What is involved in hanging dry wall?

Question

My husband and I are buying our first house. Neither of us are experienced in any kind of home repair. The house is beautiful but has wood paneling throughout. We want to take it down and hang dry wall but don't know what is involved or what the cost would be. Is this something we should hire someone to do or is it a fairly easy project? Our budget is tight so we want to try to learn how to do some of it ourselves but also don't want to do more harm then good.

Answer 1

Much is involved.  If you have no exp.  You should only do the "grunt" work like the demo.  The more you can do without wrecking the final product will save you money.  Take down the old paneling, remove any nails/screws.  You would probably be alright replacing the insulation if it’s needed.  Ask around if any friends at least know how to hang the drywall.  You want the lines (seems) to be horizontal, with staggered gaps. And the factory edges (wear the ends dip a bit) to meet.  I would say leave the mudding and sanding to the pros. That’s the part of the project that makes the biggest difference when you look at a painted wall.

Good Luck

If the ceiling needs drywall, leave it all to the pros.  Its worth the $

Answer 2

You can do it, it will be fun and the added knowledge will help you with future projects. Get to your local Home Depot or Lowes and buy a book on sheetrocking/drywalling etc. it will tell you how to do this and you'll save money! Sure you will make mistakes at first but it is not rocket science. While you have paneling off do you need additional electrical plugs etc. now is the time. Good luck! Wish I could help!

Answer 3

  

   Is this house a Modular or Mobil Home? The reason I ask, is it is against fire code laws to put paneling directly on studs.Has the house been inspected by the bank yet? This is really risky, If a fire were to happen in that house, the whole place would go up in flames in minutes, just like a mobil home.Are you positive there is no drywall under the paneling?

   Please Email me and tell me about this, Vinny 8/30

Answer 4

Just hire the d**n contractor. You will just mess it up and it will be wasted money.

Answer 5

First, any work you can do yourself will save you money.   You might be surprised that once you take down the paneling their will be drywall up already, it just may need some fixing up (nail holes etc..)  That would be awesome!

Professional drywallers are expensive.  Good, but expensive.  You Tube, and other internet sites have  video's on how to hang drywall.  It's alot of work and dust, but it can save you a fortune trying to do it yourself.

Finally, if you have two left hands and no friends or relatives who have any experience, then just hire the drywallers.  you will be glad you did.