# Sheetrocking arched doorways



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Cut the 3 1/2" strip for the arch 1/2" cut the back paper every 1" and it will bend in there no problem 
It is all about the bead you use.


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

That is a significant project to take on for the start of your learning curve, but it can be DIY. I fumbled around for years doing a lot of things wrong but finally worked alongside someone who knew "how to" and I learned. Today the videos and advice can fill the experience gap and make you a pro in no time. Several pros here and one has some good videos he has posted.

I went from hating drywall to enjoying it and although retired I still help out others with small repairs.

Bud


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

1/4" drywall will bend a lot easier than 1/2"
Misting the drywall with water can also help.


----------



## ClarenceBauer (Mar 4, 2005)

To create the arch in 1/2 or 5/8 inch drywall use the plywood cutouts in the photo two each for each arch stand so the radius is on the up side on a flat surface lay your sheet rock over the arch than use very damp towels ( like bath towels ) leave over night the next morning your sheet rock will be very close to the correct radius. let them dry & hang.


----------



## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

Hanging the drywall properly is at least half the battle of attaining a proper finish. If you dont know what you are doing, it can cost you as much to have it taped and finished, as it would have to have the whole project done by a pro, hanging and all. A real pro makes it look easy. Its not. Im sure others will have some good advice for you, but I have done a few arches and I found that it works fine if you cut the insides of your openings to width, usually 4.5 inches, assuming 2x walls, cross cut the strips about three inches apart, and then (Now heres what I came up with, dont laugh) I mix elmers glue and water and paint this onto the back of the drywall till the gypsum softens up a bit. Then I simply install the strips and tap the drywall into the arches which I make up with 1 x pine. Then you apply the segmented corner bead, (We used to pie cut metal edge and roll it in. Then you just finish it as you normally would. This has worked very well for me. I have found that SureCorner is really great when you are dealing with old corners, and I use the dust control (Blue Lid) USG mud for all my projects now. Of course you have to add a cup of warm water to it and mix it well till its nice and creamy before you use it. Good Luck to you.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Thank you for all of the replies. It looks like there's more than one way to skin a cat, that's for sure. I wish I could find a good crew that could just come in and get this done for me. Unfortunately, the crew that I had do the upstairs of the house basically abandoned the project before they could do the first floor because they said they took a commercial job on and unless I can pay them $150k they were going to go and do that. The second guy I brought in started getting really flaky but was highly recommended by several supply houses and contractors locally. He told me that he was getting nervous and if he gets really stressed out he would not complete the job for me. So obviously I told him to forget about it. Another well-known sheetrocker locally came over and when I told him the story about the previous two over the phone he waited until he got to my house to confront me and tell me that my story wasn't adding up. He seemed real jaded and paranoid and told me it was probably a money issue that I was not confessing about and that I was probably not paying any of my workers which was absurd. He told me he was not interested in doing the job and then He apparently blacklisted my name amongst all of the other really good local sheetrockers. I would rather hire another company to do this but now finding anybody seems to be a struggle. I've got a few offers but I've seen some of their work and it was not impressive. Not sure whether I'm better off hiring a company that can do an okay job or do it myself and really be perfectionistic about it. This is my first floor in a home that I'm going to live in. I really want it to look nice.


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Part of what you are experiencing is the difficulty of being one's own GC. All of the good subs are busy with their steady GC's, the contract work that provides steady pay. The ones who are available (not always) are less skilled or have other issues that have prevented them from landing one of those steady connections. Even if you persuade a top rated sub to do your job, as you have experienced, they will be gone in a heartbeat when their regular GC calls or a better job pops up.

Talk to your drywall supplier and see if there is a retired drywall contractor who might be available to work with you. He will have the skills and you can help with the heavy lifting. Being retired means he probably misses the trade and he won't be protective not wanting to show you how and some extra cash is always good.

Bud


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Bud9051 said:


> Part of what you are experiencing is the difficulty of being one's own GC. All of the good subs are busy with their steady GC's, the contract work that provides steady pay. The ones who are available (not always) are less skilled or have other issues that have prevented them from landing one of those steady connections. Even if you persuade a top rated sub to do your job, as you have experienced, they will be gone in a heartbeat when their regular GC calls or a better job pops up.
> 
> Talk to your drywall supplier and see if there is a retired drywall contractor who might be available to work with you. He will have the skills and you can help with the heavy lifting. Being retired means he probably misses the trade and he won't be protective not wanting to show you how and some extra cash is always good.
> 
> Bud


Good advice.


