Common Mistakes When Hanging Drywall
These tips may help you avoid the most common mistakes people make when hanging drywall.
07/10/2022
Hanging drywall is one of the more complicated parts of building or renovating a structure. Getting it installed just right so that the paint can be smoothly applied is challenging and is more of an art than a construction job. If you’ve never installed drywall before, be ready to make some errors, but these tips from the experts at Bernardi Building Supply may help you avoid the most common mistakes people make when hanging drywall.
Joints Are Too Tight
While you want your sheets of drywall to be
installed snugly at the seams, you don’t want
them to be too tight because if there isn’t room
at the seams for the expansion and contraction
of the framing members, the drywall will crack
and break. Expansion and contraction occur
seasonally, so it may not be something you
notice right away, which means you’ll probably
have everything done when you see your first
crack.
To prevent your drywall from
cracking and breaking, keep a 1/8-inch gap
between the sheets of drywall at the seams. Be
sure you use a measuring tape or ruler to ensure
all your drywall is installed at evenly spaced
intervals throughout the room or house.
Screws Are Too Deep
The soft surface of drywall makes it really
easy for the screws to be driven too deep. When
this happens, you have divots across the surface
that you’ll have to fill before you can paint
the walls. Not only that, but driving the screws
too deep weakens the screws’ holding power. The
last thing you want is for your drywall to not
be strongly screwed to the studs.
When
hanging drywall, the screws should only be
driven about a quarter- or half-turn beyond the
surface of the drywall paper. To make sure you
don’t go past that point,
use a drill that
includes a clutch that allows you to set the
depth it will drive. That way, you don’t have to
worry about the screws going too deeply and all
screws will be a uniform depth.
Drywall is Secured Before it is Trimmed
When you have to trim your drywall around
outlets and other objects in the walls, be sure
you trim it before you secure it to the studs.
While you can place a few screws into the
drywall to hold it in place, make sure those
screws are a few feet away from where you’re
trimming. Otherwise, the drywall will crack or
break where you’re trimming.
Once the
drywall is trimmed appropriately around the
outlet or other object, you can then secure the
drywall firmly to the studs. It’s quite common
for the drywall to not quite fit your cut
openings once you get it hung, so be prepared to
do some trimming. Just be sure to follow this
tip to prevent the drywall from cracking.
Conclusion
It seems like drywall wouldn’t be too difficult to install. After all, it’s not what you see when the walls are finished. But, it lays the foundation and if the foundation is bad, the rest of the project won’t go well either. These tips should help you make sure your foundation is solid and smooth so that the rest of your project will be, too.