If you are looking for a way to save money on your home improvement project, hanging your own drywall is a great way to do it. Although this project is manageable by an amateur, be sure to have another person available to help you maneuver the heavy and unwieldy sheets. Carefully follow these instructions as a team, and you'll be well on your way to building like a pro.
1. Take the dimensions of your room - width, length, and height. You will be hanging the drywall horizontally, so cut your pieces accordingly. For instance, on a 15-foot wall, you will need to cut one foot off the long side of the drywall, so that its new dimensions are 7' x 4' x 1/2".
2. Mark stud locations on the ceiling and the floor. You don't want to lose track of these!
3. Begin two screws or nails near the top corners of a drywall sheet.
4. Position this sheet in one of the upper corners of the wall and finish the screws or nails. The sheet should fit squarely against the ceiling and the edge of the wall.
5. Insert screws or nails along each stud covered by the drywall, with the outermost screws coming within an inch of the edges of the sheet.
6. Place another sheet beneath the first, and use your drywall kicker levers to push the bottom sheet snugly against the top. The edges that meet should be sides of the drywall that were pre-cut for the original dimensions, and they will each have slightly indented edges, which will allow you to make a smooth surface when you tape and mud the joints. There should be approximately 1/2" of space between the bottom of the sheet and the floor-don't worry, this will be covered by the baseboard.
7. Screw or nail this sheet into place (use method described in step 5).
8. Fit another sheet beside the topmost piece and repeat steps 1-7. The edges of each sheet should fit tightly against one another. In order make your finished product appear smooth and professional, you may wish to shave down the edges of the drywall where the sheets meet to produce an effect similar to the pre-cut edges in step 6. This will create space for your taping and mudding.
Congratulations! For each sheet you hang yourself, you are saving up to $65. That's not half bad for a day's work.