----------



## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

First I think I would face the openings with plywood. 1/2 for the straight sections and two sheets of 1/4 luan for the arch sections. That way you can simply screw it up. By the time you put up your corner bead and mud it up all you will see is the drywall mud anyway. The plywood just seems to be a little stronger and less subject to damage. 

If you want to do it with drywall I agree with ClarenceBauer, build a frame out of the remnants from cutting out the arches, moisten strips of drywall and let them bend to shape.


> He seemed real jaded and paranoid and told me it was probably a money issue that I was not confessing about and that I was probably not paying any of my workers which was absurd. He told me he was not interested in doing the job


The job was probably beyond his capability and he just didn't want to admit it. Otherwise he would have told you no over the phone. Probably made him feel superior to tell you no. 

The building business is booming now and your difficulties in find hangers and finishers is as RetroJoe 1 said.


I have only done a couple small basements but if you have the physical strength you can probably hang the drywall. You won't be as fast or efficient as the pro but your time is cheap. It is the mudding and finishing that take talent and practice. You wouldn't want me to do the mudding, just something I have never gotten the talent for and I an too old to do the hanging. 

I am current doing a ceiling patch in a piece of rental property to repair some water damage. Beginning to look like it will take me the rest of my life .


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

hkstroud said:


> First I think I would face the openings with plywood. 1/2 for the straight sections and two sheets of 1/4 luan for the arch sections. That way you can simply screw it up. By the time you put up your corner bead and mud it up all you will see is the drywall mud anyway. The plywood just seems to be a little stronger and less subject to damage. .


Will mud adhere to Luan? Honestly I spent enough time building the arch frames and I don't want to get into cutting more plywood arches. I'm a perfectionist so I did it with a router on a jig. I'm wondering if I could maybe face it with sheetrock using a Rotozip around the frame of my Arch and then use the Luan in the middle like you were saying to Bend.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

You are over thinking it. The only thing you should be worried about is the corner bead.


If you have the scrap plywood left from the curve cut out you can build a placement jig for the bead.


----------



## Timborooni (Apr 16, 2011)

RetroJoe_1 said:


> Will mud adhere to Luan?


It should, yes. It wouldn't be a bad idea to prime the Luan first. Priming the Luan will stabilize the surface and raise the grain to give the mud a better bond. Use water based primer, thin it a bit. It's possible that once you prime after mudding there could be some tannin bleed. A Shellac based primer such as BIN will seal the tannin bleed.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)




----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I'd have more trust in j/c adhering to drywall than I would any wood including luan.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

mark sr said:


> I'd have more trust in j/c adhering to drywall than I would any wood including luan.


I understand the fear, like the OP we always made the arch perfect, only to see some crap when all said and done. I even took the time once to check the arches after the hangers were done. Only to find it all out of shape when finished. So the problem was the guy that put up the corner bead.


Not sure how the guy in the video I posted installed the corner bead. :surprise:
But he cut the back of the drywall like I suggested and it works fine.


----------



## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

Yes, mud will stick to wood, my shirt, my hat, my hair, the drop clothes, the floor and just about anything else.



> Honestly I spent enough time building the arch frames and I don't want to get into cutting more plywood arches.


As ClarenceBauer said the remnants of the arch cutouts are in the background in the second photo. You would use those to build your jig. If you used an router to cut out the arches the remnants will be a little tighter (smaller) but that's alright. Just make the drywall strips a little longer. Screwing up the drywall will it pull out to fit. If you used a 1/2" router bit the remnants will be the perfect size.


----------



## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

If wetting the drywall for the arch doesn't work like the guy in the video says, score or cut the back side about every inch, lay it on your jig. Put a thin coat of mud on the back side and embed some nylon tape. When dried it will be arched to fit and will be stronger than it ever was.


