I'm currently removing a wall that separates my kitchen and living room. 1/2" drywall on 16" o.c. studs, typical. What I found to be strange was that the drywall was fastened with 2 drywall screws placed 2 inches apart, in pairs about every 18" up a stud, where a single screw would definitely suffice. May be I'm overthinking it, but is there any reason someone would use so many screws for a simple wall? House is a 1990 Bi-level, or raised ranch as I've seen them called. I just want to make sure that this isn't some specialized/important wall due to the odd overuse of screws.
Drywall – Why were the screws set in pairs in the drywall
drywallrenovationwalls
Related Topic
- Drywall – What’s the deal with half-walls behind the kitchen cabinets? Can I cut into it
- Drywall – Did I miss the stud when I drilled into the wall
- Walls – Drywall screws visible
- Electrical – Can we safely hang a ceiling fan from our vaulted livingroom ceiling
- Drywall – Screws breaking through drywall paper
- Walls – Securing French cleats to drywall over lath and plaster with structural screws
- Drywall – Finding studs behind new build drywall to mount TV
Best Answer
Like others have said in comments, drywall was commonly nailed in pairs to help prevent punch-through--hammers had a tendency to crush the drywall and weaken the hold of the nail. When screws were first adopted the practice was continued until it was known that precisely set flute-head screws hold better than nail heads, or until old-timers retired away.
Fun fact: Purpose-built drywall hammers had convex (mildly domed) head faces to help set nail heads below flush without tearing the drywall surface, so that tapers could cover them with compound.