Is there any good reason why I can’t use 3/8 in. sheetrock on ceilings? (Joists are 16in OC.) I do understand that 1/2 or 5/8 is now standard practice, but not why it is standard practice. I plan to do the job myself with help from my wife and am not enthusiastic about the prospect of lifting those heavy sheets.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Old masonry may look tough, but the wrong mortar can destroy it—here's how to choose the right mix for lasting repairs.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Fine Home Building
Follow
-
Fine Homebuilding
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial Now -
GBA Prime
Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
I wouldn't even consider using less than 1/2", regardless of spacing.
Rent a drywall jack. It only cost a few bucks a day, and it's much safer and easier.
I smile because I have no idea what's going on.
A couple of thing:
Use 12' long half-inch with a drywall jack. You'll have fewer seams to tape.
I woudn't be suprised to see you lift a 3/8ths inch sheet only to see it snap in half on you when you hold it mid-span.
3/8ths doesn't give the burn through protection that you'd get with half-inch.
3/8ths may sag over time.
3/8ths may not meet your local building code.
If you're rocking an upstairs ceiling, buy from a local lumberyard that has a boom truck. Yes, you'll pay a buck or so more per sheet than you'd pay at HD, but they'll deliver it through a window and place the material in the room that it's to be installed. No wrestling sheets up stairways and then painting to fix the dings.
Be honest, Mongo! 3/8" WILL SAG VERY SOON!!!!
Orange Peel is neat, Textured is elegant, SMOOTH is expensive, but BAGGED is available only in 3/8"........
Besides 1/2" is the same price as 1/2"......5/8" is THE best!
IMHO...........................Iron Helix
There I was, trying to be diplomatic and all...<g>
welcome J
Geezzzz. I'm the first here to ridicule you (all in good fun)?
3/8ths. Noooooooo way. first of all the ceiling joists are bound to be crowned (arched)this way and that and 3/8 will show the unevenness major.
Your wifes gonna help? Cool! Hope tween the two of you you have an understanding about whos the boss. She is!
As a poster prior suggested...rent a panel hoist for fifty bucks a day and use 5/8 rock. Better yet..save the marriage and hire a rocker. No not Neil Young, a sheetrocker
Be married, stay married
Namaste
Andy
"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
"Neil Young"
Too funny...Lucky Thirteen is spinning as I write this.
OK, I admit it I'm a thread theif. Does the same advice (use 3/8th only if you want that hillbilly DIYer look) apply if all I'm trying to do is cover up 12x12 acoustic tiles glued to lathe and plaster ceiling? I removed the tiles in one small room and that is too much work! I thought I would just cover them in (drywall w/ a nice texture) through out the rest of the house.
Edited 1/21/2003 7:16:53 PM ET by coolcall
Hey thread thief, it's even more impoortant to use 5'8" here. The biggest reason not to use 3/8" is that it will sag - almost immediately - and that it is harder to use 3/8" on ceilings because it is hard to hold up while you get fasteners started without it falling apart. You add one more problem when going over all that other stuff. It will be harder for you to find fastening at solid framing with your screws. You will use more screws, and poke more holes, perforating and weaking the paper.
The only time I consider it OK to use 3/8" for anything is if you have a situation where the dimension is critical, ie. if you have removed palster and kept the lathe on walls and need the new finish to be close to the old in depth. Never on ceilings. The vision reminds me of an old "I Love Lucy" episode where she and Ethyl were hanging wallpaper in the apartment....
Excellence is its own reward!
GRAVITY is the problem.....not what is the first ceiling! With 3/8" sheet rock, gravity and humidity command a mandatory and visually apparent "bagging".
And if the first ceiling weighs upon the 3/8" SR then the effect is all that more pronounced...plus the attic insulation...plus the humid blown cellulose......et.al.
Yup...."Early Red Neck" design specifications.............if that is what you want!
...................Iron Helix
The wife and I hung 135 sheets of 5/8 in our second floor. I'm 42 and the wife is 50+. We hung 10 sheets a day (sloped ceiling, flat ceiling, knee walls, full ht. walls, etc.) each weekend. The DW was delivered with a boom truck through a window that I had removed. We saved a couple of grand. Would I do it again, maybe. Would the wife, NEVER. 3/8's should never be used on a ceiling. I like 5/8 and prefer 5/8 firecode or type x. The board is stiffer and will hide some of the framing irregularities.
DW was delivered with a boom truck
I wouldn't worry about the ceilings, I would be reinforcing the Floor joists.
Maybe she should look into Jenny Craig or something similar?
:oþ
TDo not try this at home!
I am a trained professional!
Listen to the advice you have recieved so far it is all gospel .
Especially the part about the drywall lift.
My wife and I finished our basement this year. She lifted all the drywall to the ceiling and I screwed it in place. WE had lots of fun and it went very quickly,neither of which would have been true had we not rented the lift.
