I am just about to start hanging drywall in my basement. I have a company coming out to do the finish work. This house is 3 years old and the builder had to drywall the basement ceiling. I removed all of it when we moved in. My question is it OK to put the stuff back up? Am I making a bigger headache for the finishers?

Also, the ceiling has 24" oc joists. I'd like to use 1/2" on ceiling and walls. Am I better off going with regular sheetrock? Lightweight? Is there a big sound dampening difference between 5/8", 1/2" and 1/2" lightweight?

 

Are you talking about re-using drywall? Generally, you do not do that; it's trash when it's taken down.

24" centers on a ceiling require 5/8" regular drywall. I have heard you can go 1/2" with the lightweight stuff but I've never used it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I removed it a few months after it was hung, removed each and every screw and have had it stored in my basement off the ground since. It's in good shape outside of the screw holes and they used 1/2" so that's what prompted my question regarding the 1/2" vs 5/8".

 

If that is the material in the picture I sure would not throw away.

Drywall itself is not a sound barrier. When I did this basement I put up 6" of Soft Touch denim insulation, it's one of the highest density insulation and is very good for noise. There are other methods/materials but a lot of extra work so it was a fair trade off.

 

I'd be inclined to get 5/8" for the ceiling and reuse your 1/2" on the walls.

 

With 24" joist spacing 1/2" sheetrock will eventually sag between the joists.

I would contact your finishers and see which way they want to go as far as hanging the sheetrock. Many don't like DIY'ers because a crappy job hanging makes the finishing more difficult and at worst can make it impossible to do a good job finishing.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I found a highly recommended finisher who only finishes, doesn't hang. I hung and finished my 3 stall garage when we moved in a few years ago so I do have some experience - also doing everything else in the basement myself outside of the finishing so I think I have a decent handle on the proper way to hang. A few thoughts I have..these 4x12 1/2" sheets are already in my basement - in great shape outside of screw holes. I am not able to get these sheets back outside for disposal unless I break them up. My walls are 97" high divided by a half wall. 35" below and 62" above, so splitting a 4x8 into two vertical sections seem to make the most sense. I don't think I'd get much of a benefit reusing these 4x12 on the walls unless there are other alternatives.

 

Use it if you want. Sounds like that's what you want to hear. If the ceiling is 24" on center, don't be surprised if it sags after 20 yrs. If it's 16" on center 1/2" is ok.

 

If you can't get these out can you get new pieces in? If you can spare the height you can cross fur the ceiling and put the strips on 16" OC. Use 3" strips. You get a wider target at the butts. Don't try to go through the same holes.

 

If they've been leaning up against the wall like that for long, they might be bent.

 

I was unable to get them out because they're 4'x12', I can get 4'x8' down. I cut them down, took them down, and got rid of them this afternoon. I went out and purchased new 5/8" sheetrock. I'll suck up the $300 and not have to worry about my finisher being annoyed or worry about sagging in the future.