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Drywallis the standard wall and ceiling covering for most residential construction.
Learn about drywall, fastener, and taping patterns for ceilings and walls.
Ceiling Drywall Layout
On small ceilings, a basic grid-style pattern with evenly spaced seams will work.
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For most ceilings, though, it’s best to stagger the seams between the sheets.
Lay thedrywallsheets perpendicular to the ceiling joists.
The goal is to never have an edge of drywall hanging in the air.
The sleepers provides numerous attachment points for the ceiling drywall.
As with the ceiling drywall, this ensures that long edges will always have an attachment point.
Professional drywall installers consider horizontal placement to be a stronger form of installation.
Start with the top row of drywall sheets and butt them up against the ceiling.
Then, add the lower row of drywall sheets.
This row will usually need to be cut down a few inches.
Also, drive screws in the center of the sheets where they rest on studs.
Studs typically run every 16 inches on-center.
Drywall Tape Layout
Tape all drywall seams.
Use fiberglass mesh tape or paper tape to tape flat seams.
Inside and outside corners can be taped with regular paper tape.
With the first method, use a tape measure to find the positions of the boxes in the wall.
Transfer those measurements to the drywall sheet and cut accordingly.
This can be a frustrating process, though, as the hole is often misaligned.
Yet practice and careful measuring will usually eliminate most errors.
The second method is with a placement tool.
A plastic insert with a pair of strong magnets is placed inside the box.
After placement, the drywall sheet is put up but not installed.
The companion equipment, with a second pair of magnets, locates the hidden section.
Then, feather out the mud with a large knife.
After this first coat has dried and hardened, apply a second coat.
Smooth the joint compound over all drywall screw divots (holes), too.
Apply the joint compound as minimally as possible to fill the joint.
The more mud you apply, the more you have to sand down later.
Sand lengthwise in the direction of the seam.
Small areas of the joint compound can be sanded with a wet sponge.
Thewet-sanding techniquevastly reduces drywall dust.
Another way to reduce dust is to use a barrier system.
