You
Well you ready to go just a minute, let me drink my coffee first
You know I'm really excited about getting this basement done. Yeah, I'm getting pretty good at this
Huh, especially after we did my mother's basement now. I bet we can do this whole thing in half the time cream. I
Just can't wait to start using all those little tricks
I've learned and this time I'm going to use them right from the start
Do you remember the first time you cut a panel of drywall? Mm-hmm. You were so surprised at how easy it was
There's nothing easier. I
Remember cutting panels in that basement. You just have to score the paper
Snap the drywall and then cut through the paper on the other side
Draw score and snap is always easy. The only problem may be when the paper bunches up on the backside
Simply lie your knife down to a lower angle
Your special little drywall saw is great for cutouts like electrical boxes
And if you have to trim the edges a bit you use a bit of coarse sandpaper or a rasp
It's best to run the ceiling panels perpendicular to the floor joists
The floor to ceiling tees hold everything in place and give you a chance to relax
Remember we always start by putting the ceiling panels on first so that the wall panels can help to support them
The wall panels are pushed up tight to the ceiling panels
The wall panels are pushed up tight to the ceiling with a board lifter
Cutting them about a half inch shorter than the wall assures they won't bind and buckle
Panels can be installed horizontally as well
This goes over poorly spaced sides better and makes for fewer joints
Although it may mean more difficult butt joints to cover on the ends of panels
With the vertical installation all joints are on the edges of panels
And there's more room for the joint compound and tape
That's an advantage for the inexperienced
Doors and windows are treated in a special way
I've seen that done wrong
If you put a joint right at the corner any movement at all in the house will cause a crack right there
You have to notch out round openings
When locating cutouts for electrical boxes you can put the panel into place
Lift it up and strike the panel against the box to mark the spot exactly
Measuring for boxes or doors must be done from the ceiling not the floor
Because the drywall will be lifted off of the floor
Once a panel is cut to size there are some basic rules for properly attaching it to the wall
Use dry wood to avoid warping and shrinkage
Push the panel tight against the stud so that it won't move after nailing
Dent into the paper just enough to be able to hide the head with joint compound
Be gentle, don't break the paper or it won't hold
Plus the damaged paper will bubble when you put on the joint compound
Check that the head is not sticking out by running the finishing knife by
I prefer to use screws ever since I discovered that gadget that stops them just at the right depth
The dimpler and it attaches to any drill
Both nails and screws should drive three-quarters of an inch into the wood no less
The panels always need nails or screws around the edges every eight inches
But the center part can be attached with adhesive which means fewer holes to fill
And that's the basics for drywalling the whole house
There are some special cases
Ordinary panels on ceilings can end up sagging after you apply textured finishes
That's when you can use those special sag resistant panels
Still half an inch thick like all the other material on the job but rigid enough to resist sagging
In fact, it's a good idea to use them all the time on the ceiling
And in high moisture areas like around the bathtub you use special moisture resistant panels called aqua guard
These panels are much more water resistant than ordinary drywall
So for the most stable base possible for marble tiles and the like on both walls and floors
There are these cement-based panorak panels
You know the surprising thing is they can be cut with the same score and snap techniques used for ordinary drywall
You really like putting up those big panels, huh? With everything moving along so fast
But you know my favorite thing is the finishing and today I can put into practice all these little tips that make the job right
Doing the job right, you know
When I travel across the country, I see lots of different ways to do the joints
And I'd say that any way is the right way if it ends up looking good
Okay, so I'm going to show you how to do the joints
And any way is the right way if it ends up looking good
Okay, but there are tips that make the job go faster and end up with less sanding
For taping the joints always use the pre-mixed joint compound
No lumps and the right consistency every time
Empty buckets can be recycled and reused around the house for years to come
The basic joint between two panels is really easy
The edges of the drywall panels are tapered so that you have some place to put the joint compound
We start with a coat of joint compound all over the bottom of the joint and some people call it mud
Then lay the joint paper into the mud with the rough side of the paper into the compound and press it in firmly
The paper gives it strength so it won't crack later
24 hours to dry thoroughly. Then a light sanding. It will shrink. So you need two cover coats over the tape
Smooth out each edge with your finishing knife and sand between coats
In fact, if it looks like it needs it, don't hesitate to give it a third coat for a superior job
The trick all along is to scrape off the excess at each step while it's wet and spread the compound out two inches wider with each coat
To tape the joints on the sides of the panels is easy
But the cut ends are harder to finish because there's no validity receive the tape and joint compound
Here each coat has to feather out quite a bit to hide the bump and that does take a bit of practice
Avoiding butt joints is why homeowners should put drywall on vertically professionals usually put panels on horizontally
But they use extra long panels that go right across the room and very wide trowels to hide the bump when they must cover a butt joint
Why always the little one two one two at each screw? Stop, back up
See that pinhole in the compound?
It's gone after the second pass
Three coats over screws as well, just like the joints
For the corners, start with mud on both sides
The same paper is used except that it's creased down the middle before putting it into the joint compound
Here you only need one cover coat over the tape, but do one side one day and the other the next day after the first is dry
Outside corners need protection against things banging into them
So we use metal trim for this that can be cut with ordinary 10 snips
But we don't need to nail it on
We can get metal trim called super bead with a paper covering that adheres with joint compound without any nails in the way
Put mud on the corner first and then push the corner bead right into the mud
And then push the corner bead right into the mud. Keep it a half inch off the floor so it won't buckle if the wall moves
Joint compound, trim, more compound, three coats and light sanding between coats just like flat joints and you're ready to paint
But I have a surprise for you in the job that we're doing today
Oh yeah, what's that? We're not going to use any square corners
You mean we're going to use those rounded bull nose corners?
