How wide a gap can drywall span?

My "new" house has a framed, but unfinished basement. There is an angled hall along three rooms creating several corners at around 135 or 45 degrees. Mostly these are inside corners, but two outside also. In all but one of these places the studs are several inches away from the actual corners.

All the square corners are framed as I would expect, with studs placed close enough to nail the drywall pretty much butted together. And, it has always been my impression that even in odd corners the studs should be placed as close as possible to support the edges of the drywall.

Is my assumption incorrect or are these wide-spaced corners not quite right? How large a gap can I expect to drywall to span without having the unsupported edges flex and break the joints?

 

I would say that your concern is a viable one.

The corners of the walls should be butted together and if possible attached to each other to prevent movement and also to give you a place to nail your trim.

If it was between the ceiling and the walls, all I would say is that you would have to use a mesh type tape to keep the joints from cracking.

But in the corners of the walls, you are going to have problems.

If the house is already built, then you got what you got.

If you have not yet put up the drywall, now is the time to stop and fire the contractor and do the job right.

I doubt if a judge will award you a settlement - if you took the contractor to court, once the work was completed and you inspected the work and said it was ok.

Or if the home was already built and you bought it off someone else. Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware!

 

If we are only talking about 2-3" maybe you could be OK with the new 1/2" "tough rock" or go 5/8" if your worried about flex.

 

I must be missing something. Why not just put up nailers where there is no support? You can certainly get away with an unsupported edge of a few inches but if that area ever gets bumped, the mud will probably crack.

Are you planning on installing corner bead on the outside corners they will need something to nail to also.

FWIW in my opinion mesh tape is much more likely to crack than paper.

 

By "new" I only mean that we moved into an existing home this summer. The previous owner did the framing in the basement. I am just looking ahead for most of the job, but I do need to finish out some office space immediately and that's where most of these corners are.

On the two outside corners, now that you mention it, I will be putting up bead. I don't know if they make some kind of extra heavy duty corner bead, but with the kids that will be down there, that's what I will be looking for. Will it work to just double up on the regular bead?

Still, my question is more about studs behind the drywall. I assumed there is some technique for providing suitable support when working with odd angled corners. Clearly whoever built this did not know how to do it. I am expecting to add some, but do I just fit studs as close as I can get them or do I need to rip them at appropriate angles to make them fit tight together?

 

Yukon - The nailers you put up don't have to be full stud width. You can use whatever will provide a solid surface that will accept drywall screws. Think about using a piece of 1"X screwed to the plates at the correct angle. Another option is to rip a piece of 2X at the correct angle.

Corner bead is not intended to be structural it just protects the raw DW edge and provides a nice straight corner. I don't think you'll gain much by doubling it.

 

As mentioned, rip a 2x4 down the middle, when done you have two pieces for two corners. They also make paper edged corner bead. With kids, go with the all-metal bead. Only use paper tape unless with setting type quick mud: http://www.plaster-wall-ceiling-solu...wall-tape.html
If you use 5/8" drywall on the walls, your doors may not fit, as the are sized for 1/2" drywall. http://www.gypsum.org/pdf/GA-216-07.pdf
Be safe, Gary

 

Thanks for your comments; they have all been helpful. Essentially, it sounds like I am talking about adding two "nailers" for each corner, either one for the inside face and another for the outside face or one for the "left" side of the joint and one for the "right" side (and probably fasten these together for rigidity). If this is the case, then I just need to find the simplest way to create the necessary angles (with my limited selection of tools). As for the bead, yes, metal all the way, but I'm looking for a way to harden it still more to minimize or prevent the dings that my boys will inevitably create.

 

Short of armor plating you can't ding proof your walls. Boys will be boys - I had 2, grown men now but it isn't that hard to spackle up the dings and touch up with paint. I've found using latex enamel works best, I like satin/eggshell - not a lot of sheen but resists dirt and cleans up well.