Drywall questions

[troutkingmaster]

I am in the process of finishing my garage. I know that on the walls, you are supposed to hang the drywall horzontally, not vertically. I know this is the way to do it, but why? Also, why stagger the sheets. Seems like it would be easier to finish with straight seams. Thanks.

[BobT]

*Hanging them horizontally across the studs allows them to bridge more studs for a more secure structure.

*One long joint running the length of a wall is easier to tape than a bunch of vertical joints every four feet. This results in a much nicer finished wall.

*It also makes it possible to use 4x12 sheets and therefore reduce the number of butt joints.

These are a couple of my thoughts anyway.

[shnelson]

+1 for what BobT said on horizontal runs.

When you railroad the butts and tape it, I believe you are more likely to have a gap or crack form from seasonal shifting. This gap will likely follow the entire length of the railroaded butts. Staggering the drywall gives it a little more strength and makes it less susceptible to flexing enough to cause a crack.

[Redlantern]

I disagree about putting it in horizontally. If you install vertically, you'll be able to make use of the tapered edges when you mud them. The ends of the rock don't have tapered edges. This will leave a pretty obvious mud joint.

[jerkbait]

It is all about the sight lines of the mud joints. In a garage it will not matter. It depends how pretty you want it to look. If you do't plan to mud it or only do a single coat of tape run the sheets however you want. There is no structural value to staggering them. Me personally in the garage I run them so my mud joint is one long line.

[LightningBG]

Perpendicular (horizontal) application generally is preferred because it offers the following advantages:

1. Reduces the lineal footage of joints to be treated up to 25%.

2. Strongest dimension of board runs across framing members.

3. Bridges irregularities in alignment and spacing of frame members.

4. Better bracing strength—each board ties more frame members

together than does parallel application.

5. Horizontal joints on wall are at a convenient height for finishing.

[11-87]

Would you rather tape 1 long joint 4ft high, or a bunch of joint 8ft high??

if you're worried about tapin, get a buddy and a 12pak.

[robbo17]

First, How big is the garage and what is the ceiling height? If your garage ceiling height is over 8', but under 9' get 4x12x54" sheetrock. This will be easier for laying the sheetrock down, and for not having 2 horizontal seems. If the ceiling height is over 9' I would go with 9'-12' sheetrock and stand the sheets up for less taping. With ceilings over 9' and using 4x12 sheetrock you will end up with 2 horizontal seems. The top will be 2 ft. down from ceiling and the other 4' off the ground (depending on ceiling height). Taping tapered seems(Bevels) is easier than taping butt-joints.

Otherwise- If you have a 8' ceiling height I would go ahead and lay them down.

Good Luck.

[311Hemi]

Whatever you do make sure the ceiling sheet rock it run is perpendicular to the trusses, do not run parallel with the trusses especially if you are adding insulation above it.

[BobT]

using 4x12 sheetrock you will end up with 2 horizontal seems. The top will be 2 ft. down from ceiling and the other 4' off the ground (depending on ceiling height).

Normally you install sheetrock horizontally starting at the ceiling and working your way down. Three advantages to this that I can think of are

* The ceiling joint will be a machined finish rather than your own cut and in most cases will be a straighter cut and so a better joint.

* By starting at the ceiling, the second joint will be about a foot off the floor (9' ceiling). The advantage here is that it will be harder to notice any imperfections in your taping job down there than it will be near the ceiling.

* You don't want the drywall to rest on the floor so your cut edge will be on the floor, hidden behind baseboard trim (if you trim it).

[SkunkedAgain]

Also your wall will look more straight, because you've got a sheet of drywall pulling the studs in line horizontally versus having a series of vertical sheets.