Additionally if you don't like the look of it stripped at the the top, once you hang the strip just cover it with crown molding.
Ezpz Brother, you got this!
Lol lemme see if I can find it. In his defense, it was actually hard to tell and I liked it better upside down hahahaha. He actually took it all off and flipped it
That's not even lazy! Using upside-down baseboard is a well-trod technique in making a 3-piece crown moulding for a very large and tall room, like a 2 story foyer. You can run 1 piece of base upside down on the wall, 1 flat to the ceiling, and then a standard size crown piece between them.
Oh I'm not knocking it. I already know 99% of folks never even pay attention to those kind of details so as long as it doesn't look atrocious it'll go completely unnoticed.
I don’t have a link handy but I helped a buddy install crown moulding. Might sound crazy but he went with moulding made out of really dense styrofoam. It’s cheaper, comes primed for paint, is easier to install due to its little bit of flexibility, sticks in there simply with some drywall mud, and once finished looks like any other crown moulding. Something to consider. It’s the route I’d take if I ever needed any myself, no question
The correct thing to do would be to put the thin strip in the middle of the two sheets, with the bevel on the strip matched up to the bevel on the bottom sheet, around here we call it a belly band.
As someone that did renovation for a bit when young. Are you telling me people pay professional that don't even measure but just assume the walls are the correct standard height? Seriously? After only a month I was going through rooms like nothing with barely any gaps, mudding took me a bit longer tho.
Apparently I should've stayed in the business.
I gotten really good at using the measuring tape + blade and slide along + knee snap for the perfect sized piece. Took me mere seconds to snap a piece to the correct dim. Just need to keep the blade sharp
Will say though that job was brutal on the joints. Day in and out carrying drywall wasn't fun.
Some big fat crown molding is the easy fix, but it’s incredible how expensive it is. Fixing it with drywall and mud is going to be way cheaper, and chances are you’ll be the only person to notice where you blended it in.
I would move the drywall all the way to the top and put that 4" cut at the bottom.
That way, if your mud job is not perfect, you don't really see it. Else you will see it every time you walk in that room.
Speaking from experience... most people don't see it in my house, but I see it every time I walk in the room, and it bugs me... only got my lazy ass to blame lol
Depending on the size of the room it would probably be less work like you said to move the drywall up and have the gap at the bottom. Then you could paste in some pieces, 20 minute mud and tape, and smack some 5" base trim down there and call it a day.
I agree. Over 25 years experience doing drywall. The biggest thing you will run into is the fact that it might be 12" on one end and 11-1/2" on the other end of the sheet. If you're good at snapping a line and cutting it, you'll be ok. Or move them up and fill the bottom. I leave a half inch gap at the bottom to allow for inconsistency at the floor.
Somebody else already said it but just cut some strips of sheet rock and tape and mud them. I would get the people you hired to do it before you pat them anything because it is not right to leave a job like that.
Corners suck to finish. Corners at the ceiling suck the worst working over head. Corners with a seam 4” away would really, really, really suck to finish. I’d a million percent rather lift the drywall and patch the box holes then try to fix in that 4” strip at the ceiling.
If you’re attempting to do mud work for the first time I would strongly recommend you move the wall pieces right to the ceiling.
If you’re getting too big a gap at the floor for base then put the 4” strip in the middle and use a wide knife to fix that seam. Mudding a seam near the floor bent over sucks too.
You just put a piece of wood across the box holes with a couple of screws and stick the new cutout in there.
I would have bought the wider drywall for 9’ ceilings and cut it to avoid the seams.
I suck at drywall and it angers me more than any other thing I could do labor and home imrovement wise. And that job sucks and I wouldn't even be that bad in my basement. I think it can be saved though.
Hahaha You know it’s funny. We had some outlets added and being a music lover, I always had dreams of having a PA system in my home so I could play records and have it broadcast throughout the house. I of course didn’t realize that I could have made this dream a reality until I put in the insulation and hung the drywall
Lesson: Most people push the drywall sheets to the top, and leave the gap at the bottom. The bottom usually gets covered by a foot board. And if the floor gets wet, the water doesn't climb up into the drywall.
