Finally Drywall Time! (1 Viewer)

[Keith M.]

Well, after a short break in the HT construction to get married

Im back in action. Ive finished the insulation and have decided to hire out the drywall process. The drywall will be delivered tomarrow and they will start the process Wednesday.

They say it should take 4 visits to complete...Is there anything I should be aware of when having contractors do drywall? Anything I should get in writing before they begin? What is a good rate for the labor for a 19x14 room and smooth ceiling?

Any experience or comments are welcomed...

 

[MikeWh]

Is there anything I should be aware of when having contractors do drywall?

Yes. You should be aware that you've saved yourself a lot of physical pain (sanding) and emotional distress (over how hard it can be to make a nice looking joint). I installed 50 sheets (4x8) in my HT. Not fun. Installation wasn't that bad. I just hate mudding and sanding.

Back to your question though-- some people have suggested taking a full set of pictures of all your framing & wiring. My brother-in-law was thankful that he did... his drywallers covered one of his boxes for an alarm system.

Also, if you've installed in-wall speaker wire (or any other low voltage wires), it may be a good idea to do a thorough walk-through with the foreman, so the team will know to be careful around these wires. Some people here have had horror stories with cut wires.

 

[Rich Sk]

That's a good point about in wall low voltage wires and drywalling. I did the drywall in my theater/basement rooms myself, and used a Rotozip tool to cut around the gang boxes. I don't know how your professionals will do it, but if it involves cutting the holes for gang boxes with the drywall on the wall, be careful with the low voltage wires. 15 amp and 20 amp wiring can be pushed back into the box far enough so that a zip bit won't contact the wires when the bit is punched into the wall and moved left or right to find the edge of the box. Low voltage wire will tend to go wherever it wants to and has no 'shape memory' like 12 or 14 guage copper wire. I have a couple of speaker cables and a couple of coax cables that made contact with the zip bit and have had their insulation damaged because the cables were lying right against the drywall when the zip bit was punched through. The cables are long enough so I can just snip the damaged portion, but it could have been a major headache.
Even if you walk through with the foreman ahead of time, once a 12 foot long piece of 'rock goes up, unless the person did the wiring themselves, they probably won't remember which box is which when it comes time to cut the holes for the gangboxes. I'd make sure I stuffed everything as far into the boxes as possible, perhaps using zip-ties if I had to.

 

[Keith M.]

MikeWh:

Thanks for the good advice... I think I will take some pix and map it out on paper. I have numerous places with mounting 2x4s for speakers, screen and projector, would hate to have to guess where they are after the sheetrock is up...Ive installed speaker jacks for all my fronts and sub, but the rears have wire which needs to be pulled through the rock...Is there a preferred way to mark them?

I really hope I didnt forget anything as far as wiring etc...

 

[MikeWh]

but the rears have wire which needs to be pulled through the rock...Is there a preferred way to mark them?

I haven't subcontracted drywall, so I can't really speak to a "preferred way." Talk to the drywallers and see what they say. Maybe others here will have suggestions.

Rick-- VERY good point about the zip tool. I used a Dremel with a drywall cutting bit. I'll tell you, the work goes very fast using one of these tools, but if you aren't VERY careful with it, you can really tear up your drywall, the junction boxes, AND the wiring!

 

[Telalun]

I mark the floor where I have to cut openings and if I have an odd heighth I write it next to the marking, compare that with your drawings and you will be fine.

 

[David Preston]

Keith who is doing your drywall for you? I also live in the ATL area. I have a good friend in the drywall business just wondering if it could be their company. Where in Atlanta do you live you can P.M. if you would like.