Drywall, Day One

Phil's parents left early Tuesday morning, but not before I snapped a photo with four generations.

The drywallers arrived on Tuesday morning, a bit later than they wanted because they were given directions that were only almost right. When they finally made it, though, it was fascinating to watch their technique.

They would measure the space to make sure they could put the sheet up (or to trim in advance as needed) and make note of any sockets or light receptacles. Then they put an adhesive on all joists or framing. It won't set for about 24 hours, so wasn't much use for the immediate installation.

Then the two men lifted together and brought the sheet up over their heads. In an impressive coordinated effort, they somehow climbed up on top of their stools, pushed the drywall up, and held it in place with the top of their heads. We were surprised: we expected they would have a lift to hoist the drywall up to the ceiling. That seems really rough on the neck, as the 48 square feet of 5/8" drywall is super heavy.

Once in place, they first would hammer nails into the studs to get the plywood to stay. Having done some hammering, this part of the ceiling work was most impressive to me: not only were they balanced several feet off the floor, supporting a heavy sheet with the top of their heads, but they were accurately hitting nails up over their heads and driving them in with just a few whacks.

Then they used an amazing screwdriver to drive in screws in about one second (and I know that takes some strength, too). Phil had expected that they would have a self-feeding screwdriver, but no. They put on each screw manually.

Once fully fastened, then they used basically a large Dremel-tool to cut out the outlets and lights, and make any trims needed.

For the walls, Phil was surprised to see that they did the top half first (two horizontal sheets make up the 8' wall).

After the top sheet was in place, the second sheet must have been a relief: scoot it into place, no heavy lifting required. To push the sheet up perfectly, they used a jack. So the bottom edge has all the slack. That's why floors have little molding, to hide that variable edge.

As Phil said, "If I had done this, I would have done it the wrong way."

The drywallers didn't get as much done as they wanted, but they finished a couple of rooms, walls and ceiling.

What a difference that makes!