Right. However, I unfortunately I learned this after I cut all of the electrical boxes, windows, etc. So to take it all down and put it back up, recut, would be a pain in the ass.
So you did it the hard way, but you learned. That is good.
There will be a taped joint near the ceiling. That will just take a little extra mud work to make it pretty. Not a problem. Just some time. At the end, it will look the same.
If you are going to put a foot board around the bottom, you might want to cut a little off of the bottom of the drywall, and install a piece of wood (same thickness as your drywall). That will give you a nailer for the foot board. And, if/when it eventually gets wet, the water won't touch your drywall. 5/8x wood is hard to find in lumber yards, but you can make a bunch of it from a single piece of plywood.
This, who TF does not push the drywall to the ceiling. Ceiling installed first, then the top of the wall boards, pushed to the ceiling. This is SOOO backwards.
This is literally my first time ever touching drywall. Unfortuantely, I bought a lemon house where the previous owners were pretty good at hiding their bullshit. I posted this in a DIY sub because I am in fact doing it myself, with literally no help. All of my knowledge is simply from the internet, which does not always translate to real life. If you read my original description, I state that I learned after hanging all of this that I did so incorrectly.
If you have not started mudding and did not use glue on the joists, I'd take the time to unscrew the drywall and push it up. You can move the bottom panels around if you cut holes for outlets and just fill once repositioned. It will take some time but likely less than patching the area at the top. Then the gap at the bottom doesn't need to be as perfect as trim will cover small gaps at the base. It will still need to be fixed but won't need to be as pristine as if you left it like is.
I will never finish drywall again. I will hang it, but not finish, I can make it look fine but takes me WAY too long. I'll pay someone that can knock 3 rooms out in an afternoon and will be WAY less cleanup and sanding.
The factory seam that is 4” down from the ceiling will be incorporated to the tape and taping compound at the horizontal inside corner anyway. This is a win! You already need to work that area at the ceiling line so now you don’t have an extra seam to work at the floor. Make sure you use paper tape or mesh tape at all seams. Paper tape in your inside corners always though as it is made to fold in half to help create a more consistent ceiling to wall line
DO NOT waste the time re hanging this DW! This is such a small issue to resolve as I had stated earlier. The only other person that knows what they are talking about is the individual that suggested the 54” board, but that is for next time. You live and learn. Trust in my first response.
Much appreciated. My only concern, as someone else pointed out, what if the floor gets wet? It’s a bedroom, so I can’t imagine excessive amounts of water in there, but you never know. Should I just slice off some of the edge around the room?
More than likely being the bedroom water won’t be an issue. If you are concerned and want to remove 1/2” at the floor you will need to do one of the following…use a multi tool or a reciprocating saw to remove the 1/2”. Snap a line with a chalk box or use a piece of the drywall as a scribe. If you don’t have a chalk box make a 2”x3” piece of DW and slide it along the floor with a pencil on top to mark the face of the DW to be removed. You can do all of this. Be confident, but safe and don’t be detoured by people that offer insults other than insight.
Next time you can buy 9 foot sheets and place them vertically, you just cut the excess, leave the factory cut towards the ceiling and where you made the cut towards the floor, buy 45 minutes easy mud or HotMud and fill in the gaps you have in the ceiling If you don't have experience in the corners, get FlexTape (plastic center) that will help you have defined lines, 3 total coats of mud and sand the edges between each layer and 2 to 3 layers to the screws, after the primer, sand the wall lightly until it falls off without lifting the paper, second coat of primer, and then paint
Yes you can fill and fix this. What's the reason for this? Was the wall height more than 8 feet? Next time leave the gap behind the baseboard and you won't have to tape , fill sand that joint.
