Drywall suggestions

basementdrywall

I am in the process of finishing my basement, I'm doing all the work outside of the drywall finishing. I have a well spoken of finisher doing the work and I've asked him these questions and get the generic "It really doesn't matter to me". However, I want to make his life easier and more importantly, I want the drywall to look good. I am putting 5/8" on ceiling (24" joists OC) and 1/2" on walls. All sheetrock will be 4×8 as that's all I can get into the basement. Ceiling is 8'1". On all of my exterior walls, I have a 36" framed out half wall against cinder blocks, which will be a ledge, and 61" above with 4 total windows. Here's where the questions kick in.

I know hanging drywall vertical isn't common practice, but with the measurements, does it just make sense with these walls?

One cut and I have a top and bottom piece filling 4' wide floor to ceiling?

If I do run horizontal, I'd have quite a bit of waste from the upper half I think although the lower half would be simple. Suggestions here?

I'm also nervous regarding how close the screws need to be to the edges when hanging vertical?

Also, all of my constructed walls are between 9-12' long, what's the best way to handle these?

Best Answer

Not sure is this is the best way, but here's what I did in a similar situation. I had a room finished (part of an old garage) that ended by having ~8'2" from the floor to the ceiling (after the ceiling drywall was installed). So I was faced with the same issue as you:

  1. Run 10' drywall vertically and cut off 1'10' from each piece.
  2. Use 8' or longer drywall run horizontally and need a 2" strip someplace (bottom, probably).

I decided to use the 4'x8' drywall and run it vertically, with the joints all falling on studs. To make up the 2" shortfall, I ripped 1/2" plywood into 2" wide strips and fastened them to the studs at the bottom of the walls, between the drywall and the floor. This is covered by baseboard trim anyway, so the difference in the surface texture between the drywall and the wood is hidden. A side benefit is that is gave me a continuous nailing surface to use for attaching the baseboard.

Edit 1, in response to OP's comment

Installing it horizontally is advantageous when you can use 12' long sheets, as it reduces the number of joints that have to be finished. I tend to lay it out both ways (with 8' sheets) and see what orientation results in 1) fewest number of sheets of drywall and 2) least amount of joints.

I should add that I'm just a DIYer who does something like this once every 5 years or so. Those that do this for a living or on a more regular basis probably have their own recommendations.

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