Hi guys, my first real post here. Been reading a while, great site!
This is probably a tired topic but I’m a tired person. I have my basement finishing project ready for drywall. I’m looking at 50 sheets of 4X12X1/2. We have 4X4 egress windows but the inside dimension is only ~46 inches due to the jamb. I mocked up a sheet and it will pass through at an angle but will be cumbersome to say the least.
I have quotes from the local supply houses including delivery. I am willing to pay extra but want to make sure the material actually gets into the basement and is useable when it gets there. If it were me, I’d want four guys (two outside, two inside). I don’t think the $1-2 upcharge is getting me four guys.
What should I expect here? I don’t want them to show up and say “nope, we can’t do that”. We’re still tight with our builder and she says drywall delivery is always one of her biggest headaches. Going to talk with her some more, but thought I’d get some other opinions too.
Forgot to mention, the basement stairway turns back on itself so that’s not an option. Yes, should have sprung for that garage to basement stairway!
If I pay, will they really deliver?
Thanks,
Rob
Weekend Warrier Supreme
Edited 3/9/2005 4:15 pm ET by Rob
Replies
take the window out?
what will that RO give U?
probably a bit more than the 48" ...
and ... the sheets will be on the flat.
my bet ... they're gonna show ... look ... and drop.
You'd better have those 4 guys lined up yourself.
that "delivery" borders on installation too!
Me ... I'd pop the window ... and have my own people there .. that way ... I know how the day is going to go.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
I suspect that the "drop and run" guess is about right. I feel your pain, last week I had to carry 30 sheets of dw up three flights of stairs, including two turns that didn't have enough clearance to slide a piece of paper in between the dw and the wall. Good luck, let us know what happens...
PaulB
Rule #1 of drywall delivery guys... "money talks and BS walks". If the guys show up and have a 50 spot each waitin' for 'em if they can get it done... best investment you'll ever make.
But... given what you describe... even with a fitty for each of them... it will probably get banged (crushed, twisted, destroyed) a bit (a lot)
I agree to have your own 4 (8) guys there. They can help you get it in... and may even be able to help ya hang the buggers.
If you can rig a piece of plywood to meet the needed angle coming through that window.. you'll save on beer money after the work is done.... and save your jams in the process. Couple of scabbed 2be4s, an old 3" hinge for each connection needed, and a piece of 3/4 ply... a little inginuety... and you're good to go.
Thanks for the tips guys, the idea about the plywood in the jamb is great. I forgot to mention that the window jamb is a steel, cast-in-place job in the poured basement wall. Why it couldn't have been a clear 4X4 to the inside is beyond me!
Given what I'm hearing, I may just round up my own beer-powered crew of buds and pick the stuff up with my own trailer. The best price I got was from Menards, and I already know their delivery stinks.
Thanks again, I'll let everyone know how it turns out.Rob
Weekend Warrier Supreme
rob, did a bsmt job with a switch back stair. Cut a bit of the floor out of the landing (joists ran with the run of the stair) and a pc of the wall below the first floor joists at the landing. Straight shot into the bsmt. 8' sheets however, stood em up to hang. Something to consider. 2 carried to the landing, slid down to 2 in the bsmt.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Don't give your crew the beer till after they do the job! ;-) Guy I know let his crew of friends drink while they were laying shingles. When they were done, he was sitting in a lawnchair looking at the roof and got so disgusted he tore all the shingles off and redid it himself!
Have a cooler full of cold drinks waiting for them and tell'em they're too old to tote drywall.
I think you'd be better with a delivery crew. The green backs previously mentioned would probably fix the problem. The thing is that a drywall delivery truck with a boom will be able to hold the drywall at the window at the proper angle. Order from a building or drywall supply, not a big box. The building supply drywall delivery crew will be more adept at handling drywall, as opposed to the big box guys who also deliver lawnmowers and shed kits. I'm assuming Melard's is a big box - they don't have those around here - and areound here big box stores don't even do inside delivery of drywall.
Edited 3/10/2005 7:21 am ET by DIRISHINME
Yes, Menards is a big box. I like their prices but that's about it. If I have it delivered, it will come from a local lumberyard who has a good rep. I've dealt with them before.
