Hanging Drywall

My poor car sits outside. I can see it through the window.
I am inside, downstairs, hanging drywall.

It doesn't seem to be a particularly difficult objective. A few drywall screws, proper makita drill, a tape measure. I even have a panel lifter. Had to decide between the panel lifter and lugnuts. Sigh.

So why is it I seem to spend as much time correcting or prepping things before I can get any sheetrock on the wall? Is this normal on new construction?

Having done this for the past week, there are so many things that I didn't realize I should have forced the workman to correct before I paid them. But this was my first new construction and it they came highly recommended.

I have corners without nailing studs. I have two ceiling edges without nailing joists. All the electric was set for 3/8 rock and I know they were told and shown the huge stack of drywall that is clearly marked 1/2 inch. One of the studs that has the water lines anchored to it was toenailed to the baseplate nearly 3/4 of an inch out of alignment with the baseplate. Means there would be a gap on one side and it would stand out proud 3/4 inch on the other side.

So I've been shutting off electric which was incorrectly labeled in the box. Prying the boxes off and moving them out so the sockets would not be recessed. Corrected the water line stud and realized that every single wall stud was toenailed to the baseplate below the 2nd floor. And every single nail they put in sits proud of the wood and will have to be knocked flat, recessed, or ground off so the dryway can sit level. Course, all the short pieces above the door header were not lined up even with the edge of the header but they managed to put 8, not 2, not 5, but 8 nails in a 1 foot piece of wood. I had to plane them down so the drywall would sit level.

I know what to look for now, but jeeze, I just want this pain over.
Only 6 more pieces and I will be done. I think I have the hardest parts over with. Only 2 more live electric gang boxes to move and I can finish the last wall tomorrow.

I can see the car through the window.

I'm a remodel contractor by trade and i feel you pain. I learned a long time ago, to be VERY careful who you hire. I now do almost all the work myself. Since I'm doing the drywall and trim work, I want the framing to be plumb and level. I don't accept referrals, I want to see their work in person. Pictures don't show details like putting your hands on it. Bad sub contractors have cost me much time, headaches, and money, Not to mention trying to win back the faith of your client.

Finding a good contractor is a bitch. One that was great a year ago, can be worthless today. I do most of my own stuff.

I can feel your pain! I've been working on an extremely slow flip of a house using up ALL of my spare time, and am currently finishing up putting in the base cabinets in the kitchen getting ready for granite countertops. I started by knocking out a wall between the old kitchen and an unused bedroom effectively doubling the kitchen to a 12x23 eat-in. I've done most of the work with my best friend, only hiring help for things that we didn't want to do (the new roof... too steep and dangerous) and new circuit box with 200 AMP service (too risky and dangerous), and the completely new and reconfigured bath rough-in plumbing (too much of a PIA). We've done most of the remaining electric throughout the house (recessed lighting and all new kitchen and second floor wiring). Set the new tub in the new bath a few weeks ago, which is another work in progress. We completely framed out and wired the previously unfinished open second floor. We've gone down to floor joists in the kitchen, bath and hallway to replace inadequate subfloor for the ceramic tile that we now know how to lay. We completely resided the house taking off old concrete/asbestos shingles (what a PIA) and ripped out enormously overgrown shrubs and cut down some poorly positioned trees. On and on and on. It was, and to some degree still is "fun", but we are SO FREAKING TIRED of this duty EVERY WEEKEND for the past 2 1/2 years! We are hoping to be able to put it on the market this summer, but that is probably too optimistic. We both also work 40+ hours a week, so there is just not much time to play with my favorite toy, Old Yellow (OY) - my '78 Aspen wagon slant six four speed. My friend has his '75 Dodge Dart Sport which also just sits and sits, patiently weekend after weekend.
I come to this site to try to get some vicarious mopar jollies late in the evenings, but it's frustrating to not be able to talk about any actual work that I am doing on OY - because it just sits. I have at times bought a few bits and pieces for it (drove all the way out to Oklahoma last spring for the seats that I had been looking for for YEARS, but are STILL not installed) including the recent small finds of a delay wiper switch and Chronometer (A few new toys), which probably aren't just plug and play, but seem to give me a bit of hope to get back to work on OY at some point. I had started a thread on another site about my work on the house, but had little response about it, then everything got wiped out and now I can't seem to load pics of anything anywhere anymore, so I don't bother to talk about it. So to read your thread now, somehow makes me feel not so alone. At least OY isn't sitting outside, but still, it is in the garage barely visible behind boxes of supplies, and cabinets, and plywood and all the other detritus of construction, untouched and idle. But maybe it will help you too to know that you are not alone either. At some point, our work will be completed, and it will be summer, and there will be time to have fun with our cars. At some point...

Yeah..drywall..lol. Wife wanted to tear down the paper and paint before we got married. We bought the house from forclosure, and had 3 months to get it liveable before the wedding. Spent the first month and a half trying to strip as much as we could, and put up the compound. After going through about 3 buckets..and it still wouldn't stick, we had to say screw it and throw drywall up. Didn't take the time to think about the sockets, and didn't measure em out right..just kinda guessed with the tape. I wasn't confident, but dad was. So, at this point I've still gotta pull the sockets out, flush everything up right and install the window trim in the one room. But I definitely learned my lesson..lol

i can drywall super fast and good ,but cant tape worth a crap,,i use to be a sub contractor and did may may drywall jobs ,,hell i still got my old black n decker screw gun

The trick is to find a contractor like Mike Holmes up there in Canada. The truly good ones are out there, and there's more good than bad (at least around here) but knowing for sure ahead of time isn't an exact science. They have to know enough AND care enough to do the best job possible.