----------



## jagans (Oct 21, 2012)

hkstroud said:


> First I think I would face the openings with plywood. 1/2 for the straight sections and two sheets of 1/4 luan for the arch sections. That way you can simply screw it up. By the time you put up your corner bead and mud it up all you will see is the drywall mud anyway. The plywood just seems to be a little stronger and less subject to damage.
> 
> If you want to do it with drywall I agree with ClarenceBauer, build a frame out of the remnants from cutting out the arches, moisten strips of drywall and let them bend to shape.
> The job was probably beyond his capability and he just didn't want to admit it. Otherwise he would have told you no over the phone. Probably made him feel superior to tell you no.
> ...



I use 1x pine because you cannot edge nail plywood. You can screw to the face and the edge of pine. short pieces of 2x blocking and you have a well backed arch Different strokes, I guess.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

jagans said:


> hkstroud said:
> 
> 
> > First I think I would face the openings with plywood. 1/2 for the straight sections and two sheets of 1/4 luan for the arch sections. That way you can simply screw it up. By the time you put up your corner bead and mud it up all you will see is the drywall mud anyway. The plywood just seems to be a little stronger and less subject to damage.
> ...


I've already got a pretty good form. I used half inch plywood and blocking. I think it should be enough to mount sheetrock on and definitely better than what that guy did in the YouTube video that was posted photo attached.


----------



## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

Find a local plasterer - that is licensed and insured.

IMO Plaster can make all things wonderful - including arches. A typical Taper (mudder) will try and talk you into a knock-down texture to "enhance light dispersion and improve color vibrance" which translates to, "I can't do flat wall without big bumps so I'm hoping you'll like a lot of bumps to hide the problems." They'll fancy it up by saying how much you'll save because they will spray the primer and texture for you...

Ask how/what kind of board he wants installed - then you can hang it yourself if you wish. However, if you hang the rock chances are you will also assume any liability for cracks, etc.

Hanging rock should only take a couple of guys a few days labor - let your plasterer find the crew he wants and will stand behind.

The house looks like it will be stunning - be patient and find a pro and spend the cash.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Domo said:


> Find a local plasterer - that is licensed and insured.
> 
> IMO Plaster can make all things wonderful - including arches. A typical Taper (mudder) will try and talk you into a knock-down texture to "enhance light dispersion and improve color vibrance" which translates to, "I can't do flat wall without big bumps so I'm hoping you'll like a lot of bumps to hide the problems." They'll fancy it up by saying how much you'll save because they will spray the primer and texture for you...
> 
> ...


Unfortunately I don't have enough funds to hire a plaster guy. They want a lot of money to do plaster around here. This is been a full house renovation and I'm at the end of the budget. I don't want to go cheap but I can't afford more than a dollar 75 to $2 a square foot. And plus most of these guys want me to pay for materials on top of that labor charge.

I just spoke to a neighbor who had moved up from New Jersey and he said that he used to do plaster and sheetrock down there. He said he would be willing to charge me $150 a day to hang and do the tape and mud. He said he could do one room and see how I like it and if I'm okay with it he would move on to do the rest of the stuff. The only thing that raised an eyebrow with me is he said down there when they had eight foot ceilings he would hang the sheetrock vertically with the four feet going across rather than the boards going the long way. I've never seen that before. I've normally only seen it hung where you have one seam going straight across the room with the one board on top in the one board below. So I don't know if that's a red flag or not.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

RetroJoe_1 said:


> Unfortunately I don't have enough funds to hire a plaster guy. They want a lot of money to do plaster around here. This is been a full house renovation and I'm at the end of the budget. I don't want to go cheap but I can't afford more than a dollar 75 to $2 a square foot. And plus most of these guys want me to pay for materials on top of that labor charge.
> 
> I just spoke to a neighbor who had moved up from New Jersey and he said that he used to do plaster and sheetrock down there. He said he would be willing to charge me $150 a day to hang and do the tape and mud. He said he could do one room and see how I like it and if I'm okay with it he would move on to do the rest of the stuff. The only thing that raised an eyebrow with me is he said down there when they had eight foot ceilings he would hang the sheetrock vertically with the four feet going across rather than the boards going the long way. I've never seen that before. I've normally only seen it hung where you have one seam going straight across the room with the one board on top in the one board below. So I don't know if that's a red flag or not.


 It is done like that but the lay out of the studs really have to work, he will be doing a lot more filling that way and any bumps or hollows in the studs show up a lot more pronounced. 
I would buy a lift, that will save him time and it will be no effort to go sideways, you want to order drywall so you have no but joints in the wall if you can. You just sell the lift when done.