If you don't want to spend the bucks on a drywall lift or hurry to get it done to avoid an extra charge, get yourself some 2x4s and a hinge and make yourself a deadman.
Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
I was watching worlds strongest woman on tv. They were doing all sorts of things I couldnt do. I think if I ever lose this dw I might want one of those . I liked the part about his wife lifted it up there and he screwed it . My kind of partership.
Tim Mooney
So now we have dw dealing with dw. The newbies will have fun trying to decipher the abbr.
Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
Edited 1/22/2003 10:26:42 AM ET by rez
What does Dw stand for, besides drywall, Devoted Wife?
that'll work. Devoted wife, dear wife, dim wit...depends on whose talkin'.
or maybe who's in the room listening.Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
I like the part where Archy's DW was delivered with a boom truck through the second floor window.
; )
Quittin' Time
Luka
I wont use a supplier unless the have a boom truck
Be hoisted
Namaste
Andy"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
You have your DW hoisted often ?
Read the post I was replying to.
; )
Quittin' Time
jokes on me.again"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
"DW" is the key here
Though some of us are to polite to comment on how a man gets his "DW" into the house.
As long as it's between consenting D's
View Image
Barry E
Forgive me if I've got the lingo wrong but I understand that --
The DW helped install the DW by screwing in DW screws with a yellow DW screwgun.
-Peter
Edited 1/25/2003 7:14:45 PM ET by PM22
Like I said,
What goes on with consenting DW's behind closed doors is none of my affair. :)
Or something to that effect
View Image
Barry E
You guys are getting ripped. I rented a drywall panel lift for $20.00 a day, untill I decided to purchase my own.
You guys are getting ripped. I rented a drywall panel lift for $20.00 a day, untill I decided to purchase my own.
Dave,
I think I may just buy one myself. Sure pays for itself in a short period of time. I know they usually go for about 4-500 bucks but I know I saw one less expensive somewhere.
What did you pay?
Be a wall
Namaste
Andy"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Andy,
Ive seen some on ebay going for 350-375 recently, but I would guess shipping would be a bit of $ as well
CAG
I've seen the same ones but for some reason this one looks a lot better yet I think I've seen it other then Ebay cheaper somewhere
View Image
TELPRO 11' Drywall Lift $599.00 New (BEST) View Image View Image
$599.00View Image
View Image View Image
4d 20h 33mView Image
Be a wall (lifted)
Namaste
andy"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Andy, sorry I didn't ack to BT ealier in the week.
I paid $576.00 with free shipping at amazon.com (toolcrib). I got the same type I had been renting. I've dropped down to 10' board (1/2") so I can handle it easier by myself. As a soon to be 56 year old guy with a pretty easy day job, 12 and 16' board is now a potential back killer.
I would have to agree with the general comments on 3/8 drywall however if I may add. Several years ago I worked on a super high end home and they used 3/8 drywall on the walls, two layers. First layer was screwed to the studs bug time. Second layer, seams were staggered and the top sheet glued on. They used temporary screws with big washers to hold the sheets till the glue dried. The theory was, no chance of nails popping or seams breaking loose. Never seen it done this way before but it sure made a nice looking job when finished.
I hang round rooms that way.
Tim Mooney
I wanna hang rooms that way now....what a great idea!
a"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Dave
No problem. sounds like you got a fair deal. I saw it on Ebay and with shipping it came to $650.
a"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
You really think she weighed that much?Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
The other...proper application of risk.
After this job? "Divorced wife".<g>
Just kidding. Any spouse that offers to help hang rock is a fine spouse indeed.
I second the motion.
Tim Mooney
"Dimwit"
Dont let Rez fool ya . Hes not one of us in this area because hes not MARRIED, or he might be dead as we speak or type by this time !
Tim Mooney
Guess what ? Thats exactly what I was thinking !
Tim Mooney
1/2" aint so bad and the 3/8" is way too floppy to put on a ceiling, 5/8" is stiff and heavy. Find the existing strapping under the tiles and snap some chalk lines so you and the screws will have no trouble finding them when you need to. Only sink the screws slightly and keep your seams as tight as possible to save yourself a nightmare come taping time. Be sure your 4' butt joints are centered on the strapping. A nice cove moulding around the edges of the room can make the initial installation less critical and save alot of taping trouble too.
( your logo here) Turtleneck
javier
the thing about a dryway lift is that you can hang even twelve footers with no sweat at all. I know its about $50 a day and thats cheap compared to what a Chiropractor will charge you after your done DWin'.
rez's thought about using a wood brace works real well too. I used them for years but for the novice a lift is the way to go. Sort of rock and roll.
Be rocked
NAmaste
andy
"Attachment is the strongest block to realization"
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM