FINISHED IN 2020! Sharward's Partial Garage Conversion

If you're using typical tapered wallboard, I still recommend mud and tape every layer; those "mini-air gaps" caused by tapers NOT being filled in flush can add up to less isolation than you paid for. Personally I'd stick to caulking PERIMETERS, and mud/tape joints between sheets. Keep in mind that Keith is using at least two more layers of drywall than nearly anyone here, BTW... Steve

I suppose I can mud and tape the seams on the second layer that's up there now, then plan on continuing that on the 3rd and 4th layers too. Might as well! It'll be good practice for that FINAL layer on the inner leaf when the time comes! ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

Woah, woah.... Keith, are you really using 4 layers on each leaf??? I didn't realize that; I think your old diagrams showed 3 per leaf, is that right?... Even 4 layers on the ceiling too? You've probably talked about this before (I guess I should pay attention more!) K

sharward wrote:

I suppose I can mud and tape the seams on the second layer that's up there now, then plan on continuing that on the 3rd and 4th layers too. Might as well! It'll be good practice for that FINAL layer on the inner leaf when the time comes! ;-) --Keith :mrgreen:

Luftweg, I clarified here two days ago and here on July 31.

Another semi-productive day. :) I mudded the 2nd layer of the back wall... ...then got the third layer of 5/8" installed. I used the drywall lifter not so much as a lifter but as a drywall mover! :twisted: I was actually able to load the sheet from the pile onto the Telpro, then wheel it all the way into the room. It's a tight squeeze getting into the room, but it does fit through the 38" rough doorway opening. :) Here's the third layer all done, including mud. It doesn't seem like much for one day, but considering I was working solo, it's not too bad... :roll: The final layer will be 1/2" with Green Glue. I have three sheets of 10' x 4' x 1/2" left over from my beef-up supply, so that should be fun to work with! :lol: I was planning on putting up vertically, but now that I think about it some more, I think I'll install it horizontally -- the bottom two pieces will be full and the top piece will be sliced in half. I think there's less risk of the board snapping in half while I'm handling it if I do it that way. Then it will be time to move onto that outer leaf ceiling, adding one layer of 5/8" with green glue to the existing ceiling! :twisted: I'm spending quality time with my mom and Mrs. Sharward tomorrow, so it will probably be Monday (Labor Day) before I get to this again. --Keith :mrgreen:

Keith: That's funny, I actually did see those posts before... But I think I was looking at your glitzy pictures and didn't read the text closely (I am very 'picture' oriented with my thinking, or lack thereof) K

sharward wrote:

Luftweg, I clarified here two days ago and here on July 31.

Luftweg, you're not the only one who skims my thread, just looking for the photos! ;-) Today I spent an hour and a half moving crap along the west wall fo the garage to gain access to the three 10 foot long drywall boards that have been stored there for almost a year. I moved them into the room, then put the crap back in its place. Ahhh, the price one has to pay to keep room for the cars in a construction zone... ;-) :lol: I keep having little wicked fantasies (daymares?) of putting up the rest of the drywall and then realizing that I forgot to put Green Glue on them! :lol: To be clear, I have not made this mistake -- but I'm afraid I will! :P --Keith :mrgreen:

sharward wrote:

... I keep having little wicked fantasies (daymares?) of putting up the rest of the drywall and then realizing that I forgot to put Green Glue on them! :lol: To be clear, I have not made this mistake -- but I'm afraid I will! :P --Keith :mrgreen:

LoL... I can be forgetful like that -- especially when being all excited about a personal pet project... I sometimes get worried when I change the oil and filter in my truck, that I'll forget to ADD the oil and start the engine dry! ... so I hook my keys over the dipstick under the hood to make sure I remember (not that I've ever forgotten though).... So, what I would do is duct-tape a tube of the green glue to the drywall gun the night before you plan to layer that particular sheetrock on... CAN'T miss that reminder (of course, remember to remove the tube when using the gun, as it might be a bit unwieldy otherwise)... K

Hey! I recognize that yellow thingy! Sorry to be so absent, Keith... it's a little nuts up here. I think things should slow down around Christmas. :shock: Looks good in the pics!

