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Questions tagged [drywall]

For questions about drywall (aka plasterboard) installation, repair & finishing.

Drywall is made up of large sheets of plasterboard, usually screwed to interior stud work or ceiling joists to form a smooth surface for finishing. It is also used to finish solid walls where it is either bonded directly to the wall or screwed to battens fixed to the wall.

Boards come in two main varieties - square edged and tapered. Tapered boards have a slightly thinner edge which takes the tape used to cover the joins.

Tapered edge boards are ideal for either jointing or skimming, while square edge is generally used for textured finishes.

10 things you should know about drywall/plasterboard

Drywall can also come with insulation and soundproofing layers attached. This is usually thicker and heavier boards.

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When drywalling a room, should I do the ceiling before the walls?

Is there any value in installing drywall (plasterboard) on the ceiling before the walls or does it not matter?
user1927
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How do I run wires for a wall-mount flatscreen TV?

Like a lot of you, we have several wall-mounted LCD HDTVs in the house. The TVs have two wires -- power and HDMI -- running down the wall to the power outlet and cable box. I've historically been too timid to try to run the wiring inside the drywall…
Portman
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How much weight can screws in drywall hold?

I've always had the question of how much weight can a single screw into a drywall withstand? For instance, I would like to do things like this: It's hung with 5 screws. The whole thing weighs approximately 50kg (110 pounds) so we can say that each…
Gastón
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What is the purpose of tape when finishing drywall?

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but it doesn't seem immediately obvious how a thin strip of paper tape actually helps the taping process in drywall installation except for perhaps reducing the amount of mud needed between panels. This, from…
JYelton
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How do you know when and where it is safe to drill into a wall?

Lots of home projects involve cutting or drilling through walls (everything from nails, screws, or hooks to mount things to cutting through drywall and drilling through studs to run wire). In general, how do you know what's safe to break through and…
jrdioko
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Should I use nails or screws for hanging drywall on the ceiling?

I'm replacing water-damaged drywall on my ceiling and was considering using screws. Other than cost, is there any other reason I should use nails instead? Or am I too paranoid that nails won't have enough holding power? I'd prefer the cheapest…
Doresoom
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How should I support this large drywall patch?

after the installation of a new water heater and a relatively extensive plumbing fix, I wanted to save a buck trying to patch the drywall myself. It's the very first time I buy a piece of drywall or anything related to this activity. I re-created a…
Alessio Sangalli
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What is the best method to patch a large hole (2-3 inches) in drywall?

I have a large hole where a TV wall mount once was (I believe the hole was used to run power and coax cable to the TV). I have since moved the TV and would like to patch the hole. What is the best way to do this?
mmattax
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How do I find studs when stud finders won't work?

I was trying to hang my TV at my new place, on an interior wall (between living room and a bathroom). Using the stud finder on other walls worked fine, but on this wall I got some very strange readings. An area of about 5 feet by 4 feet was setting…
Steve Armstrong
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How much gap to leave between basement concrete floor and bottom of drywall board?

We have a dry basement with a concrete floor. When putting on the wall boards, how much (if any) gap should there be between the concrete floor and the bottom of the board? The boards are 3/8 inch, I was thinking about using a scrap piece drywall…
Jon Raynor
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Should drywall be hung horizontally or vertically?

For reasons including time, money, ease of installation, and structural strength, should drywall be installed horizontally or vertically.
DMoore
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What benefit do plasterboard/drywall screws have?

I have some plasterboard screws like this: However, without a drill I have a job getting them into the wall. Am I safe to use normal screws on hangings that aren't going to be taking a great deal of weight? In this case it is a rack of coat hooks.
Jivings
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How do I fix a hole in drywall?

There is a hole in my drywall from a doorknob repeatedly hitting it, is there a straightforward way to fix it?
Robert Greiner
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What should we look for when buying a fixer-upper house?

My fiance and I are considering buying a fixer-upper house rather than an apartment when we get married. Obviously things like location, neighbors etc. are important, but; what should we be looking for in terms of fixing it up ourselves? Neither of…
BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
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What are the different types of drywall anchors, and what are the advantages of each?

I recently put up wire shelving in my pantry, and spent forever figuring out what type of drywall anchor I should use. I even found several types that I didn't even know existed. It might be good to have a reference page for drywall anchors. So,…
Doresoom
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