Drywalling horiz or vert with sloped ceiling?

[Sean]

I have an older commercial building that I have to drywall and it has a sloped ceiling. (It slopes about 1/4" every foot. It starts out close to 9'8 and finishes closer to 8'10". It's a very old building). I am putting in a

40' wall right down the center. Should I hang the drywall horizontally or vertically? Most people seem to recommend horizontal for most drywalling, but with a slope like that it makes things a little more interesting. Thanks

[calhoun]

Vertical. 10' sheets only way to not have butt joints.

[G Henslee]

Sean,

[Robert Allison]

If it is being used for commercial purposes, then it should be hung vertically. Almost all commercial is hung vertically. This is partly due to code as it puts all the edges over a stud and once fire taped, adds a little time to the fire rating of the wall. In this case, it makes sense to do so because of the slope, in addition to the code requirements.

[Sean]

Thanks for all the answers. Vertical it is then... :) Sean.

[jeffc]

No, that's the only way to avoid horizontal butt joints, but you will still have vertical butt joints. The best way to hang drywall in general is to pick the solutions that gives you the shortest total length of butt joint. It's not at all obvious that hanging it vertically will reduce the total lenth of butt joints. There's no way to know unless you gave the exact dimensions of the room and then compared 2 different layouts.

[jeffc]

That's not true of course because they offer 4.5' wide drywall specifically for 9' ceilings. But even so, it wouldn't necessarily be correct.

[G Henslee]

I was not aware of the 4.5 material. But even so, my calculations wouldn't necessarily be incorrect.

[jeffc]

Well no, not necessarily. But neither would they necessarily be correct. The correct way to do it is the way that results in the fewest butt joints, and there is no magic guideline that will tell you that without actually laying it out on paper and calculating it both ways.