How to Put Up Wallboard
- 1). Measure the length of a wallboard sheet from the upper corner of a wall horizontally across the top of the wall to make sure that the edge will land in the center of a wall stud. A wall stud is a piece of 2-by-4 lumber that creates the structure in a wall. If the wallboard does not land in the middle of a stud, measure the distance to the center of the last stud the wallboard will cover.
- 2). Measure this distance on the edge of a sheet of wallboard and mark it. Hook the T-square to the edge at this location and score the wallboard with the utility knife. Repeat the scoring if the cut is not very deep.
- 3). Stand the wallboard up on its edge with the cut running vertically. Snap the wallboard at the score so that only the back layer of paper is holding the two pieces together. Cut this paper with the utility knife.
- 4). Raise the piece of wallboard to the corner of the wall, making sure that the long edge of the wallboard is running along the joint between the wall and the ceiling, and attach it using five drywall screws vertically on each stud. Keep all screws at least 1/2 inch from the edge of the wallboard.
- 5). Install a sheet of wallboard over an electrical fixture by measuring the distance from where the wallboard meets an already installed sheet to the center of the fixture. Mark this measurement on the wallboard.
- 6). Use a circle cutter or rotary cut tool to cut wallboard by putting up the sheet of wallboard, but do not drive in a screw closer to the fixture than 24 inches to prevent the wallboard from cracking or breaking. Push the bit of the cutter into the mark and cut until you hit the fixture box. Move the bit to the outside of the box and cut around it. Add screws around the fixture.
- 7). Use a drywall saw by measuring the size of the fixture box and marking it on the wallboard before installing it. Cut the shape out of the wallboard and install as above.
- 8). Continue installing wallboard until all surfaces in the room are covered.
- 9). Check the entire room for protruding screws and drive them in so that they are just below the surface of the wallboard. If the screw has punctured the paper, drive another in next to it.
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