sheet rock in basement (tough place!)
#1
sheet rock in basement (tough place!)
I have to put up maybe 2 sheets of drywall on a small partition wall I built between finished section and laundry area.... There are pipes running the length of the house and the wall is perpendicular to these pipes....
The pipes are about 4" below the joists. When I put a piece of drywall up- I realize I will have to "cut out" for the pipes- and then I'm left with a hole above the pipes in the drywall- Anyway to do this an make it look nice?
The pipes are about 4" below the joists. When I put a piece of drywall up- I realize I will have to "cut out" for the pipes- and then I'm left with a hole above the pipes in the drywall- Anyway to do this an make it look nice?
#2
If you do a good job of measuring and marking, you can mark the center of each pipe, use the appropriate sized hole saw to drill a perfect hole for each pipe penetration.
Then, depending on how many pipes you have, and which would be easier to tape and finish, either:
cut vertically and remove the drywall that would be directly above each pipe, and reinstall it. (this would create 2 joints that will need to be taped above each pipe) or...
Cut vertically on the left side of the left pipe, and the right side of the right pipe, and then cut that piece horizontally at the midpoint of the pipes. (this will create 1 seam on the left, 1 seam on the right, and 1 seam between each pipe.)
In either case, you will want some solid blocking above your pipes, behind the places where your seams will fall, or else you will be wishing you had something to nail to.
Then, depending on how many pipes you have, and which would be easier to tape and finish, either:
cut vertically and remove the drywall that would be directly above each pipe, and reinstall it. (this would create 2 joints that will need to be taped above each pipe) or...
Cut vertically on the left side of the left pipe, and the right side of the right pipe, and then cut that piece horizontally at the midpoint of the pipes. (this will create 1 seam on the left, 1 seam on the right, and 1 seam between each pipe.)
In either case, you will want some solid blocking above your pipes, behind the places where your seams will fall, or else you will be wishing you had something to nail to.
#3
sleepers advice is pretty good, this is how we handle such situations all the time. We use a circle cutter for making the holes, butyou can also use a common compass like your kid uses in geometery to mark the holes. What you want to do is measure to the center of the pipe from one end & to the center of the pipe from the ceiling and make yourself an "x" where the two lines intersect. Now measure the diameter of the pipe, set your compass for that distance then place the point on your "x" and make a pencil outline of the pipe. Now use your utility knife and score that line well. Now take your drywall hatchet or hammer and solidly smack the board right in the center of the pipe area (inside the score marks) The cut-out will pop right out the back and most likely hang by a piece of the back face paper. Just grab it & rip it off the sheet. Now take your utility knife and run it around the inside of the new hole to smooth it out. A circle cutter looks pretty much just like a drawing compass, except the pencil is replaced by a metal shaft with a steel cutting wheel on the end that scores the hole for you. You can buy them in the big box stores, they're usually near the drywall with the rest of the drywall tools.
Once you have the hole cut out, on the side of the hole closest to the edge of the sheet score a straight line at like a 45 degree angle from the corner of the circle to the edge of the sheet, now to the same from the opposite corner going the other way. Now use your drywall saw and handcut thru one of the lines, after that you can carefully snap and cut the piece out which will look like a triangle with a half moon on the tip.
After you have the main sheet installed, take some blocks of 2"x4" and hold them in place in behind the sheet where you made your cut-out. Run screw in thru the sheet and into the block, repeat on the other side, viola you have a nailer on both sides to screw your triangle piece into. It's important when screwing down the triangle piece in that you let the screwgun do all the work. Don't press hard on it or else you push the screws thru from the main sheet.
That's how you do it, but just a quick question, what kind of ceiling is going in down here? If there was to be a drop ceiling going in under the pipes, why bother with all this? Just cut out a slot for the pipe & hang your sheet, put in the drop ceiling & forget about the patch in.
Once you have the hole cut out, on the side of the hole closest to the edge of the sheet score a straight line at like a 45 degree angle from the corner of the circle to the edge of the sheet, now to the same from the opposite corner going the other way. Now use your drywall saw and handcut thru one of the lines, after that you can carefully snap and cut the piece out which will look like a triangle with a half moon on the tip.
After you have the main sheet installed, take some blocks of 2"x4" and hold them in place in behind the sheet where you made your cut-out. Run screw in thru the sheet and into the block, repeat on the other side, viola you have a nailer on both sides to screw your triangle piece into. It's important when screwing down the triangle piece in that you let the screwgun do all the work. Don't press hard on it or else you push the screws thru from the main sheet.
That's how you do it, but just a quick question, what kind of ceiling is going in down here? If there was to be a drop ceiling going in under the pipes, why bother with all this? Just cut out a slot for the pipe & hang your sheet, put in the drop ceiling & forget about the patch in.