If I ask for and pay for the delivery they will likely send two guys and a boom truck. I can easily build a "trough" in the window frame. If I have myself and one other guy there can we get it done? I'm thinking so, but just want to check. Rob
Weekend Warrier Supreme
Standard delivery from a yard is by truck...boom truck only if you ask.
Two guys.
Definitely take a close look at your window and line the jamb with something. Like others have mentioned, you want to make it as easy as possible.
The delivery guys usually have "sill saddles"...plastic saddles that slide over the window sill, that allows them to slip the sheets right over without damaging either the sheets or your trim.
Also, realize that the sheets come 2-by...that is, two sheets are attached to each other, so the pieces will be 4' by 12' by 1" (two half-inch sheets together).
That extra thickness might be a factor with your windows, especially if you're counting on a bit of flex to fit them through.
For this setup I'd want an extra hand. You don't want to be running inside/outside as each sheet is fed through the window.
Boom truck...man do I appreciate a good boom truck.
I've done this before. Build a cradle inside the window frame out of 2x4's that the drywall will slide on at the proper angle and not touch the window jamb.
Then let the delivery guys have at it. Thats what they get paid for.
I have drywall delivered all the time. I use a drywall supply company with a boom truck. The delivery guys know how to remove window sash and put protective covers over the jambs. They know better than to pile a hundred sheets on one wall. It's a non issue in my area. Just ask the supplier how they will handle it.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Thought I'd post a follow up and a thanks to you guys.
I picked up the drywall myself and bribed four buds to come and help. I built a ramp in the window frame with a 4X8 sheet of OSB and various scraps of 2X. It all worked remarkably well and even my engineering buds were impressed with the ease of getting it all done. We moved 52 sheets of 4X12, in pairs, in less than an hour!
Since then, I've put up about 3/4 of it including all the ceilings and upper walls with a rented lift.
Thanks again for the great tip on the ramp, that was a huge help!
Rob
Weekend Warrier Supreme
Our pleasure... and props to you for coming back and filling us in.
Best of luck as you hang the rest. And tape it... and finish it... !!!
Helpful hints.
Beer alleviates the aching back.
Dust mask is good.
Dustless sander is better.
Someone else doing it is best!
Shield the furnace and any intakes when sanding. Plug any holes you can find.
Drywall is messy. Wives hate messy. Buy wife roses. Roses trump messy (most times)
Again... best to you as you work toward success.
Thanks Rich, I'm ahead of you on the beers already. Part of this phase of the basement will be a bar!
Taping/mudding... I can do it. I have done it. I can do a good job but... I am going to write a check this time. Neither myself nor the wife want the house in limbo for as long as it would take me to get it done (day job is spilling into the evenings lately). This is a real landmark decision for me though, as I normally take on every aspect of every project I encounter. Somehow I think writing the check is going to be harder on me than the actual work would be but I'll survive. Again, more beers!
Good advice on the dust control, especially with the other half of the basement already done. Visqueen will be my friend!Rob
Weekend Warrier Supreme
Have you considered D-Mix for this plastering job? I hear it makes it a jiff, if you can just get the proportions right.
Here kitty....
No sweat on the cats - I'll bring my 20 guage & do the honors.Don, Cat herder, First ClassThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
"Somehow I think writing the check is going to be harder on me than the actual work would be but I'll survive."
Why's that? You've just promoted yourself from carp to GC!
here's a tip to make writting out the next check easier ... pay close attention to "time and quality" ... bet that check even starts to look like a bargain.
Somethings I pride myself on doing myself ... other things I get smart and pay a sub.
Drywall is one of the biggies ... in the end it looks nice ... but all I do is lose money and get white dust all over myself. Got smart a coupla years ago and said ... never again.
btw ... that chute was a great idea.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
i had the same problem on our old basement,finally the light dawned on me the walls were 7'10" if i put up some nice 4" baseboard i'm a 7'6. so i pre cut all the rock outside at 3'9" .then put a filler in at the bottom and let the base cover the joint.worked great and got it down there. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Rob,
Had the same prob. last fall and cut a slit in the DW between two studs at the turn of the stairs, walked the sheet down the half flight to the two guy in the basement on the other side. worked like a charm , as long as the turn isn't near the foundation
Just a thought--good luck, Mike
Adam Savage---Mythbusters