Big Drywall, Small Lifts
These simple site-built jigs make hanging 12-foot-long sheets of wallboard easy, even when working alone.
Handling 12-ft.-long pieces of 5/8-in.-thick drywall by myself on a recent project was trying, to say the least. I didn’t have any hired help, so I enlisted the help of some 2x4s. As shown in the drawings, I cut three 46-in. pieces of 2×4 with notches at 12 in., 24 in., and 36 in. At each level I put a piece of plastic pipe strapping protruding about 1/2 in. above the notch to keep the drywall pieces from sliding off. I drove a screw at the top of each 2×4 to secure them to the wall studs. The notches give me an incremental lift, and the 46-in. step gives me a short final lift or a resting point to cut out openings for windows or switches.
—Jon Karner, Minneapolis, Minn.
Edited and Illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #284
More about hanging drywall:
Faster Drywall Finishing – Automatic tools produce better walls in less time.
Modern Drywall Hanging Tools, Methods and More – New methods and materials produce flatter walls and ceilings, and fewer callbacks.
Improved Drywall Corners and Joints – No-Coat corner beads and FibaTape = better results.