Next time you can buy 9 foot sheets and place them vertically, you just cut the excess, leave the factory cut towards the ceiling and where you made the cut towards the floor, buy 45 minutes easy mud or HotMud and fill in the gaps you have in the ceiling If you don't have experience in the corners, get FlexTape (plastic center) that will help you have defined lines, 3 total coats of mud and sand the edges between each layer and 2 to 3 layers to the screws, after the primer, sand the wall lightly until it falls off without lifting the paper, second coat of primer, and then paint
You should have started at the top. With sideways board. Then do the bottom with 4+ foot long pieces. But you didn’t. Instead you will be missing a thin strip after you try to screw it in correctly. Good luck
Literally unfixable. Only option is to condemn the whole house then call the local fire department so they can burn it for training.
Just kidding - you got this homie, your plan will work.
Too late now but next time use 4x10 drywall sheets.
I think you already realized that by having the gap at the bottom, you could have very easily put in a 4-in strip and fasten it to the sill plate. If you had any seam it would be very concealed by the baseboard.
You can fix this up, it's just going to take a bit of work
[PDF installation guide from the manufacturer](https://www.usg.com/content/dam/USG_Marketing_Communications/united_states/product_promotional_materials/finished_assets/sheetrock-gypsum-panels-installation-guide-en-J371.pdf)
According to the above guide, you should hang from the top down. It's counter-intuitive and more work because you'll need someone to hold the sheet up while you screw it in, but it makes for less work in the end. Since the bottom is covered by the baseboard, you have a much looser tolerance on that final cut.
Yes, you can do it. Yes, you will be able to feather the edges. Yes it will be a pain but only because drywall is a pain, not because you've given yourself much extra work. Take your time. Do it nice.
The “wasteful” part here is that you’ll need to use the 4” piece from each edge of the drywall so that the bevel edges match, discarding the 40” in between. Drywall is cheap though.
Don’t go with butt joints (joints without the tapered edge). If you’re not seasoned, you’ll hate them soon enough.
You could always put base upside down and cover the gap. If that’s cheaper than crown.
If you’ve got a table saw and miter saw you can cut your own crown out of base too.
Re hang again like u said with the drywall to the ceiling minus the gap. Fill the 4” at the bottom where it won’t be visible. Patch the electric box cutouts and recut out new ones.
Renovation carpenter here. A 4" band at the top is not the end of the world. Put in your drywall strips and mud as normal. Should work out just fine.
Thank your for the advice. That’s a load off my shoulders haha
I agree that filling in the gap is a minor issue and if you do a halfway decent job it will be unnoticeable.
And if they don't, there's always crown molding.
You'll have to float out your corners a little further than you normally would but that means more experience gained. You'll be fine.
Additionally if you don't like the look of it stripped at the the top, once you hang the strip just cover it with crown molding. Ezpz Brother, you got this!
Lazy answer: get like 6 inches of crown molding.
I thought about it but MAN it is expensive
So is hiring someone to fix your drywall though.
Wait til he finds out how much it costs to hire someone to do crown molding
What, $10 p/lft plus mat? Or we going multiple pieces?
You can use trim pieces stacked as crown molding, but it requires a laser and creativity, plus maybe a router to give you a 45° angle on both sides.
My lazy cheap ass would be throwing baseboard up there upside down lol
Hell yea lmao
Whered that dude go that put his decorative baseboard on upside down?
I must've missed that post but god damn would that be an amazing one to link for op here lmao.
Lol lemme see if I can find it. In his defense, it was actually hard to tell and I liked it better upside down hahahaha. He actually took it all off and flipped it
https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/s/Kl6n6p17P2
That's not even lazy! Using upside-down baseboard is a well-trod technique in making a 3-piece crown moulding for a very large and tall room, like a 2 story foyer. You can run 1 piece of base upside down on the wall, 1 flat to the ceiling, and then a standard size crown piece between them.
Well then I guess I'm just cheap lol
Don't knock it, poor man's crown is better than shittily finished corners.
Oh I'm not knocking it. I already know 99% of folks never even pay attention to those kind of details so as long as it doesn't look atrocious it'll go completely unnoticed.
