Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).
Thanks
Jordan

On 7/11/2008 8:48 PM Jordan spake thus:

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).

No real rules here, at least in your case (I'm sure there are "rules"
that help when one is hanging miles and miles of drywall), but keep in
mind that the long edges (the 8' ones, assuming you're using 8-foot
sheets) are tapered, to make good taped edges, while the short edges aren't.

If in doubt, sketch it out before doing it.


--
"Wikipedia ... it reminds me ... of dogs barking idiotically through
endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it.
It drags itself out of the dark abyss of pish, and crawls insanely up
the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and
doodle. It is balder and dash."

- With apologies to H. L. Mencken

On Jul 11, 11:51*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 7/11/2008 8:48 PM Jordan spake thus:

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).

No real rules here, at least in your case (I'm sure there are "rules"
that help when one is hanging miles and miles of drywall), but keep in
mind that the long edges (the 8' ones, assuming you're using 8-foot
sheets) are tapered, to make good taped edges, while the short edges aren't.

If in doubt, sketch it out before doing it.

--
"Wikipedia ... it reminds me ... of dogs barking idiotically through
endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it.
It drags itself out of the dark abyss of pish, and crawls insanely up
the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and
doodle. It is balder and dash."

- With apologies to H. L. Mencken

Are 4x8 sheets of drywall actually 48" X 96"? If so it looks like I'll
have to cut some off every sheet.
thanks
jordan

On Jul 12, 12:04*am, Jordan wrote:
On 7/11/2008 8:48 PM Jordan spake thus:

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).

4-1-4 rule? I think someone was pulling your L-E-G. Pick your
orientation and stick with it - it's much simpler to tape that way.

Are 4x8 sheets of drywall actually 48" X 96"? If so it looks like I'll
have to cut some off every sheet.
thanks

Yep, and yep.

R

Are 4x8 sheets of drywall actually 48" X 96"? If so it looks like I'll have
to cut some off every sheet.

Yes they are. My basement (mainly unfinished) ceiling height is 9 ft and I
got a great deal on some 5/8" firerock (20+ 10 ft sheets @ $ 1.00 each)
There was water damage on one corner where a tarp had let water leak onto
the pile (they had ~400 sheets like that). I ve cut one foot off the length
to 9 ft and will hang them vertically. I already set the electrical boxes
for the 5/8.

Regular 8' sheets here (Canada) are about double what they sell for in the
US $ 11.96 vs About $ 6.38 !!
We re being ROBBED by CSG, a division of USG Sheetrock. The boxes of
"mud" are a rip-off too $ 14.00 VS around 6 bucks so I buy the 'mud' down
in Washington state.

On Jul 11, 9:04*pm, Jordan wrote:
On Jul 11, 11:51*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:





On 7/11/2008 8:48 PM Jordan spake thus:

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).

No real rules here, at least in your case (I'm sure there are "rules"
that help when one is hanging miles and miles of drywall), but keep in
mind that the long edges (the 8' ones, assuming you're using 8-foot
sheets) are tapered, to make good taped edges, while the short edges aren't.

If in doubt, sketch it out before doing it.

--
"Wikipedia ... it reminds me ... of dogs barking idiotically through
endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it.
It drags itself out of the dark abyss of pish, and crawls insanely up
the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and
doodle. It is balder and dash."

- With apologies to H. L. Mencken

Are 4x8 sheets of drywall actually 48" X 96"? If so it looks like I'll
have to cut some off every sheet.
thanks
jordan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes they are the nominal dimension. Don't forget that you can get
sheets other than 8' long. 2 10' ones will cover your 20' wall with no
cutting for example. 2 12 footers will do the 23' wall and only waste
a 1' cut on one of them. Of course doors/windows affect the
calculations. The game is to eliminate as many butt joints as you can.

If you are doing this the first time, try not to have joints at the
corners of door/window framing - put them in the middle of the run
across the oopenings.

Harry K

On Jul 12, 10:39*am, Harry K wrote:
On Jul 11, 9:04*pm, Jordan wrote:



On Jul 11, 11:51*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 7/11/2008 8:48 PM Jordan spake thus:

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).

No real rules here, at least in your case (I'm sure there are "rules"
that help when one is hanging miles and miles of drywall), but keep in
mind that the long edges (the 8' ones, assuming you're using 8-foot
sheets) are tapered, to make good taped edges, while the short edges aren't.

If in doubt, sketch it out before doing it.

--
"Wikipedia ... it reminds me ... of dogs barking idiotically through
endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it.
It drags itself out of the dark abyss of pish, and crawls insanely up
the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and
doodle. It is balder and dash."

- With apologies to H. L. Mencken

Are 4x8 sheets of drywall actually 48" X 96"? If so it looks like I'll
have to cut some off every sheet.
thanks
jordan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes they are the nominal dimension. *Don't forget that you can get
sheets other than 8' long. 2 10' ones will cover your 20' wall with no
cutting for example. *2 12 footers will do the 23' wall and only waste
a 1' cut on one of them. *Of course doors/windows affect the
calculations. The game is to eliminate as many butt joints as you can.