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

There are 2 reasons walls should be hung horizontally; it helps to disguise any discrepancies in the framing and it's easier on old backs to tape/finish the horizontal joint versus than a floor to ceiling joint every 4'


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> RetroJoe_1 said:
> 
> 
> > Unfortunately I don't have enough funds to hire a plaster guy. They want a lot of money to do plaster around here. This is been a full house renovation and I'm at the end of the budget. I don't want to go cheap but I can't afford more than a dollar 75 to $2 a square foot. And plus most of these guys want me to pay for materials on top of that labor charge.
> ...


I actually bought a lift and the crew that did my upstairs used it. I don't plan on selling it. I think that after I'm done with this project it will probably come in handy for other stuff in the future. Even if I let friends borrow it. It's good advice to not have the butt joints in the wall. I think I'm going to go around and do my own sheet count. Some of the walls are rather long so I think it's impossible to completely eliminate all butt joints but the fewer the better I suppose.


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Unless the rooms are 12'x12' cubes [or smaller] there is no getting around butt joints but you don't want/need any unnecessary ones. Don't count your boards too close, your hanger won't want to run out or have to back up and use scraps to finish.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

RetroJoe_1 said:


> I actually bought a lift and the crew that did my upstairs used it. I don't plan on selling it. I think that after I'm done with this project it will probably come in handy for other stuff in the future. Even if I let friends borrow it. It's good advice to not have the butt joints in the wall. I think I'm going to go around and do my own sheet count. Some of the walls are rather long so I think it's impossible to completely eliminate all butt joints but the fewer the better I suppose.


 Our drywall wholesale places will sell to anyone, they come out and measure up and deliver what you need to each room, up to 20 ft and they are still cheaper than 12 ft sheets from the big box. 
The only hang up is they are not allowed to carry up stairs so they come with a crane truck and expect to remove a window upstairs.


If you want less but joints in the ceiling, strap the ceiling so the sheets go the shorter way wall to wall.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)




----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


>


Yeah when they delivered the sheetrock for upstairs they had the same type of crane and lifted it through a window that I took out in the front master bedroom. I don't use the box stores for sheetrock. I have building material supply company locally.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> RetroJoe_1 said:
> 
> 
> > I actually bought a lift and the crew that did my upstairs used it. I don't plan on selling it. I think that after I'm done with this project it will probably come in handy for other stuff in the future. Even if I let friends borrow it. It's good advice to not have the butt joints in the wall. I think I'm going to go around and do my own sheet count. Some of the walls are rather long so I think it's impossible to completely eliminate all butt joints but the fewer the better I suppose.
> ...


The only trouble with furring out the ceiling is all of my recessed cans are already installed. And if I use 3/4 inch strapping plus the 5/8 inch Rock my RotoZip is not going to be able to reach that can to get a nice clean-cut.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

I spoke to a couple of other companies today and when they came out they said that I would have to put a deposit down. Somebody else had warned me that any sheetrocker that comes out and wants the money up front could be a red flag as they should have enough money in escrow to cover the beginning of the job. They said that most of the time a sheetrocker shouldn't expect payment until at least after hanging the material. And then another installment after everything is complete. Any thoughts? The more of a headache this becomes the more I just want to do it myself.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

When we did that kind of small job we had the customer buy the material, we divided our billing into smaller chunks, never getting paid for work not complete but never getting in to deep if money wasn't coming.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> When we did that kind of small job we had the customer buy the material, we divided our billing into smaller chunks, never getting paid for work not complete but never getting in to deep if money wasn't coming.


