# Correct way to drywall around a doorway



## jburchill (Oct 3, 2010)

Hello, I have been reading about people's drywall cracking around their doors because they installed the drywall wrong.

So, my question is, what is the correct way to drywall around a door frame? I have put up my drywall around my door, but I haven't mudded yet, and I just want to make sure I did it correctly so I don't have any cracks.



Thank you
Jason


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## n0c7 (May 15, 2008)

Put a sheet over the opening horizontally(top first) then cut out the opening for the door as opposed to having a small piece of drywall above the door with a vertical seam or two above the door.

Wastes some material but yields the best result.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

A lot of time also, is the wall may be flexing at the drywall, But yeah, not putting any joints at that area is the best result. The same holds true around windows.


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## MikeKy55 (Nov 4, 2009)

n0c7 said:


> Put a sheet over the opening horizontally(top first) then cut out the opening for the door as opposed to having a small piece of drywall above the door with a vertical seam or two above the door.
> 
> Wastes some material but yields the best result.


Learned this here and agree 100%. In fact, I have a vertical crack above my back door on a 9 year old house. I would have been surprised it was there and wondered why had it not been for this site.


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## n0c7 (May 15, 2008)

I have also tried to fix said cracks including an attempt that involved 25 drywall screws, fiberglass tape with setting compound only to have a hairline crack appear a month later.  The door was a hollow 30 inch interior door and opening and closing still caused it.


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## jburchill (Oct 3, 2010)

When fixing cracks that are already above the door, would adding more mud and feathering it out further fix the problem? Or would it come back?

I have a crack above a closet door I need to fix.


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## havalife (Mar 23, 2011)

I always keep all drywall joints at least 12" below the header or 12" above the sill. You never want a joint close to something that will settle.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

Use paper tape and setting type compound this time, JB: “While fiberglass mesh tape is stronger than paper tape in ultimate load, it is more elastic and will
allow visible cracking of the joint compound to occur at lower loads as the glass mesh stretches.
Consequently, paper tape will yield the best joint treatment.”

From: http://www.usg.com/rc/technical-articles/drywall-finishing-technical-guide-en-J1190.pdf

Sounds like you found this out already: http://www.paintsource.net/pages/solutions/new construction/drywall_imperfections.htm


Gary


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