Drywalling Tip 1 - Work Top Down

This tip may seem kind of basic but if you never drywalled before then you might not know. Always start from the top and work down this means that you do the ceiling first then use the drywall on the walls to hold the ceiling up. Also a drywall lift will save your life See picture to the left. I had rented one just like that one and it cost me $45 for the weekend. After that I bought one and used it at least a dozen times and loaned it to friends a dozen more well worth the money.

Drywalling Tip 2 - Take a Picture

Take a picture it'll last longer, well as annoying as the saying is, it is true. I lost two outlets once, I drywalled right over them. I poked a bunch of holes where I thought the box was, it wasn't. So next time I took a picture of the whole room before I put the insulation in. That way when I came up missing an outlet I could find it fairly easily by looking at my digital pictures. It got me out of a scrape with a heater vent in my kitchen floor as well. So if you have a digital camera (even a cellphone with a camera will do) please take a couple of minutes to take the pictures.

Drywalling Tip 3 - Use a file

You'll soon find that as you are hanging drywall that almost nothing is square and you'll have to "adjust" the edge of your sheet of drywall to get it to fit. I used to use a knife and try to trim it that way. What I found later is that a drywall rasp file worked faster and a lot cleaner. Sometimes the knife would get away from me and I'd cut too much the rasp gives you a lot more control.

Drywalling Tip 4 - Get a Jab Saw

Probably the worst part of drywalling is getting the holes right for fixtures sockets and switches. For all of these use a jab saw. I would tack the piece with a few screws to keep it from going anywhere and poke a small hole from measurements that should get me in the right area for the switch. (MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF - Don't use a jab saw around hot wires and before you turn the power on make sure the wires aren't damaged). Then after the piece is tacked up you can use the hole you poked to make a larger hole. Then make sure you are in the switchbox by putting your finger in the hole and feeling for the box edges. Then when you are sure they are there you can cut out to the edges when you reach the edges you can cut a bevel so the sheet can fit snuggly around the box and it gives you a great gapless edge around the box.

Drywalling Tip 5 - The right tools

I would recommend you get 3 drywall knives and a corner knife. The small 4" knife you probably already have. Then get an 8" Knife followed by a 12" or 14". The idea being that the more you taper out your joint the less visible it will be. Use the 4" to lay the mud in the 8" to taper it out for the first coat, then use the wider knives to feather out your joints in later coats. Finally use a corner knife for the corners it's really a great tool and a huge time saver.

How to Drywall - Final Tip

Take your time. That's the best tip I can recommend. I hope your next job goes a little smoother. Thanks you can also visit my website for a step by step at http://selfreliantlife.com.
Jim