If you are doing this the first time, try not to have joints at the
corners of door/window framing - put them in the middle of the run
across the oopenings.

Harry K

Thanks for all the replies, I was looking at going horizontal as for
the most part as it will give me less butt joints. Id love to go with
10 footers but I'll have enought trouble getting a 4x8 sheet down
there.
Thanks again
Jordan

If you run the rock vertical there are NO butt joints.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Jordan" wrote in message
...
On Jul 12, 10:39 am, Harry K wrote:
On Jul 11, 9:04 pm, Jordan wrote:



On Jul 11, 11:51 pm, David Nebenzahl
wrote:

On 7/11/2008 8:48 PM Jordan spake thus:

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going
to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal
or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I
read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My
room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of
joist (kind of
and odd size).

No real rules here, at least in your case (I'm sure there
are "rules"
that help when one is hanging miles and miles of drywall),
but keep in
mind that the long edges (the 8' ones, assuming you're using
8-foot
sheets) are tapered, to make good taped edges, while the
short edges aren't.

If in doubt, sketch it out before doing it.

--
"Wikipedia ... it reminds me ... of dogs barking idiotically
through
endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps
into it.
It drags itself out of the dark abyss of pish, and crawls
insanely up
the topmost pinnacle of posh. It is rumble and bumble. It is
flap and
doodle. It is balder and dash."

- With apologies to H. L. Mencken

Are 4x8 sheets of drywall actually 48" X 96"? If so it looks
like I'll
have to cut some off every sheet.
thanks
jordan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes they are the nominal dimension. Don't forget that you can
get
sheets other than 8' long. 2 10' ones will cover your 20' wall
with no
cutting for example. 2 12 footers will do the 23' wall and only
waste
a 1' cut on one of them. Of course doors/windows affect the
calculations. The game is to eliminate as many butt joints as
you can.

If you are doing this the first time, try not to have joints at
the
corners of door/window framing - put them in the middle of the
run
across the oopenings.

Harry K

Thanks for all the replies, I was looking at going horizontal as
for
the most part as it will give me less butt joints. Id love to go
with
10 footers but I'll have enought trouble getting a 4x8 sheet down
there.
Thanks again
Jordan

If your room is 93 high, I am not sure why you would want to hang the
drywall horizontally instead of vertically. If hung vertically, all of the
seams where two sheets meet can be on a vertical stud. Plus, when you cut
the 3 inches off the sheet to match the height, all you have to do is stand
the sheet on the floor and lean it against the wall to nail or screw it to
the studs. If you hang them horizontally, you will have to lift and hold in
place the upper sheets.

So, why are you thinking of hanging them horizontally instead of vertically?

"Jordan" wrote in message
...
Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).
Thanks
Jordan

On Jul 12, 8:43 am, "alta47" wrote:
If your room is 93 high, I am not sure why you would want to hang the
drywall horizontally instead of vertically. If hung vertically, all of the
seams where two sheets meet can be on a vertical stud. Plus, when you cut
the 3 inches off the sheet to match the height, all you have to do is stand
the sheet on the floor and lean it against the wall to nail or screw it to
the studs. If you hang them horizontally, you will have to lift and hold in
place the upper sheets.

So, why are you thinking of hanging them horizontally instead of vertically?

"Jordan" wrote in message

...

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).
Thanks
Jordan

Some charaters just want to do things the hard unconvential way.

On Jul 12, 7:06*am, Jack wrote:
On Jul 12, 8:43 am, "alta47" wrote:





If your room is 93 high, I am not sure why you would want to hang the
drywall horizontally instead of vertically. *If hung vertically, all of the
seams where two sheets meet can be on a vertical stud. *Plus, when you cut
the 3 inches off the sheet to match the height, all you have to do is stand
the sheet on the floor and lean it against the wall to nail or screw it to
the studs. *If you hang them horizontally, you will have to lift and hold in
place the upper sheets.

So, why are you thinking of hanging them horizontally instead of vertically?

"Jordan" wrote in message

...

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).
Thanks
Jordan

Some charaters just want to do things the hard unconvential way.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Or, in the average room, savign about 1/3 of the footage of seams to
be mudded plus putting the seams where they are easest to mud.

You won't find many professionals hanging them vertically.

Harry K

"Harry K" wrote in message
...
On Jul 12, 7:06 am, Jack wrote:
On Jul 12, 8:43 am, "alta47" wrote:





If your room is 93 high, I am not sure why you would want to hang the
drywall horizontally instead of vertically. If hung vertically, all of
the
seams where two sheets meet can be on a vertical stud. Plus, when you
cut
the 3 inches off the sheet to match the height, all you have to do is
stand
the sheet on the floor and lean it against the wall to nail or screw it
to
the studs. If you hang them horizontally, you will have to lift and hold
in
place the upper sheets.

So, why are you thinking of hanging them horizontally instead of
vertically?

"Jordan" wrote in message

...

