Some interesting, little-known facts about drywall

Now that we are fully engaged* in the task of covering up all that hard work I did on the framing, we're starting to find out some interesting things that we really didn't know about drywall.

That's not to say that they're things we necessarily wanted to know about drywall, but things that we've just come to know through the course of the monotonous, soul-crushing drudgery that is drywalling.

It's almost enough to make one wish there was still some digging to do instead...

Okay, I exaggerate - somewhat. I'd still rather be drywalling than digging, but only because there are markedly fewer wasps when working inside. And more supervisor kitties that look really funny when they've been sniffing around in the drywall dust. Hee.

So, the first thing we learned about drywall is that it's really damn hard to get into the house. Drywall sheets are usually (always?) sold in pairs, which is fine for loading them into the truck, but not so good for maneuvering them in through the side door, part-way up the stairs into the kitchen, and then down the stairs, over the dryer, and into the basement. It's a veritable obstacle course of tricky corners and annoying edges of sharp things - or sharp edges of annoying things, as the case may be. Getting ten sheets of drywall from the store is a major undertaking, and we learned that the hard way when we bought 16 at one time to do the ceiling.

Another interesting thing we learned about drywall is that the stuff they sell at Home Depot sucks. I think the name brand is Sheetrock, and they call it that because naming it Shitrock would be a dead giveaway. I don't know what exactly they do differently, but the paper tears more easily, the gypsum itself seems crumbly and mushy, and it never seems to snap in a clean line. The stuff from Rona, on the other hand, feels more rigid (making it easier to carry)and has much sturdier paper for the same price. The moral of the story is to buy ProRoc drywall from Rona: it has the official Don and Amy's Basement Reno Seal of Approval^TM.

And finally, before we get to the pictures, we learned one other important thing about drywall: it's a lot damn harder to put up than it looks on TV. You'd think it's just a matter of propping the board up against the wall and chucking in a few screws, but lemme tell ya, Jack, that ain't it. That ain't it at all.

Okay, sure, maybe it IS that easy if you're working in a room with square walls, an even floor, and a number of windows, plugs, and light fixtures that doesn't exceed the gross domestic product figure of several small European countries. In our basement, however, every single piece needs to be trimmed, cut, scored, blasphemed, measured, tossed out, sworn at, scored, cut, holed, fitted, trimmed, re-holed, tested, cursed at, and then finally screwed in place (accompanied, of course, by the requisite swearing).

Here's how it looked on Sunday night, after two days of work:



Yes, two days. It takes FOREVER... Oh, and not included in that picture was the bathroom ceiling, which we managed to finish with the much appreciated help of Clamb (who needs to work on his swearing a little if he's going to fit in on our job site).

I took these two last night, after another four hours of effort over two evenings:





Did I mention it takes FOREVER?

And yes, there ARE two colors of drywall. The stuff from Home Depot even LOOKS greyer and uglier and just plain crappy.

Oh, and just because it's been a while, it's another edition of everyone's favorite feature

The Injury Report

Strictly speaking, this particular injury didn't happen while working in the basement, but was probably a direct result of being really tired after a full day of drywalling.

I have five splotches on the back of my left hand: two rather large, and three smaller ones. They look kind of like liver spots, but they're quite red, rather than the usual brown.

The source of said spots? Well, let's just say that when you're searing a nice piece of halibut in a pan of hot oil and butter, make sure that when you go to turn it over, you're flipping it AWAY from you.

That's some free advice from me to you, right there. And yes, you get what you pay for.






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* Ha ha. It's a pun. Get it?