DIY Basement Drywall

Right after finishing our basement’s framing and insulation, it was time for the third major phase of our project: hanging the basement’s bedroom and bathroom drywall. This phase was a DIY Basement Drywall project because I hanged all the drywall.  But, at the same time, it was not DIY Basement Drywall project, because we paid someone else to tape, mud and texture it.

I was getting tired and ready to finish the project. If I had decided to tape, mud, and texture the drywall, it would have taken me a lot longer than it did to the guys we hired. Also, I do not have the tools (texture sprayer, for example) and didn’t see the need to get them because I will not be using them often enough to justify the purchase. Not to mention that I’m not a drywall guy, so I’m sure that they did a better job than I would have if I had tried to do it myself.

DIY BASEMENT DRYWALL

Hanging drywall is not too difficult, and you don’t need a bunch of tools either. It can get very dusty, though, especially as you cut drywall sheets. Although I hung all the drywall by myself, I can tell you that I will definitely find some help next time. The 4’ x 9’ drywall sheets we used are not extremely heavy, but they are kind of big and uncomfortable to move around.

Finishing drywall is a bit more difficult and a lot dustier than hanging (needs sanding), that’s another reason why we decided to leave it to the pros.

In any case, whether you decide to do it the way we did or go all in, make sure you have the following tools and materials before you start your project:

• Drywall Sheets (Based on room’s square footage)
• Drywall Screws
• Screw Gun
• Measuring Tape
• Utility Knife
• Pencil & Chalk Line
• Drywall Square, Level or similar tool for straight cuts
• Drywall Lift (Optional, or required if you are working by yourself)
• Ladder

If you decide to finish it yourself, you also need:

• Drywall Tape
• Corner Beads
• Joint Compound & Topping Mud
• Drywall Mud Pan & Knives
• Air Compressor
• Drywall Texture Sprayer

HOW TO GET THE DRYWALL IN THE BASEMENT

For those of us who don’t have walkout basements or some very wide and straight stairs, the easiest way to get drywall down to the basement is through one of the windows (assuming they are wide enough for your drywall – 49” or more).

Most basement windows are installed with screws or with some plastic strips that help attach the window to the frame (our case).

 

It took 5 minutes to remove ours. And once we did it, it was easy to slide the drywall sheets down to the basement. I would say that you need at least three people to do it though. One person outside pushing the drywall through the window and two down in the basement setting it on the floor.

HOW TO DRYWALL BASEMENT CEILING

As I mentioned before, I hung all the drywall by myself. It would have been easier to have a helper, however, I was able to lift the drywall sheets up to the ceiling using a drywall lift I borrowed from a friend.

While holding the drywall sheets tight to the ceiling, I used the screws and screw gun to screw them to the floor joists. I repeated the same process with every single sheet until the whole ceiling was drywalled.

 

 

HOW TO DRYWALL BASEMENT WALLS

The walls were way easier than the ceiling because I didn’t have to lift the whole drywall sheets off of the floor. Since we have 9-foot basement ceilings (105 inches or so to be more precise), we got 9-foot drywall sheets. After cutting a few inches from each sheet (3” or so), I was able to stand them up and hang them (using the same screws and screw gun process) vertically, one right next to the other, until I covered the whole area.

 

 

 

We also got some Permabase sheets for our shower. The process to hang them was the same, except that we had to use an extra piece of drywall on top of them because they were only 32” x 60”.

 

 

Right after hanging all the drywall, it was up to the pros to finish it. This is how it looked during and after they did their job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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