Yeah I have supplied the material for this entire project. I mentioned that to the contractor but he said he still wanted a deposit. I've seen photos of his work and it looks good but he seems a bit overpriced. I am almost certain now that I'm going to hang this myself. Might at least find somebody to tape it. I've attached a couple of photos to this comment. I was wondering if for that more narrow areas like the small hallways where the width of the wall is less than 4 feet if it would be okay to use a 9 foot board and stand up vertically in those areas. Like for the closet, the hallway with the Arches and any of the soffit areas? Is there any negative to doing that? The butt joints would be against the ceiling and floor. Logistically it seems to make more sense because you minimize all of the seems having to hang two boards horizontally on every wall but not sure if this would cause some other type of problem


----------



## ClarenceBauer (Mar 4, 2005)

If you are going to do the finishing yourself look into using the Master of Plaster product. As a plastering contractor I have used this product by the truck load never a bad report ( now retired ). Don't let the price of the material scare you off try a sample it is very user friendly NO sanding , No cold joints No mixing with water just remix in the container it is packaged in you can add about a cup of water. The product has NO shelf life can be keep for a life time if covered with water. Finish can be troweled to be as smooth as glass again NO SANDING.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

RetroJoe_1 said:


> Yeah I have supplied the material for this entire project. I mentioned that to the contractor but he said he still wanted a deposit. I've seen photos of his work and it looks good but he seems a bit overpriced. I am almost certain now that I'm going to hang this myself. Might at least find somebody to tape it. I've attached a couple of photos to this comment. I was wondering if for that more narrow areas like the small hallways where the width of the wall is less than 4 feet if it would be okay to use a 9 foot board and stand up vertically in those areas. Like for the closet, the hallway with the Arches and any of the soffit areas? Is there any negative to doing that? The butt joints would be against the ceiling and floor. Logistically it seems to make more sense because you minimize all of the seems having to hang two boards horizontally on every wall but not sure if this would cause some other type of problem


 Put a block between those two studs beside the arch.
For small areas it is normal to use whatever in whatever direction that makes it easier. Lots of people do the stand up sheets.


----------



## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

RetroJoe_1 said:


> Unfortunately I don't have enough funds to hire a plaster guy. They want a lot of money to do plaster around here. This is been a full house renovation and I'm at the end of the budget. I don't want to go cheap but I can't afford more than a dollar 75 to $2 a square foot. And plus most of these guys want me to pay for materials on top of that labor charge.
> 
> I just spoke to a neighbor who had moved up from New Jersey and he said that he used to do plaster and sheetrock down there. He said he would be willing to charge me $150 a day to hang and do the tape and mud. He said he could do one room and see how I like it and if I'm okay with it he would move on to do the rest of the stuff. The only thing that raised an eyebrow with me is he said down there when they had eight foot ceilings he would hang the sheetrock vertically with the four feet going across rather than the boards going the long way. I've never seen that before. I've normally only seen it hung where you have one seam going straight across the room with the one board on top in the one board below. So I don't know if that's a red flag or not.


Going vertical is fine - sheetrock is not a structural member during construction. Your walls will look better with the tapers towards each other. Hopefully he can do full sheets around each wall penetration (door, etc.) which would further eliminate the cause of cracks and bumps due to shifting headers, etc.

I'm glad you found a reasonable rate and a good neighbor. Make sure you BOTH understand that you will hold the financial/work effort completely separate from your neighbor status. Write a simple contract (at the least) that includes a graceful exit method in case one gets upset with the other - you don't want to piss off the neighbor!

Post pictures of the job in progress - we'd be glad to help encourage a good job and marvel at his dexterity!


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

I'm happy to report that I was able to successfully make the inside of the drywall arches by using a combination of a couple of methods that were suggested on this thread. I took the cutouts from the plywood arches that I had originally built and framed and use blocking in between them to make forms. A total of 5 with two ellipticals and three half rounds. I cut half inch sheetrock to length and put them face down over the forms. I sprayed the back of the sheetrock with water and rubbed it in with a towel. I probably sprayed it a couple of times to get it really soaked over a 30-minute period. I then scored it to help it Bend. I put some damp towels on top of them and left it overnight. In the morning I applied a couple of strips of fiber tape and 20 minute fast setting mud into the scored cuts on the back side. We let it dry for several hours and ended up with a solid Arch to put up into the doorway underneath the framed Arch. Here's a few photos of the process. Thanks again for all of the advice! Not bad for somebody who's never done this before 🙂


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

You were worried and now you have the best made arches in North America.


----------



## RetroJoe_1 (Nov 19, 2017)

Nealtw said:


> You were worried and now you have the best made arches in North America.


I'm grateful for all of the good advice! This is the first time I've ever done anything with sheetrock and so far I've had a couple of contractors come in and asked me who hung the rock because it was so tight. I'm a quick learner and especially with helpful hints on this forum.


----------

