OK, that was fast! Thanks again everyone! I found one on Craigslist and am trying to get the make and model. I see some of them you only have to lift the drywall about 8 inches. That would make a 1 man operation very doable but still a 2nd man would probably make things go
*more* that twice as fast as a 1 man operation.
Amazon has them for under $200 including shipping so don't pay too much on craigs list. I rented one for a prior small job where I wanted to use 12' wallboard. But I bought one for our garage/ additional job. The other poster is right, once you use a lift you'll never consider doing it any other way. Especially on ceilings.
Tony-
To answer your original question....a drywall lift will make hanging ceiling drywall a LOT easier.
We used a "beater" of a lift and it still made a HUGE difference.
The lift gets the sheet up to ceiling but drywall is so flexible that it doesnt go snug everywhere. We used a few "helping hands" jackable struts to set & hold the sheet snug to the joists until we installed a minimal number of screws.
The had those crappy "auto creeper" style wheels that didnt swivel or change postions well and were potentially damaging to the floor.
I still worked with another guy; he used his Senco drywall screw gun and I either nailed or used a drill/ driver.
All in all it made a bear of job fairly easy. The only heavy lifting was only getting the sheet on the lift. Positioning the sheet on the ceiling was a snap. The tedious / tiring part was putting in all the screws (6" o/c ...that's what the inspector wanted)
cheers Bob
YOu don't know _my_ wife
Harry K
You can rent a lift. Doing this alone would be a challenge, but it can be done with 9' 6.5" T poles. If you have a lift (or two helpers), get the larger sheets. Drywall is very heavy. I used 5/8" on the ceiling. Do some reading about drywall. I was surprised to learn that drywall has a "grain" and it is stronger lengthwise than crosswise--important when installing a ceiling.
You might also consider a drop ceiling. They install much faster with fewer steps/tools.
I just did my 1200 sf basement ceiling (and walls) last Summer.
By all means. I used my wife to hold the lift from rolling away and a neighbor to help lift the 12 footers and place them on the lift. Then two of us shimmied the lift/boards tightly into place. Did 1200 sf of ceiling in one long day. The REAL drywall suppliers have better product for ceilings (and no more $$)than Big Box stores and they deliver RIGHT INTO THE ROOM you'll be hanging it in. See
I'd never try to lift 12 footers into place (on the lift) by myself..the
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