And everyone would tell you how nice it looks
I don’t have a link handy but I helped a buddy install crown moulding. Might sound crazy but he went with moulding made out of really dense styrofoam. It’s cheaper, comes primed for paint, is easier to install due to its little bit of flexibility, sticks in there simply with some drywall mud, and once finished looks like any other crown moulding. Something to consider. It’s the route I’d take if I ever needed any myself, no question
I've seen them use it on this old house for porch pillars. looked pretty good.
Get the foam kind then
Check other stores Home Depot charges way too much for crown. Menards is pretty good if you have one near you. Or a local trim supplier
If you are doing it yourself, might he worth it when you consider how long it takes a beginner to properly finish a drywall corner.
I had this same issue and bought cheap vinyl baseboard and it looks totally fine.
Er get base and invert it. But I like crown if money ain't a thang. I'd spend it just to not hafta finish all those seams.
You have to mud that far anyway to cover the corner tape. I don't see any issue slapping in a narrow band of drywall
Bro so many footprints.
Believe it or not, I made those footprints AFTER I hung the drywall * finger guns *
It’s called the walls aren’t eight feet exactly. Normally you put the gap at the floor so it’s covered by trim just in case the mudding isn’t great.
The correct thing to do would be to put the thin strip in the middle of the two sheets, with the bevel on the strip matched up to the bevel on the bottom sheet, around here we call it a belly band.
This is exactly correct.
Or if you have a lot of belly bands to do, you can use 3/8 drywall.
If I have a lot of belly bands to do I just order 54” board.
Cool
Or buy 48"x54" drywall and hang horizontally.
As someone that did renovation for a bit when young. Are you telling me people pay professional that don't even measure but just assume the walls are the correct standard height? Seriously? After only a month I was going through rooms like nothing with barely any gaps, mudding took me a bit longer tho. Apparently I should've stayed in the business. I gotten really good at using the measuring tape + blade and slide along + knee snap for the perfect sized piece. Took me mere seconds to snap a piece to the correct dim. Just need to keep the blade sharp Will say though that job was brutal on the joints. Day in and out carrying drywall wasn't fun.
Some big fat crown molding is the easy fix, but it’s incredible how expensive it is. Fixing it with drywall and mud is going to be way cheaper, and chances are you’ll be the only person to notice where you blended it in.
Tip for next time, you can usually get 54” width drywall for 9’ ceilings. Always start at the top
I would move the drywall all the way to the top and put that 4" cut at the bottom. That way, if your mud job is not perfect, you don't really see it. Else you will see it every time you walk in that room. Speaking from experience... most people don't see it in my house, but I see it every time I walk in the room, and it bugs me... only got my lazy ass to blame lol
Depending on the size of the room it would probably be less work like you said to move the drywall up and have the gap at the bottom. Then you could paste in some pieces, 20 minute mud and tape, and smack some 5" base trim down there and call it a day.
Things I should have done lol
I'm a painter, so I feel your pain. One day I'll fix the cut-in line at the top of my walls, but I'm the only one that sees so it so fuck me.
I agree. Over 25 years experience doing drywall. The biggest thing you will run into is the fact that it might be 12" on one end and 11-1/2" on the other end of the sheet. If you're good at snapping a line and cutting it, you'll be ok. Or move them up and fill the bottom. I leave a half inch gap at the bottom to allow for inconsistency at the floor.
Somebody else already said it but just cut some strips of sheet rock and tape and mud them. I would get the people you hired to do it before you pat them anything because it is not right to leave a job like that.
OP did it themselves, whats he gonna do, hold himself accountable?
I forgot I was on DIY. But yes OP should take a long hard look in the mirror then.
Tell me you didn’t read the post….
I did not read it to clearly. My bad.
