surface that is failing.

I assume the ones you are talking about are just like tapcons.....pre drill a hole a little smaller than the shank of the screw and then drill them in....?

If so they should work fine...just make shure to also screw the drywall into the strips as nails will vibrate things loose.

A tip on hanging drywall is to hang it horizontal/ sideways instead of standing it up....makes it alot easier to hang and mud....do the top piece first and then the lower piece cut a inch short and then lift the drywall into place with a prybar on top of a scrap of wood.......you ideally want the drywall off of the floor anyway for moisture reasons...especially if it is concrete.

When attaching the strips it does not hurt to use construction adhesive on the wood to wall contact to help hold it all together either.....of course I like to over do things, but it will not hurt, just take a little more time and cost a few dollars more.......worst case is it makes the job last alot longer or does nothing... it will not hurt.


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## Beebers (Sep 30, 2010)

What exactly is the purpose of hanging them horizontally? Do they hold up better? I also heard I shouldn't be lining up seams too often, but that seems like I would have a long one around the entire perimeter of the room?


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## shawnlee (Apr 13, 2010)

The seams you do not want to line up are the butt joints or end joints that are not taipered....

Yes you end up with one seam all the way aroung the room at a nice level to work at, instead of a bunch of floor to ceiling seams that require stooping all the way down to the floor and reaching all the way up to the ceiling.....


The key with the mud is to use very little at a time as sanding is much much harder and dirtier than applying another coat.

Ideally you want a good amount initially to bed the tape into and sqeeze that out from under the tape with moderate to hard pressure on the first pass...do not squeeze all of it out, just most of it. This is done with a 3 inch knife. You may have to hold the tape on top of what you just knifed in order for it not to slide on the wall.

The second pass you want to cover the tape from one side of the drywall bevel to the other, but not sooo much as it is higher than the seam edges...this is done with a 8 to 10 inch knife.....

The third pass you want to feather it out past the drywall bevel a few inches on each side with your largest knife a 12 to 14 inch knife....

When doing the secong and third coat do not worry soo much about the lower spots and work the mud too much.....they will fill in easily and will easier to work than a high spot....the key is the less you have to sand the better and it is better to do thin additional coats than iy is to work it or get too much on the wall.....this is for the waist high seam around the room.

The butt joints you want to follow the same basic procedure,except the drywall will not have indents here that are low, they will be the same height.

You really want to focus on getting the tape as flat as possible on these joints and getting most of the mud from below the tape out, not all of it as thats what sticks the tape to the wall...this is done with a 3 or 4 inch knife...applying moderate to hard pressure.

The second coat on these seams is a little different in that you want to use the 10 inch knife and float from each side of the tape out approx 10 inches or less from the center of the the tape, rather than directly over the center of the tape with your knife...once again low spots are fine as additional coats will cover them....keeping from making high spots is your goal..you will use moderate pressure on this coat just covering the tape in middle on this second coat as to not make where the tape is a high spot.

The third coat on this seam is with a 12 to 16 inch knife and done down the center of the tape with moderate pressure as to just give a good skim coat over the tape and a little float out to the sides...again trying not to make it thick or have any high spots...as before, low spots are fine and filled easily on additional coats.. using moderate to light pressure

The last coat is applied with the largest knife you have a 12 to 16 inch knife and applied like the second coat from the middle of the tape and floated out to the edge feathering out the seam to a wide width...... using moderate to light pressure...

The corner seams and cieling corner seams are about the same as the butt joints....apply a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick coat to bed the tape into with a 10 inch or smaller knife pushing the mud into the corner with the long end of the knife, not the sides and feathering that to about nothing in about 3 inches.....

Then fold the tape at the center/in half..there is a little indent in the center of the paper tape for this....and use a corner trowel/knife to imbed the tape in the corner with moderate to hard pressure...this might take a few passes to get the tape imbedded and push most of the mud from under the tape....hold the trowel at about a 45 angle when doing this step....

The second coat will be almost the same as a butt joint...floating from the corner out with a 10 inch knife with the side of the knife facing the corner...do this from top to bottom with moderate pressure using enuff mud to cover the tape with a thin coat.

Wait untill the mud dries and then do the other side of the corner the same way...if you are carefull you can do the other side of the corner when it is wet...just be careful...if you find you are messing the other side up...wait untill one side dries before doing the other.

The use the corner trowel again to make a nice corner from top to bottom on another coat...focusing on just making the corner straight and covering the tape slightly..once again making sure you have no high spots....

