Is The Sky Falling? You Can Fix That
Ever wonder how they get Sheetrock up on the ceiling?
No?
Well, it’s not surprising. Who knows how many Americans take their ceilings for granted. But the fact is, if you own one of the thousands of turn-of-the-century homes in Spokane, and if it has ceilings, sooner or later you’re going to have to confront the issue of crumbling ceiling plaster.
And eventually that probably means replacing all that plaster with Sheetrock.
Ick.
This is not a pleasant job. But it is a task from which the true, self-respecting do-it-yourselfer will not shirk. With the help of a couple of friends, you are perfectly capable of performing this task.
First, some basics about Sheetrock: It comes in 4-by-8 and 4-by-12 sheets. Forget about the 4-by-12 sheets. Try to stick one of those up on a ceiling and you’ll kill yourself. It also comes in 3/8-, 1/2- and 5/8-inch widths. The 3/8 stuff and 5/8 stuff is for specialty applications. So get 4-by-8 sheets that are 1/2 inch thick.
When you go to get your Sheetrock, you’ll find it heavy and unwieldy. You will not be able to imagine how you’re going to get one of these things stuck up onto your ceiling.
What the professionals do is use a Sheetrock hoist. This is a large and unwieldy machine that cradles the Sheetrock on a couple of arms. You then crank the arms up until the Sheetrock is clamped tightly against the ceiling. You can rent one of these machines, but you have to deal with a daily rental fee. And they aren’t particularly easy to get from the rental place to wherever it is you keep your ceilings.
Now, if you are going to do a bunch of ceilings, by all means, rent the machine.
But we’re talking about just one ceiling here. So here’s what you do: Measure the height of your ceiling from floor to bare rafter. If you have an 8-foot ceiling, go buy three 8-foot 2-by-4s. If you have a 10-foot ceiling, make it two 10-footers and one 8-footer.
Cut one of the 8 footers into two 3-foot lengths, and two 1-foot lengths. Take one of the 3-foot pieces and butt its center point flat against the end of one of the longer boards, forming a T. Drill three 2-inch screws through the 3-foot board into the end of the longer board.
Now, take one of the 1-foot pieces, and trim each end of the piece at opposing 45-degree angles. Use screws to attach this piece as a brace, forming a triangle between the short leg and the long leg of the T. Repeat this whole process with the remaining boards.
Now you have two sturdy T-braces that measure 8 feet 1 inches if you used 8-foot boards and have 8-foot ceilings. That’s the length of the board, plus the width of the board that you have butted against it.
In other words, you have two braces that are just slightly longer than the height of your ceilings.
Now, get two step ladders. Get your friends (if they are gullible enough) to balance a full piece of Sheetrock over their heads as they climb the ladders.
They should then press the Sheetrock tightly against the ceiling. You stay down on the floor and tell them which way to maneuver the Sheetrock so that it fits tightly against the walls, or against the previous pieces of Sheetrock you have put up.
Because holding heavy objects up high over ones head quickly becomes very painful, your friends will begin to complain.
So once the Sheetrock is in the desired position, take one of the T braces and put the T a couple of feet from one end of the Sheetrock. You will have to angle it slightly, because it will be too long. Push the bottom of the brace against the floor (or some protective floor covering) until it is wedged tightly. A sharp kick sometimes helps.
Repeat the process at the other end of the Sheetrock with the other T brace. Now have your friends come down from the ladder and hold the T braces steady while you climb up and put Sheetrock screws into the bottom of the ceiling rafters about every 12 to 18 inches.
If your ceiling is very large, you may have to find some new friends in order to finish the job.