Yeah, especially that nifty handle I made! 8) 8) 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

What better to do on Labor day than... Manual labor! :lol: Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to report that I have finished the back outer leaf wall! 8) :twisted: (Actually, it's the middle leaf wall... :roll: ...But I digress! :P) Here you see the bottom 10' x 4' x 1/2" sheet with Green Glue applied at 80% the recommended coverage... Why 80% coverage? Well, I need to stretch my 13 1/2" tubes across 100 square feet of wall and about 170 square feet of ceiling. That amounts to one tube for every 20 square feet, or two tubes for every 4' x 10' sheet. It seems quite plentiful, actually. 8) Unfortunately, I ran low on 3 1/2" course drywall screws, so I had to run to Home Depot for more. Even more unfortunately, I discovered that Home Depot doesn't stock 3 1/2" drywall screws! :evil: :evil: :evil: So I had to drive across town Contractor's Warehouse, the place I bought the screws that I ran out of! :x After returning with the screws and a bit of goofing off, I got the middle sheet on the lifter and applied the same amount of Green Glue (80%). Stuipid me didn't pay much attention to the fact that I loaded the sheet on the lifter a little off center, hence the tilt. :oops: It was a royal pain getting this 10 foot long piece onto that lifter by myself! :x In fact, I failed the first time and ended up dropping one end, munching a few inches of the corner. :evil: Not a big deal though -- nothing that a liberal application of mud wouldn't cure once I got it up there. ;-) I couldn't imagine loading a 12 foot long sheet, especially 5/8", on that thing by myself. :roll: (FYI, they do offer an optional loader winch that allows it to be loaded just a couple of inches off the ground. 8)) I used several 16d (3 1/2") common nails partially driven into the studs just above the top edge of the bottom sheet to act as both a spacer as well as a holder for the heavy middle sheet. Once all the screws were driven, I just hammered the nails in until they were flush with the face of the drywall. Finally, the top sheet was pretty easy. I followed the same procedure as I did with the third layer top piece -- placed it on the lifter, applied Green Glue (one tube, 80%)... ...rolled it into position, jacked it up, put my 8 foot ladder under the sheet next to the lifter, then flopped it against the wall. Once I drove all the screws, I used the acoustic sealant around the perimeter and mudded the joints and screws. And there you have it! If I hadn't overbought the 1/2" drywall, I would have been satisfied with three layers of 5/8" with Green Glue between two of them. However, I figured I may as well use it if I have it! 8) I might get a sheet or two of the extra layer of drywall on the ceiling this week, and for sure that will be done by the end of next weekend. :twisted: Inner leaf framing comes after that, and I'm really looking forward to that stage! 8) 8) 8) I can't help but think that will be the point at which this thing will really start taking shape! :D --Keith :mrgreen:

I couldn't imagine loading a 12 foot long sheet, especially 5/8", on that thing by myself. (FYI, they do offer an optional loader winch that allows it to be loaded just a couple of inches off the ground. )

I'm not sure it'd be possible. Jeff and I were doing 12 footers, and it was plenty of weight for me just to lift one end of the dang things. Rock on!

I imagine! :o The 4' x 8' x 5/8" sheets are difficult enough to load solo. I've learned that it's easiest to lift the board up with one hand on the bottom and one hand on the top if possible. But with the 10' x 4' x 1/2" sheets, which are essentially the same weight as the 4' x 8' x 5/8" sheets, they're too "floppy," such that snapping is a real concern. My method of loading the 10' x 4' x 1/2" sheets involved lifting one end and resting it on a stool about 18" high, then lifting the other end up onto one of the hooks on the cradle, then lifting the end resting on the stool up onto the other hook. Factor in some "g*dd*mm*t moments when the hooks flip backward while holding the board up (hence the aforementioned droppage)! Hey, Stick -- have I thanked you lately for the use of this fabulous piece of equipment? 8) 8) 8) Please pass along my appreciation to Jeff (Stick's contractor, who technically owns the darned thing). :D Let me know if he's a beer drinker, because if he is, I intend to put together an eclectic sampler of microbrews as a token of my appreciation! (Shhhh -- don't tell! 8)) --Keith :mrgreen:

It's looking great, Kieth! You really ARE going to catch up (and pass) me if I don't get going and finish this thing!!!! len

No, Jeff's not a beer drinker. He's a music fan though... but not too computer savvy, so iTunes doesn't work so great. And he doesn't do malls, so a gift certificate won't do it either... heh heh. Actually, I think his son could help him with iTunes... that might be the way to go. I mean, if you're looking for something for him. And yeah, everytime we'd put a sheet up with that thing we make some sort of comment about how great it is. I can't begin to imagine how much it would've sucked without it.

i used to work for a lumber yard in high school. we used to pull two sheets of 12'x5/8" at a time from the boom truck, through windows. my back hurts just remembering thouse days. i remember one time someone special ordered some 16' x 5/8" for a big garage, i think more than a few of us called in sick the day that stuff was supposed to go.

Unfortunately, I ran low on 3 1/2" course drywall screws, so I had to run to Home Depot for more. Even more unfortunately, I discovered that Home Depot doesn't stock 3 1/2" drywall screws! So I had to drive across town Contractor's Warehouse, the place I bought the screws that I ran out of!

too bad there's no Fredells Hardware store in the US, I found out yesterday wandering around looking for screws that they sell screws for gypsum up to 7 :shock: layers for wood studs and 9 :shock: :shock: for metal studs. Anyone interested? I could send you some by airmail 8) 8) Really impressed about you putting this together by yourself, I couldn't get those big leafs of gypsum up on the lifter by myself. be safe a

Hey guys, thanks for dropping by and for the kind words and ongoing interest. 8) I took the day off today to work on the room, but I got a bit distracted with a couple of enjoyable social visits... :roll: But I resolved to get at least two sheets of drywall on the outer leaf ceiling, and that's what I did. :-) First of all, I needed to come up with a way to control the amount of Green Glue I'm using. Doing the 4' x 10' sheets was easy because even though I am using 80% coverage, I just used two tubes per full sheet and the proportion was correct. However, with the 4' x 8' sheets, it's a little trickier. 80% of two tubes is 8/5, or 1 3/5. So that I can keep an eye on how many "fifths" of a tube I'm consuming, I marked up my caulk gun accordingly: Here's the first sheet going up (Green Glue already applied). Look, ma! I'm holding up a 75 pound sheet of drywall with no hands! :twisted: I'll be darned, the thing isn't falling down... Amazing what 35 strategically placed 3" screws will do! ;-) And, in keeping my promise to myself, here's the second sheet: I promise I won't force you to look at literally every piece of drywall going up... ;-) ...But this drywall lifter is so friggin' cool and very photogenic that I just have to show it off. :twisted: ;-) I expect tomorrow to be a very productive day. The weather here has been absolutely wonderful -- tomorrow's high is forecasted for 81°F (27°C). --Keith :mrgreen:

Plenty of "Lifter Love" from here too. Nice caulk gun mod, Keith. I'm so pleased to be nearly done with mine. I think I'm going to have some kind of ceremony with a welder or sledgehammer or something. BTW, I ended up picking up one more case of caulk, and I'm sure I won't be needing the whole thing. They gave me a great deal on the stuff... $4 a tube, so I'll hook you up with what's left over.

Hey Stick, maybe you can dig a hole in your spacious back yard, bury the caulk gun, then backfill the hole with all the extra sealant you have left over! :lol: Ah, but that probably wouldn't be environmentally friendlly... And I wouldn't have the benefit of the extra tubes! :shock: Anyway... The in-laws offered up their van for inner leaf framing lumber transportation, so I most certainly took them up on it! 8) (Well, I seem to remember asking at one point last week... ;-)) Last night my father-in-law and I took it to Home Depot, where I painstakingly rummaged through dozens upon dozens of crappy reject boards to find some pretty darned good ones -- 56 2x4x10s... Home Depot closed before we could go back for the second load, so we did that this morning (no picture of the load in the van though -- you'll just have to take my word for it that we got it in there! ;-)). We got 20 2x6x10s, 4 2x4x16s, a 2x6x16, 8 2x2x8s, and a few other goodies. Depending on the angle, the front of our house now resembles a miniature drive-through lumber hard. :lol: Here's a view from outside the front door... This is the only orientation I could use for stacking due to the unlevel surface of the concrete. I still have some drywall to do on the ceiling... :roll: ...I was planning to finish it yesterday, but the lumber transport offer was to good to pass up. I did manage to get another couple of sheets up yesterday, and I hope to finish it today. --Keith :mrgreen:

Yippee -- I'm done* with the outer leaf drywalling! :twisted: *Done is done, as long as you're not counting the mudding and perimeter sealing I still need to do. :roll: I honestly think that if it weren't for that drywall lifter, I would have paid big bucks to have that work done by a pro. There's simply no way I could have done it otherwise! 8) My "Green Glue Rationing Device" and calculations/strategy worked out great. I have about 2% of a single tube left over. :twisted: --Keith :mrgreen:

Yippee -- I'm done* with the outer leaf drywalling!

Congrats BUT why can we still see from your garage into room, you still have those new outer leaf walls to cover... right? Watch out for the lumber Keith. I've learned, I think Dan F and others here have pointed out the longer you let lumber sit unused, the more time it has to warp, especially when left outside. While building that play house for my son I decided my stratogy for buying lumber, is to buy only what I can use quickly, so that it does not have time to warp. Lumber I did not use quickly did warp. The one 2x4 I have left from the 2 walls I built a couple of weeks ago is warped. Course I own a van so trasnport is not an issue for me. Stacking the wood neatly does help a lot. But I've noticed you did not place 3 scraps of wood perpendicular under the piles. You may want to wait for the next trip till you've used most of what you have. BTW this post is my #300, I should turn senior :roll: Marc

Hey Marc, Actually, the warpage risk was considered. There are some mitigating factors. First, the porch is under cover and the sunlight it gets is very limited (Nothern exposure). Second, the surface it's sitting on is quite flat (hence, the less convenient orientation of the stacks). Third, the amount of time I expect it to be in that location will hopefully be pretty short (no more than a couple of weeks). Finally, the weather's been pretty mild lately. The reason there's no drywall on the outer leaf is intentional -- I will be doing that last, after the inner leaf is framed and drywalled. I will be building the inner leaf wall frames flat in the middle of the garage, then feeding (rolling) them between the outer leaf studs into the room space. What's the point of the scraps of lumber perpendicular to the piles? I did that with my first stack of drywall, but I figured that was for convenience of gettnig the last layer of drywall lifted off the ground. If it's for the purpose of avoiding direct contact with the concrete to avoid wicking up moisture, I had that porch concrete sealed a couple of years ago. Hopefully there won't be a next batch! 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

What's the point of the scraps of lumber perpendicular to the piles?

I don't know off the top I've my head, next trip to HD I'm going to ask. Years ago when I did not make enough money as a musician to get by I took on temp work, mostly manual labor stuff like "I ain't to bright but I can lift heavy things" type of work. I had to move stacks of lumber countless times and was always told to place the shims/scraps in 3 places under lumber. I just did a Google on Stacking Lumber. Drying seems to be the reason... Maybe someone like one of the "bright guys" that told me to move lumber from A to B years ago can give a better answer as to why or why bother. 8) Marc

"Stickers" UNDER the pile promote drying (or NOT wetting) - stickers between every layer will help WET wood dry, in conjunction with a large fan and lots of time. Stickers every half dozen or so layers of KD wood will keep the pile from falling over (because it's really several vertical piles of SINGLE boards without these, unless you stack it in a pyramid) Wet lumber left stacked properly, and with extra weight on top, will warp LESS than if it's allowed free movement but it will STILL WARP if it's going to; this partially depends on how it was cut from the log, and where - it also depends somewhat on EQUAL surface drying; which brings us back to the stickers, and AIR circulation... If you use lumber wet before it can warp, then you can't SEE it warping - it just causes your house to explode when it reaches its maximum tension due to warpage :twisted: (just kidding...) So much for "sticker shock"... Steve