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).
Thanks
Jordan

Some charaters just want to do things the hard unconvential way.- Hide
quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Or, in the average room, savign about 1/3 of the footage of seams to
be mudded plus putting the seams where they are easest to mud.

You won't find many professionals hanging them vertically.

Harry K

Harry would be correct...The only time we stand them up (vertically) is in
commercial work with PERFECT metal studs using 5/8 inch rock. Wood studs are
FAR from perfect and hanging the rock horizontal or as we say "laying it
down" hides imperfections(bad studs) in the wall. The only people who tell
you to stand them up don't know how to tape and are afraid of butt joints
which with a little planning are nothing to be afraid of. Try to put as many
as you can over doors,windows,ect (A 2 foot butt is better than a 4 foot
butt )and remember to stagger them... To tape butts you apply paper or self
adhesive fiber tape as usual and then go down both sides of butt joint with
your 12 inch trowl or knife.Let dry. Scrape the ridge of mud you leave in
the center( when you went down both sides) off with your 6 inch knife and
coat the center of the butt with your 12 inch trowl/knife. Let dry. Now
scrape it down again and go down both sides again with your 12 or 14 inch
trowl/knife. Sand as usual...Good luck with your project...Another little
tip for ya...Buy a REAL drywall screwgun and Roto-Zip drywall router to cut
out outlets , windows ect. You'll thank youself...Believe me...LOL...If you
need advice on Roto -Zipping outlets just ask.......

On Jul 13, 9:42*pm, "benick" wrote:
"Harry K" wrote in message

...
On Jul 12, 7:06 am, Jack wrote:



On Jul 12, 8:43 am, "alta47" wrote:

If your room is 93 high, I am not sure why you would want to hang the
drywall horizontally instead of vertically. If hung vertically, all of
the
seams where two sheets meet can be on a vertical stud. Plus, when you
cut
the 3 inches off the sheet to match the height, all you have to do is
stand
the sheet on the floor and lean it against the wall to nail or screw it
to
the studs. If you hang them horizontally, you will have to lift and hold
in
place the upper sheets.

So, why are you thinking of hanging them horizontally instead of
vertically?

"Jordan" wrote in message

....

Im getting ready to drywall one of my rooms and am going to hang it
horizontally. My question is can I run it all horizontal or do I have
to break it up at some point and put one board verticle. I read some
where about some 4-1-4 rule but noting to explain it. My room is 20x26
and the walls are 93 inches high from floor to top of joist (kind of
and odd size).
Thanks
Jordan

Some charaters just want to do things the hard unconvential way.- Hide
quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Or, in the average room, savign about 1/3 of the footage of seams to
be mudded plus putting the seams where they are easest to mud.

You won't find many professionals hanging them vertically.

Harry K

Harry would be correct...The only time we stand them up (vertically) is in
commercial work with PERFECT metal studs using 5/8 inch rock. Wood studs are
FAR from perfect and hanging the rock horizontal or as we say "laying it
down" hides imperfections(bad studs) in the wall. The only people who tell
you to stand them up don't know how to tape and are afraid of butt joints
which with a little planning are nothing to be afraid of. Try to put as many
as you can over doors,windows,ect *(A 2 foot butt is better than a 4 foot
butt )and remember to stagger them... To tape butts you apply paper or self
adhesive fiber tape as usual and then go down both sides of butt joint with
your 12 inch trowl or knife.Let dry. Scrape the ridge of mud you leave in
the center( when you went down both sides) off *with your 6 inch knife and
coat the center of the butt with your 12 inch trowl/knife. Let dry. Now
scrape it down again and go down both sides again with your 12 or 14 inch
trowl/knife. Sand as usual...Good luck with your project...Another little
tip for ya...Buy a REAL drywall screwgun and Roto-Zip drywall router to cut
out outlets , windows ect. You'll thank youself...Believe me...LOL...If you
need advice on Roto -Zipping outlets just ask.......

I guess I need some more advice, for those of you that do taping.
Whats easier for a beginner, five 8ft verticle joints or one 16ft
horizontal and two butt joints? Thats my choices for a given wall.
8ft boards are my only option.
Thanks
Jordan

benick wrote:
To tape butts you apply paper or self adhesive fiber tape as usual and
then go down both sides of butt joint with your 12 inch trowl or
knife.Let dry. Scrape the ridge of mud you leave in the center( when you
went down both sides) off with your 6 inch knife and coat the center of
the butt with your 12 inch trowl/knife. Let dry. Now scrape it down
again and go down both sides again with your 12 or 14 inch trowl/knife.
Sand as usual...Good luck with your project...Another little tip for
ya...Buy a REAL drywall screwgun and Roto-Zip drywall router to cut out
outlets , windows ect. You'll thank youself...Believe me...LOL...If you
need advice on Roto -Zipping outlets just ask.......

A couple of naive questions:

1. Why don't the drywall makers just taper all four sides to give
builders even fewer butt joints to work with?

2. Why can't you taper a squared edge? I know it removes the paper, but
then you're taping over it anyway.