I’m renovating the second floor of my 150 year old house. The original interior finish is two layer plaster on soild brick masonary walls. I’m going to frame out all the exterior walls but the stairwell wall, which will be traditional plaster on brick.
The problem is my house is small. the only way to get full sized sheets of drywall upstairs is through a dormer window that is 6 feet above the floor. The sheets have to be handed through the window diagonally one at a time. Moving 20 to 30 sheets of drywall this way will be back breaking and will likely damage a good number of sheets.
If I where to cut the sheets down to 3×8 I could move them through a window at floor level, but I would end up with more butted seams and taping.
My question is would it be cheaper to go with a veneer plaster on cut down (3×8)sheets of blueboard or just live with the extra seams and taping of the 3×8 sheets of drywall.
Replies
If you can get the DW supplier to come with a forklift truck, and you have about four husky guys to handle the sheets on the inside, you should be able to get them all through the window fairly quickly -- lifting about six sheets at a time on the forklift.
I dont know about the second option.
On up to 30 shts of 4x8 , it would not be a big deal to cut them in half [2x8s] for a finisher. The cut joint is a butt joint that would need to be built up , but the whole job is still small. Not a problem for a taper- finisher. Shouldnt add over 4 hours to the total job.
Tim Mooney
The veneer plaster looks better anyways...
I would carry the 30 sheets of 8 footers up the stairs.
We'd watch ya.Never serious, but always right.
We'd watch ya.
Get it on video too and show everyone here that drywallers are real men! Cerealsly, it would take one guy maybe a good 1 1/2 hours and two men 45 minutes, not bad at all. Sure would hate to finish the 3 x 8 sheets though, that may take a few extra days and the job with all those horizontal butts would be ugly indeed!
Probably one can special-order drywall in other sizes. I know you can get 5-foot stuff, you may be able to get 3-foot or 2-8 stuff from somewhere that would have tapered edges.
I'm sure this has been raised on BT before -- but why doesn't DW come with all four edges tapered? That would eliminate for all time the butt-joint problem!
Because in the manufacturing process the drywall comes on a long roll and is cut to certain lengths. I'm sure it could be done, but that would add to the cost.
Also, since the drywall manufacturers make the mud they would loose millions in lost sales with narrow butt joints. Also, on the wall corners, I don't think the angle rollers and corner heads would work properly..too much of a beveled edge if both sides have a beveled edge.
Also maybe, not much rock left on the beveled edge to hold the nail or screw properly if the butts had a beveled edge, on 5/8"it would be OK, 1/2" maybe and on 3/8" and 1/4" definitely not.
They can cut the rock to any length..I think up to 20 feet. Cutting them width wise..the factories are not equipped to do that and certainly you won't get a tapered edge on a 3x8 piece of rock. You would have to alter the manufacturing process and the demand is just not there.
Maybe your drywall supplier can boom the sheets up to the window. If you take the sash out of the window the operator might be able to boom the sheets part way through the opening. (They can tilt the whole load.) Build a platform inside to stand on. The whole thing will be done in less time than it took to compose all the posting in this thread.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Brown...you're not thinking out side of the box.
There's more that one way. You could remover a strip of shingle and cut a hole through the roof. You could make the window bigger...you probably want that anyways. You could cut a hole through the floor..you're going to recarpet anyways.
With the proper rigging, hauling them in diagonally would be no problem...as long as the drywall truck boomed them up. The drywall delivery guys wouldn't blink an eye as long as you had some sort of platform for them to be standing on to receive the stuff.
I'd just hoist myself up on a set of sawhorses and give myself a walkplank down the floor. If the drywall delivery guys complained, I justtell them to get the stuff to the window, I'd haul it in myself.
blue
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!