Right
Paper with metal backing made for both inside and outside corners
Hmm, now that makes for a classy job
Then how about using this special drywall cove molding at the ceiling?
You put mud directly on the back side of the cove and simply push it into place
Now that's even easier to install and rounds off our wall to ceiling joint
You can even buy narrow straight pieces of drywall called steps
Just put them into place before the cove with nails and joint compound
Wow, now that's impressive
A little surface fantasy to finish it off?
Why not? Textured plaster
I can see it already
We better get started if we want anybody else to be able to see it
Right, do I have time to finish my coffee?
We've got all day, you, me and Westrock
Did you like those cove moldings that we had in the video?
Really nice, but some people are afraid to try them
Those cutting moldings, particularly large moldings, can be a real tough job to get those mitered corners on the inside and the outside
Not so when you're using gypsum molding like the Westrock cove
It's very easy to work with
And there's a few little tips and tricks to get you through it
And we'll look at those in detail
But first of all, you know, you don't have to do it just in a major renovation
Here we're in a kitchen and we're just going to paint
And so prior to painting, I'm going to add some decoration up around the top
That's why I've covered the blinds with some sheets in the floor to pick up the mess
Let's step up the ladder here and see just what this might look like up on the top
Here's your cove profile
It simply goes into the corner like that and breaks that square edge
Gives you a nice curved edge all the way around
Very nice, delicate effect, particularly if you have a low ceiling, it works fine just like that
There's the cornice profile, gives you a little fancier curve
See how nice that looks up in there
And particularly if you have a high ceiling or you want more of an effect
You can get into all kinds of decoration things with these straight flat pieces called steps
They go in at any distance you want, on the ceiling, on the wall, two or three or four of them
And you can come out quite fancy that way
So let's take a look at just how we're going to cut those mitered corners
That are a little bit difficult but we can get them right every time
What we want to accomplish is a nice corner like this
Here's an outside corner, maybe an inside corner
The hard part, how do you get this angle cut?
If you take a look at it, it's a compound miter bevel
It comes across like this
How do you do that without a fancy miter box?
Well take a look at this cut
If I stand it up in just the right way
Bring the saw absolutely perpendicular down to the table at the right angle on the molding
And there it is
Now how do we get that?
It comes in the literature from West Rock
There is a template in here that you simply cut right out of the literature
And you get it like this
Now how does this work?
Let's take a look at a sample I've set up
In fact you may want to do this for your house before you decide on the final design
Here we've put one step up here on the ceiling and none on the wall
Here we tried it with a step on the ceiling and the wall
You could put this up on the ceiling temporarily and take a look and see what you like
Decide exactly what you want to do
Here the template is going to fit right into this corner
An inside right hand corner
And on the template that's actually written that way
Take a look at it
It says on one side curve one, curve four
On the other side it's three and two
It tells you exactly which one it is
Take the piece, you might want to play with a little sample to start with
Or if you're into it, this is eight feet long
You measure from corner to corner in the room along the wall
And you mark your measurement right on the very outside edge down here
That's where it's going to go
So if that was the proper measurement from the other side to here
Then the template comes down, the little point is supposed to hit that measurement there
It says right on the wall edge right here
Wraps up for that curve coming up in this way
I like to cheat it out a little bit more
Because I actually make the molding slightly too long
It's easy to adjust it later, I'll show you how to do that
And then you simply trace the curve
You don't have to be absolutely precise in any of this work
You want to get it quite close and then we can adjust it at the last minute
Mark this at four
If you don't remember one, two, three or four, it tells you right here
Four, okay, that's my right hand internal
Now it did say ceiling edge here, that's important
The ceiling edge has to go on the table
So that's my ceiling edge goes down
The whole molding is basically upside down
Then the saw is going to come down perpendicular to the table
But carefully following that line that's in the molding
Oh, let me show you a little tip here is that this could get a little bit unstable
If we just start sawing on the top
Just take a scrap piece of cove or a whole other piece and put it in the back side
And it'll hold it all down sturdy
That'll allow us to just come across here and cut in
So the blade is perpendicular to the table
I'm following the line
Another little trick here is I'm pushing forward
Cutting into the face and lifting the blade to come back
That gives you the angle that you need very easily
And we'll do the mating side just as well
The first thing we do up here is to mark out some guidelines on the wall and on the ceiling
So everything will line up in its proper place
To prepare the steps for installation
We apply a thin layer of compound on the underside near the exposed edge
The steps come seven inches wide
So you will cut the width to the proper size for your design
We can easily position the step on the wall with the line that we've already made
Notice I've already started my screws
And they're positioned so they will be covered up when we place the cove
A dry fit is always necessary
Notice we've put some screws in on the line up line
This allows us to set it in exactly the right place and it won't slip
Check for a fit in the corners
If you have to adjust it, you can use a rasp
Sand off the edges so they're smooth and don't have fuzz on them
Now, you won't get it exactly perfect
Most walls are uneven
But when it's close enough, we can fill in the rest with some of the compound
To prepare the cove for installation
We apply compound on the two sides that will touch the wall and the ceiling
Don't forget to put it on all mitered and butt ends
Here's where the line up screws are really useful
Push it hard over to this butt joint so that the compound oozes out
That's simply cleaned up with a spatula
The piece in the corner here with the other joints can be moved around, there is some flexibility
The inside corner is most easily cleaned up with your finger
The outside corner is cleaned up with a spatula
Final adjustments and pushing into place, it'll look great when it's painted
Like all drywall work, once this is dry, you'll need to come back, sand and add one or two more coats to get a perfectly smooth finish
Like any new drywall installation, you must prime the surface before painting or decorating
Installing decorative gypsum moldings is easy
Thanks West Rock