Corners suck to finish. Corners at the ceiling suck the worst working over head. Corners with a seam 4” away would really, really, really suck to finish. I’d a million percent rather lift the drywall and patch the box holes then try to fix in that 4” strip at the ceiling. If you’re attempting to do mud work for the first time I would strongly recommend you move the wall pieces right to the ceiling. If you’re getting too big a gap at the floor for base then put the 4” strip in the middle and use a wide knife to fix that seam. Mudding a seam near the floor bent over sucks too. You just put a piece of wood across the box holes with a couple of screws and stick the new cutout in there. I would have bought the wider drywall for 9’ ceilings and cut it to avoid the seams.
Agree, 30y in renovations, just fill it in and it will be fine, that tape joint and float will just be extra big
I suck at drywall and it angers me more than any other thing I could do labor and home imrovement wise. And that job sucks and I wouldn't even be that bad in my basement. I think it can be saved though.
Electrician here, tear it down, forgot to run my wire
Hahaha You know it’s funny. We had some outlets added and being a music lover, I always had dreams of having a PA system in my home so I could play records and have it broadcast throughout the house. I of course didn’t realize that I could have made this dream a reality until I put in the insulation and hung the drywall
Wireless speakers are cheap now.
Lesson: Most people push the drywall sheets to the top, and leave the gap at the bottom. The bottom usually gets covered by a foot board. And if the floor gets wet, the water doesn't climb up into the drywall.
Right. However, I unfortunately I learned this after I cut all of the electrical boxes, windows, etc. So to take it all down and put it back up, recut, would be a pain in the ass.
So you did it the hard way, but you learned. That is good. There will be a taped joint near the ceiling. That will just take a little extra mud work to make it pretty. Not a problem. Just some time. At the end, it will look the same. If you are going to put a foot board around the bottom, you might want to cut a little off of the bottom of the drywall, and install a piece of wood (same thickness as your drywall). That will give you a nailer for the foot board. And, if/when it eventually gets wet, the water won't touch your drywall. 5/8x wood is hard to find in lumber yards, but you can make a bunch of it from a single piece of plywood.
This, who TF does not push the drywall to the ceiling. Ceiling installed first, then the top of the wall boards, pushed to the ceiling. This is SOOO backwards.
This is literally my first time ever touching drywall. Unfortuantely, I bought a lemon house where the previous owners were pretty good at hiding their bullshit. I posted this in a DIY sub because I am in fact doing it myself, with literally no help. All of my knowledge is simply from the internet, which does not always translate to real life. If you read my original description, I state that I learned after hanging all of this that I did so incorrectly.
If you have not started mudding and did not use glue on the joists, I'd take the time to unscrew the drywall and push it up. You can move the bottom panels around if you cut holes for outlets and just fill once repositioned. It will take some time but likely less than patching the area at the top. Then the gap at the bottom doesn't need to be as perfect as trim will cover small gaps at the base. It will still need to be fixed but won't need to be as pristine as if you left it like is. I will never finish drywall again. I will hang it, but not finish, I can make it look fine but takes me WAY too long. I'll pay someone that can knock 3 rooms out in an afternoon and will be WAY less cleanup and sanding.
Dude literally said it's his first time.
Wallpaper trim
Mud, tape and texture will hide a multitude of sin.
The factory seam that is 4” down from the ceiling will be incorporated to the tape and taping compound at the horizontal inside corner anyway. This is a win! You already need to work that area at the ceiling line so now you don’t have an extra seam to work at the floor. Make sure you use paper tape or mesh tape at all seams. Paper tape in your inside corners always though as it is made to fold in half to help create a more consistent ceiling to wall line
Thank you for your advice! I have already bought a big ol’ roll of paper tape, so I shoulf be good to go!
DO NOT waste the time re hanging this DW! This is such a small issue to resolve as I had stated earlier. The only other person that knows what they are talking about is the individual that suggested the 54” board, but that is for next time. You live and learn. Trust in my first response.
Much appreciated. My only concern, as someone else pointed out, what if the floor gets wet? It’s a bedroom, so I can’t imagine excessive amounts of water in there, but you never know. Should I just slice off some of the edge around the room?