The last coat on each side of the corner is done with the larger knife 12 to 16 inches and done from the corner out with the side of the knife from top to bottom with light to moderate pressure on the knife...



When doing each coat you need to knock the high spots down with drywall screens as sanding paper and then either brush the dust with a dry rag or you can use a damp spong..one like you use to do ceramic tile grout that is rounded on the edge between each coat .......sanding between each coat is the best way as to not carry bumps and high spots to the next coat causing undue sanding and work for yourself as well as high spots.


Keep in mind applying more mud is desirable opposed to alot of dusty sanding that is hard work and messy.


The basic approach goes like this....apply the beveled seam tape{the one waist high around the room....then do the butt joint seams with tape and finally do the corners/ceiling joints last with tape over the entire room before you move on to the next coats...then do the first coats in the same order ad you did the tape.

This is not exactly how it done by the pros, but is easiest for the homeowner to do this way.......

If hanging the ceiling also in drywall you want to do that first and then the walls.....hanging the ceiling exactly like the walls....sideways to the joists....not longways with the joists.

Remeber it is alot easier to add mud than remove it and it makes a whole lot less mess and dust this way too....

You will want a sanding pole if possible for the ceiling and walls so you stay out of the dust failing down.....

You only want to be lightly knocking down the high spots when sanding if you have to do a ton of sanding you are putting the mud on too thick...many lighter coats are better than thick coats....they will dry faster and be easier to work than thick coats.


Once you feel good about the final coat and sanding go ahead and prime the walls....you can still do additional light touch up mud work after the primer is dry and it will show you what areas need work if any.......

This is for a smooth paint finish...if you are doing what is called knockdown finish then a few imperfections will dissappear under this......knock down texture is where you use a air compressor to spray a thinned mud on the wall with a hopper gun and small tip, then lightly after it has started to dry some, knocking it down from ceiling to floor with the widest knife possible using very light pressure....

Knock down covers a wide variety discrepiencies in the tape and mud job and is by far the easiest way to hide imperfections in a tape job.....

I prefer knock down just beacause of this...a flat wall with little texture will show imperfections alot more than knock down will.... You can also do a little heavier coat with one size larger nozzle on the hopper gun to do the ceiling and not knock it down witha knife........I like this much better than a acoustic ceiling texture as it is quicker and not soo much work and is not near as bumpy or funny looking as what is refered to as acoustic or popcorn on the ceiling.

Hopefully this makes the job go smoother for you...if you have any more questions fire away as I will be glad to help or want me to clarify anything as this is alot of info and a terminology laiden post.

PS
Another thing to consider is using what is called a banjo for applying the tape...it saves a bunch of time and headaches...but is not manditory..just alot quicker and much easier..they are not that expensive to buy or one could rent one too...A good drywall mud bucket is nice too as the cheap ones make more work for you as long as the knife mud bucket is sturdy and not flimsy it will work......plastic or metal is fine...just make sure the plastic one has the metal strips at the top on the edge. A good set of knifes are invaluable too and make the job alot smoother.......you really want to steer clear of the plastic tape and mud knifes. This is a case where quality counts for alot. Also the sanding pole is a huge back saver as well as a time saver and keeping you from getting soo dusty. Drywall screen is alot better than regular sandpaper also and sands better too and lasts longer.


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## Beebers (Sep 30, 2010)

Wow! I can't express enough thanks. So detailed, exactly what I needed.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I just finishing up sheetrocking my bedroom. I wish I had read your post before I started mudding. It's almost done now but I do have a little wall in another room to do.

Can I add mud over eggshell paint? I thought I had it reasonably smooth but when the lighting is just right I can see ugly depressions that I missed where I covered an old window hole.


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## shawnlee (Apr 13, 2010)

I would imagine you could ruff it up a little with some heavy grit sandpaper and it should work....as long as it is not super glossy the mud should stick.


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## shawnlee (Apr 13, 2010)

Beebers said:


> Wow! I can't express enough thanks. So detailed, exactly what I needed.


Glad I was able to provide some tips to help...nothing worse than fighting thru a job......

Good luck!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

shawnlee said:


> I would imagine you could ruff it up a little with some heavy grit sandpaper and it should work....as long as it is not super glossy the mud should stick.


Thanks. I'll see if I can sand it.


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi,
If you are going tp put furring strips up, I'd take advantage of the empty space and install rigid insulation board.

Gary


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