Drywall Installation

Hung Right, Then Finished to the Level the Room Needs

New drywall in a house is three separate jobs that get quoted as one. Hanging the board. Taping and coating the joints. Deciding how far to take the finish. The first two are craft with fairly settled rules. The third is a judgement call, and it is the one that determines whether you are happy with the wall.

We hang half inch board on walls and five eighths on ceilings, and five eighths on any surface where the framing is spread wide enough that half inch will telegraph its own sag between the members. Sheets run perpendicular to the framing wherever the room allows it, because that puts the long tapered edges across the studs and gives the taper a recessed joint to fill rather than a butt joint to feather out over three feet of flat board.

Butt Joints Are the Enemy

Every butt joint is a small ridge waiting to happen, because there is no factory taper to bury the tape in. On a long wall we plan the sheet layout to put as few of them in as possible, keep them away from the middle of a wall in direct light, and back the ones we cannot avoid so the joint sits slightly proud of the framing and the tape lands in a shallow dish rather than on a hump.

That planning happens before a single sheet goes up, and it costs nothing but attention. It is also the difference between a wall that finishes easily at level 4 and a wall that will need a full skim to hide what the hanging did.

Fasteners and the Riverside Slab Problem

Screws go in to a proper dimple, set just below the paper face without breaking it. A screw driven through the paper holds almost nothing and will pop.

Nail pops and screw pops are one of the most common repair calls we take in this city and the cause is usually not the drywall at all. Slab on grade tract housing moves as the ground dries out through a long hot summer and takes water back in through the winter rains, the framing follows it, and fasteners that were set right at the time work their way proud. On new work we set a tighter screw pattern and use screws rather than nails throughout, which does not eliminate the movement but gives it far less to push against.

Type X Where It Belongs

The wall between an attached garage and the living space, and the garage ceiling where there is a room above it, take Type X board. That is a code requirement and an inspection item, not an upgrade we are selling you. The core has glass fibre in it so it holds together longer in a fire instead of falling off the framing.

We see standard board on garage firewalls fairly often on work somebody did themselves, or on work a cheap crew did fast. It fails inspection and it has to come off, which costs more than doing it right the first time by a wide margin.

The Finish Level Conversation

Once the board is up and the joints are taped and coated, level 4 is the standard finish: tape coat, two coats over joints and fasteners, sanded flat. For a wall that is getting orange peel or knockdown texture and a matte or flat paint, that is the correct specification and there is nothing further worth buying.

If the room has a long flat wall taking hard low sun, or the paint is going to be eggshell or satin or anything glossier, we will recommend taking it to level 5. That is a separate line on the quote and we will show you what it adds before you decide.

What You Get From Us

A layout planned before the board goes up. Screws set properly and in a tight enough pattern for a slab that moves. Type X where code says Type X. Corners beaded straight. And an honest recommendation on the finish level, including the recommendation that you do not need to spend the extra, which is what we say on most tract house interiors.

Call (951) 219-6582.