Drywall in cold weather, how cold is too cold ?

[Sid 03]

I want to hang some drywall, but its winter here in IL and I want to know how cold is too cold ? Found some articles on-line and the average answer was "Not less than 50dF", if not, heat the room some how and let it stand above 50 for at least 48 hours. But this is a garage and no matter how much I heat the garage the studs and out-siding materials will still ambient temp. The 2nd suggestion was to leave 1/8" gap between the sheets to allow for expansion in summer months.

So my plan was to insulate and drywall now and finish w/Joint-Compound and paint in March or some month that is warmer.

Thanks

[gfretwell]

I am not sure expansion is the problem. The temperature thing has to do with the mud setting right. Hang the rock and tape it in the spring.

[trader_4]

Plan sounds OK. But you certainly can heat a garage to 50F at the drywall too. Temp of the studs and outside material is irrelevant.

[Sid 03]

What about using the 'Easy Sand 20' that I see advertised, does it really set in 20 min and ready to sand ? I could heat the garage for a couple of hours and then use this stuff, let it dry for a couple of hours and sand and turn the heat off ? Has anyone used that stuff ? And had success ?

[Snag]

Though it may be set up and hard in 20 minutes , it's not DRY in that time . It needs to be fully dry before being exposed to sub-freezing temps . gfretwell is right , hang the drywall now and mud/tape in the spring or summer .

[Sid 03]

If it sets in 20 minutes, how long before before sanding ?

[trader_4]

I would visit the manufacturer's websites for any products of interest. They typically have the information on the min conditions and times for their products to be used. Any of those quick drying products will cost more, depending on how big that garage is, that could be a factor. All in all, unless there is some reason not to, I would agree with those that said to drywall it now, tape in the spring. Another advantage then is when you're sanding you can have the doors open to let dust out, without freezing yourself.

[gfretwell]

Lots of guys use "hot mud" like that. The problem is it may set up too fast if you are doing a lot of mudding. That is usually for a little patch unless you want to be mixing up a new batch of mud every 10 minutes. It does cure slower when it is cold and in Florida in the summer, that 20 minutes may be more like 10-15 before it is hard to work.