Oldyellow78. sounds like you and your buddy will be through this flip soon. I am two partial sheets away from finishing the drywall I that room. Hope to complete the furniture setup tomorrow since I have grown so weary of the plastic tarp 'temporary' shower curtain in the master bath. Lol

I think part of my frustration is the never ending project list since my husbands health degraded so greatly these past two years. But like you I have to remember that I am actually finishing items off the list. It does grow shorter just at a slower pace than I'd like.

And yes I have learned many new skills. somewhat proud of that. Since I now have responsibility for our cars everyone here has been very kind o help me even with those little wins like you talked about.

You aren't alone upload some before after pictures on this thread so we can see what you are doing.

After I single handedly sheet rocked and taped my entire house I told myself "NEVER AGAIN". In hindsight the cost of having a pro do it would have been worth every penny. Plus they would have done it in 2 or 3 days. One day to hang the rock and do the tape and first coat of compound, second coat next day and final the 3rd day instead of the month it took me, lol. In my defense, it did come out pretty darn good though.

You haven't lived till you've done lath and plaster.

Oh for younger days when I was crazy, and able bodied enough to take on those types of projects. "Honey we will knock this out in a day!" Two days later it would be done. These projects never work quite the way you plan.

Darth-Car said:

Oh for younger days when I was crazy, and able bodied enough to take on those types of projects. "Honey we will knock this out in a day!" Two days later it would be done. These projects never work quite the way you plan.

Click to expand...

LOL, I don't know how I did it other than I was in my early 30's vs now in my early 50's. Actually, replaced all the doors and windows (except one upstairs), did vinyl siding over the block walls, soffits, eaves, gutted the interior and did all new electrical, plumbing, etc, etc, etc. Had help reframing, sheathing and shingling the roof of course but the rest, including the whole yard, done by myself. Get home from work and then go to work on the house until sunset outdoors, then move inside and work on that until midnight, get up the next day at 6am to go to work,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Ah, to be young again! Nowdays I'm lucky if I can stay awake until 9pm, lol.

All the drywall in the downstairs bedroom is now up. The pocket door is installed. All on the side facing the room. Of course the common wall with the bathroom has no insulation or drywall on it because I have two more switches and a exhaust fan to wire. But .... progress has been made.

Tape and bed next week I hope.

And if you notice in my signature --- I finally got the hook welded on the tractor bucket. I'm sure I'll have to do two more but for now, it is a big help. Ahh -- a couple of things off the list.

Karli and I spent a week up here getting the house ready to move in before we actually moved in. Don't, know, maybe it's the old body man in me, but I had three rooms all taped, mudded, sanded, and painted in less than that time.

I love doing the remodeling stuff. One of the reasons I bought the house was to have home projects to do to make it ours. So, far... remodeled painted the dining room, kitchen, and living room. Completely remodeled Cyrus's room. Stripped right back to the sub-flooring, new window installed, both the bedroom door and closet door replaced with new pre-hungs... which can be a chore since this is an older double wide and manufactured housing has different standards than onsite stick build. Took out a wall between the kitchen and dining room with all the rough in done to put up wainscoting and a breakfast bar. Put a closet in where wasted space was. Now, I'm tearing apart the master bathroom and stripping it back to stud. Gonna have to rework almost all the plumbing, including the vent pipe.

I've also got the siding off and re-wrapped the house with new OSB (wasn't able to get the ty-wrap up before winter) and replaced four of the eight windows.

Fun times!

Justwondering said:

Oldyellow78. sounds like you and your buddy will be through this flip soon. I am two partial sheets away from finishing the drywall I that room. Hope to complete the furniture setup tomorrow since I have grown so weary of the plastic tarp 'temporary' shower curtain in the master bath. Lol

I think part of my frustration is the never ending project list since my husbands health degraded so greatly these past two years. But like you I have to remember that I am actually finishing items off the list. It does grow shorter just at a slower pace than I'd like.

And yes I have learned many new skills. somewhat proud of that. Since I now have responsibility for our cars everyone here has been very kind o help me even with those little wins like you talked about.

You aren't alone upload some before after pictures on this thread so we can see what you are doing.

Click to expand...

Finally got the granite countertops installed yesterday morning, and they look absolutely Fantastic! The kitchen is really coming together finally with light finished solid maple cabinets, black granite with copper accents, stainless steel appliances and double sink, and off-white/tan tile floor. We just have to do door and window trim and cabinet crown molding and some other smaller stuff...oh yeah, and the stupid plumbing for the sink and dishwasher...ugh, I hate plumbing. We are also working on the getting the Pergo down on the second floor, but have found that we are going to have to pull up the original subfloor in some sections to plane down the floor joists because some of them are too out of level. That is coming up this weekend. Eh, sort of annoying get up and get down work, but not really hard. Next is the bathroom tile after that. We are tiling the floor and shower area with an accent stripe of colored glass, and also putting in two recessed tiled alcoves in the shower area and for the bathtub. I would love to post pictures and I have a million before and after shots, but the site doesn't seem to allow pics the size that my camera takes anymore, and I don't have the time, computer knowledge, or patience to mess with it. Sorry. Meanwhile, OY still sits buried in the garage behind boxes and other stuff waiting to be used/installed. It's on my mind all the time, but I just don't have any time to actually work on it at this point.