need drywall-around-windows help!

[flipper]

i'm about to hang my first ever sheet of drywall, in my garage conversion, and have a question about cutting out around the windows. for reference see:

if i hang the drywall first, then put a hole in the window opening and cut around the edges, i'll get a window cutout, but is it the one i want? i.e., there are a couple of 2x4's around the window and i think maybe i want to be at the inner edge of the outer one, right? actually, i have no clue. but if it's not the inner most one, then how do i cut the opening for an outer one?

i'm not doing anything fancy here. i just want to cut out the window and finish it in the simplest manner possible. so, how do i do that?

lastly, i plan on hanging the drywall vertically, instead of horizontally, because it'll make doing the door easier, i think. (see:

is there any real good reason to do it the "official" way?

thanks!

[evodawg]

Just hang the drywall horizontally it's easier to mud and tape. You will not see horizontal lines as much as you will vertical. Cut the drywall to whatever the opening is. Take a drywall saw and follow the 2x4 studs, do the same for all openings. Outside of each stud. It should be nailed first.

Rich

[Pat]

try here

[DT]

Cut around the inner edge of the inner 2x4's, i.e., the smallest opening you can get. Just let the saw follow the opening. Trim the window by adding extension jambs (just pieces of 1x lumber cut to the correct width) to hide the cut edges of the drywall, then cut and nail the molding around the opening.

Hang the drywall any way you please. Actually it will be easier for a beginner to finish if it is vertical, as there are no butt joints to tape.

Dennis

[Wes Stewart]

Ideally, you should flush the edge of the drywall with inner side of the rough opening and then the window/door jam should extend in to be flush with the face of the drywall. Door/window casing then covers the joint.

Just like wood, drywall has a "grain" that should run perpendicular to the studs. Install it horizontally. Do the ceiling first and -do not- use any screws within 12-18 inches of the walls. The ceiling edges should be supported by the sheets on the walls. This will minimize cracking at the ceiling/wall joint. Work top down.

Tip 1: Remove the door to work that opening.

Tip 2: If, as I suspect, your jams do not extend in 1/2" past the studs and you're not going to use casing, then cut the drywall flush with the inner window/door openings and cover the edge of the drywall with metal J-bead. This will at least give a finished edge that will hold up to abuse.

Tip 3: A Rotozip with the appropriate cutter is the way to make these cutouts.

Good luck. Personally I hate doing drywall.

[wkearney99]

Rotozips are good for little more than making obscene amounts of dust. A handsaw ends up taking about the same amount of time and creates nowhere NEAR as much dust as a rotozip.

[flipper]

great advice! as regards the rotozip, i've got the dremel equivalent and riddle me this: on a test piece of drywall, i clamped a board to the back and attempted to do a cutout from the front. i zipped from the middle over to the edge and basically the dremel just cut right into the wood and wedged in there. how do you make a perimeter cut without nudging into the wood all the way around?

[barry]

Easy- use the proper bit- one with no cutters at the tip for about

1/8", just a plain cylindrical section there that'll guide on something like a tubafore. J

[flipper]

makes sense. weirdly, the drywall-specific bit included with the dremel has no plain cylindrical section.

[Wes Stewart]

Right. And how does that saw work for cutting openings for recessed can lights, electrical outlet boxes, etc?

As to dust, just hold the shop vac hose near the machine and catch the majority of it.

[Wes Stewart]

Yep. I just closed up a ceiling that I had opened while adding some recessed lighting. There was an existing 2' x 2' skylight well that was finished drywall. I added some standard metal corner bead against the existing drywall but -under- the new sheet I was installing on the ceiling. I ran the Rotozip cutter against the corner bead and made a perfect cutout. Slipped the bead out, put it over the new sheet, nailed and mudded it.

[siralfred]

Wes Stewart knows what he's talking about. Horizontal also gives you less seam to tape. To minimize the inevitable cracking, don't put any seams in line with the jambs. In other words, if you have vertical seams near the door or window, try to get them near the middle, even if it means using partial sheets.

Do it right, do it once.

[Mike Hartigan]

Let me start by saying that I'm not a professional. My drywall experience is limited to a couple of basement jobs and an office addition on my house. But maybe I can add a bit of beginners' perspective that the professionals have forgotten. The problem I see with hanging it horizontally is that, while there are certainly fewer vertical joints, they are all butt joints - a curse, from the beginner's point of view. While I've gotten much better at this over the years, I still avoid them like the plague. One way to minimize this is to hang 12' sheets, but that makes it more difficult to maneuver around the site and remember - we're talking about beginners. Hanging it vertically means that *all* of the joints are tapered joints - much easier for a beginner to tape. Maybe not great advice, but something to consider.

Where were you with that tidbit 8 years ago when I did my office?!?!?! Also -- I have a truss system in my attic. Would this have reduced the problem with cracking between the ceiling and walls on my second floor? (The original drywall guy evidently wasn't aware of any special requirements with this type of system)

Amen!