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
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.
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)
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
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I cant recommend them highly enough
I'd never try to lift 12 footers into place (on the lift) by myself..the
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