Basement Drywalling Tips and Tricks

Welcome to week 3 of the One Room Challenge in which I will be transforming a portion of our unfinished basement into a yoga, meditation, and exercise room. In case you missed the first two weeks of the challenge, I’ll give a little summary here. In week 1, I shared our plan for the project including before photos, an inspiration/mood board, and a work plan. For week 2, I shared our experience with framing an unfinished basement and all the other work required to really get the ball rolling for this project. This week was all about drywalling and I will be sharing our best basement drywalling tips and tricks. My husband has done drywalling before but this was my first experience and I have to admit that it was actually a lot of fun!

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Before Photo

Here is a picture of where we left off with the basement in last week’s post- we had finished the framing, electrical, and structural elements. It didn’t look much like a finished space, but all that changed when the drywall went up. The space magically looked more finished and it became easier to envision the finished space.

This is where we’re heading in only 5 more weeks- a spacious and soothing yoga, meditation and exercise room.

Purchasing the Drywall and Supplies

Before we could start drywalling, I had to order the drywall and supplies for this project. I purchased sheets of standard 4′ by 8′ (1/2″ thick) drywall from Home Depot. They delivered it to our home for a fee and placed it on the driveway near our garage door entrance. I would have gladly paid for the delivery person to carry the drywall down to our basement, but sadly they did not offer this service. So, my husband and I brought them in and painstakingly carried them down the stairs one at a time- all 80 pieces of drywall. It turns out that I estimated exactly correctly and we used every single sheet we purchased. Keep in mind that this was for our entire 800-square-foot basement. I got a good deal on the drywall as there was a sale at Home Depot and I also applied for their credit card and got an additional discount.

Tools of the Trade

In addition to drywall, you will also need drywall screws (a lot!), a 4-foot-long drywall T square, a pencil, a measuring tape, a utility knife and replacement blades, a drywall lifter, serrated drywall saw, a drywall rasp, putty/joint knives, a drywall trowel, mud pan, drywall tape, drywall mud, paper corner bead for exterior corners, sandpaper, sanding block, circular sander with long handle, and a face mask.

Essential power tools include a drywall screw gun, a handheld electric drywall router, and a hole saw set and power drill. A drywall lift to raise up the drywall to the ceiling and hold it in place while we screwed the drywall in place was also invaluable.

Strapping the Ceiling

Before we could start drywalling the ceiling, we had to apply strapping to the ceiling. The purpose of strapping is to provide a sufficiently wide solid support to screw the drywall onto. Strapping needs to be wide enough to allow for two rows of screws along abutted drywall edges. We used 1 by 3 strapping boards. I carefully planned out their placement so that the drywall seams would lie precisely on the strapping pieces and that the screws would be evenly spaced throughout each drywall piece.

Drywalling the Ceiling

We used a drywall lift to crank the pieces of heavy drywall up to the ceiling. I would then hold the piece of drywall in position and my husband would screw it in place. He would drill in several screws and then I would mark the strapping lines onto the installed drywall so we would know exactly where the lines of screws needed to go. While he finished with the screws, I moved on to the next piece of drywall- marking the cuts and breaking the drywall to size.

I loved it when we were able to install whole pieces of 4′ by 8′ drywall, but just as often the drywall sheets needed to be cut to size. My procedure was always the same. First, I would do a rough sketch of the shape of the piece to be cut. Then, I would measure and write the dimensions on my drywall sketch.

Next, I would mark the lines on the drywall using my T square. Then, I would score the drywall with a utility knife and break it backwards. After that, I used the knife to cut through the backing. If any of the cut edges were not smooth, I used a drywall rasp to grate the edge smooth.

For pieces with a duct or power outlet or light switch, I carefully measured, marked, and asked my husband to cut them out with the drywall router. He was good at making these cuts. For the pot lights, he used a circular blade attachment for our drill.

Drywalling the Walls

It was a great feeling to finish the ceiling and after that, the walls moved along quite quickly. Here is a view of the entire basement with the yoga room at the back.

Drywalling the bulkhead was pretty time-consuming as there were numerous small cuts to be made. We hung the drywall horizontally with the piece near the ceiling always going in first. The second piece had to be cut down slightly since our ceilings are under 8 feet. We left a 1/2″ gap between the floor and the drywall to allow for expansion and contraction of the drywall and to avoid the problem of having the drywall in direct contact with the concrete floor which could be/become damp.

After completing the ceiling, I marked the position of the wall studs along the edge of the ceiling drywall since I wouldn’t be able to see the position of the wall studs once the drywall was in place. I also marked the position of the studs directly on the floor. After we installed the upper piece of drywall, I marked the positions of the studs along the bottom edge of the drywall. The markings could then be connected to outline the position of the studs on the drywall, making installation of the screws a breeze.

Taping, Mudding, and Sanding

My husband agreed to do this job if I agreed to do ALL the painting myself. Since painting is one of my favourite activities, it was an easy trade-off. I contributed to this task by purchasing the taping and mudding supplies and taking care of our kids and all our regular household duties while he worked long days in the basement. I also kept my husband company while he watched numerous episodes of Vancouver Carpenter. We learned everything we needed to know about taping and mudding from this Youtuber.

I did try my hand at sanding and this extension rod and circular sander were perfect for the ceiling. It’s important to wear an N95 mask when sanding to avoid breathing in all that drywall dust.

This is the space with completed drywall and mudding. It looks so spacious and bright now compared to what it looked like before.

Cleanup

I spent half a day cleaning up the drywall dust. The first step was sweeping, followed by vacuuming, wiping all surfaces (ceiling, walls, windowsills, etc.) with a damp cloth, and finally mopping the floors. I wanted the space to be dust-free before priming and painting.

Tip #1

Invest in a good basement finishing book, like Remodeling a Basement by Roger German. After reading the drywalling section over a few times, I felt confident about what we were going to do. Make sure you know your local code regarding drywall materials and clearances around fireplaces and heat sources as well as drywall screw spacing.

Tip #2

For anything you still don’t know how to do, watch a few YouTube videos from professional sources. Vancouver Carpenter was our go-to source for all drywalling tutorials.

Tip #3

Invest in the proper tools to make your job easier. We used a drywall T square, drywall lifter, serrated drywall saw, drywall rasp, putty/joint knives, drywall trowel, mud pan, paper corner bead for exterior corners, circular sander with a long handle, drywall screw gun, drywall router, hole saw set and drill, and a drywall lift. Many of these items can be purchased second-hand to save money.

Tip #4

Don’t fret if a few of your drywall pieces arrived damaged. Many cuts will be necessary and it’s easy to just cut off the damaged parts. Save the perfect pieces for the pieces you will be installing whole.

Tip #5

Always install drywall factory edges next to factory edges and cut edges next to cut edges. Factory edges are pinched in a little and will create a gap if placed next to a cut edge.

Tip #6

Follow the old adage measure twice, cut once to avoid wastage.

Tip #7

Use the slightly more expensive paper over metal corner bead. It’s easy to work with and produces a durable outer corner for walls and bulkheads.

Tip #8

Allow the drywall mud to dry for 24 hours before attempting to sand.

Work Plan for this Coming Week

I’m devoting the entire week to priming and painting since I’m doing it all myself and I’m painting the entire main living space, not just the yoga, meditation, and exercise room.

Summary

I hope you enjoyed reading about my basement drywalling tips and tricks. The big reveal will be happening on November 15, which is just five weeks away. I’m not sure how it’s all going to come together, but I hope you’ll join me for this fun challenge. In the meantime, please check out the posts by the other participants here. Here is the link to week 4 of the challenge.