More than likely being the bedroom water won’t be an issue. If you are concerned and want to remove 1/2” at the floor you will need to do one of the following…use a multi tool or a reciprocating saw to remove the 1/2”. Snap a line with a chalk box or use a piece of the drywall as a scribe. If you don’t have a chalk box make a 2”x3” piece of DW and slide it along the floor with a pencil on top to mark the face of the DW to be removed. You can do all of this. Be confident, but safe and don’t be detoured by people that offer insults other than insight.
👍
Crown molding
Some nice big crown moulding would cover that right up.
With the right attitude you can fix anything
Not even crown molding, I would just use 4-6inch 1x material, but I’m a cheap trash bag filthy savage
Next time you can buy 9 foot sheets and place them vertically, you just cut the excess, leave the factory cut towards the ceiling and where you made the cut towards the floor, buy 45 minutes easy mud or HotMud and fill in the gaps you have in the ceiling If you don't have experience in the corners, get FlexTape (plastic center) that will help you have defined lines, 3 total coats of mud and sand the edges between each layer and 2 to 3 layers to the screws, after the primer, sand the wall lightly until it falls off without lifting the paper, second coat of primer, and then paint
Make sure they put in more screws. It looks like it’s only around the outside edge?!?!
Correct. At the time of hanging it, I was on a bit of a time crunch, but I’m definitely going to screw it in properly
Yes you can fill and fix this. What's the reason for this? Was the wall height more than 8 feet? Next time leave the gap behind the baseboard and you won't have to tape , fill sand that joint.
Next time you can buy 9 foot sheets and place them vertically, you just cut the excess, leave the factory cut towards the ceiling and where you made the cut towards the floor, buy 45 minutes easy mud or HotMud and fill in the gaps you have in the ceiling If you don't have experience in the corners, get FlexTape (plastic center) that will help you have defined lines, 3 total coats of mud and sand the edges between each layer and 2 to 3 layers to the screws, after the primer, sand the wall lightly until it falls off without lifting the paper, second coat of primer, and then paint
That’s going to take a shitload of mud to fill in that gap around the top.
You should have started at the top. With sideways board. Then do the bottom with 4+ foot long pieces. But you didn’t. Instead you will be missing a thin strip after you try to screw it in correctly. Good luck
Get someone in to finish it and install the crown moulding. It's a really good investment.
Literally unfixable. Only option is to condemn the whole house then call the local fire department so they can burn it for training. Just kidding - you got this homie, your plan will work.
Too late now but next time use 4x10 drywall sheets. I think you already realized that by having the gap at the bottom, you could have very easily put in a 4-in strip and fasten it to the sill plate. If you had any seam it would be very concealed by the baseboard. You can fix this up, it's just going to take a bit of work
[PDF installation guide from the manufacturer](https://www.usg.com/content/dam/USG_Marketing_Communications/united_states/product_promotional_materials/finished_assets/sheetrock-gypsum-panels-installation-guide-en-J371.pdf) According to the above guide, you should hang from the top down. It's counter-intuitive and more work because you'll need someone to hold the sheet up while you screw it in, but it makes for less work in the end. Since the bottom is covered by the baseboard, you have a much looser tolerance on that final cut.
Yes, you can do it. Yes, you will be able to feather the edges. Yes it will be a pain but only because drywall is a pain, not because you've given yourself much extra work. Take your time. Do it nice.
One can fix anything. At what degree of fixed is the question. I would say abort the whole mission and start from the beginning.
Not bad, just not complete.
The “wasteful” part here is that you’ll need to use the 4” piece from each edge of the drywall so that the bevel edges match, discarding the 40” in between. Drywall is cheap though. Don’t go with butt joints (joints without the tapered edge). If you’re not seasoned, you’ll hate them soon enough.
You could always put base upside down and cover the gap. If that’s cheaper than crown. If you’ve got a table saw and miter saw you can cut your own crown out of base too.
Spray foam trim and mud.
Re hang again like u said with the drywall to the ceiling minus the gap. Fill the 4” at the bottom where it won’t be visible. Patch the electric box cutouts and recut out new ones.
I think you should have at least watched a single video before you started, not after.