# Will drywall fit through this door?



## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Trying to drywall an attic space. The door and initial "foyer" are shown below. Looking at it, I don't see how drywall will fit through, but sometimes people know tricks I don't. There is a window in the attic space, but the window would have to be completely removed and reinstalled, and we might not even be able to get a truck back there anyway.

http://sdrv.ms/1hknESm

Did I mention the attic has 9' ceilings? So the drywall would need to be 4 1/2' wide, or 9' long.

The door is at the end of a hallway. As you face the door, there is a bedroom door immediately to the left. Otherwise, the left wall of the hallway would preclude bringing in a sheet angled in from the left. The first photo is taken facing the door from the hallway, the second photo is taken from the bedroom door just to the left of it, and the third photo is taken after stepping through the door and turning 90 degrees to the right, while standing in the "foyer". The ceiling of the foyer extends 40" to the right before it opens to the attic ceiling.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

From the pics it looks like you might be able to stand them up inside the door. Even if it works real PITA.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Won't be able to stand them up in the foyer - immediate 8" steps, foyer only 90" high. They would have to be angled to the right.

I will have a chance to try it when hanging a small area first, but if it doesn't fit I just would like to know if there's some trick of angling the pros know.


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## TheEplumber (Jul 20, 2010)

Go buy a sheet and take it for a test drive :thumbsup:


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## princelake (Feb 19, 2012)

for some reason i cant see the picture. i've had a couple of 100+ year old homes where i couldnt get even a 8' sheet up the stairs. i'd either take a window out and have them boomed up there. or what i'd do is cut the back side of the sheet and fold it up without cutting or wrecking the good side bring it up stairs and carefully open the sheet and install it on the wall.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

That's clever, but does that work structurally speaking? Sounds very risky.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

If you really have to, you can always cut them on the back, fold them over, but do not tear the face paper. That will give you a 4x4 section to take up there. Easier to do if you did not have that wall in the way, or had a window large enough upstairs, that they can be boomed in that way.


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## ST180 (Dec 18, 2012)

Could you cut a hole in the ceiling of a room below and pass the new drywall up into the attic through it. Then you would have a fairly simple repair to make in the ceiling.


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## princelake (Feb 19, 2012)

being 9' ceilings cut the boards at 3' and have 3 horizontal on the walls


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)




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## eandjsdad (Dec 22, 2013)

If there's an open space between joists large enough, I'd cut a hole up through the ceiling. If you're working alone, make a stand for the sheets right below the hole, so you can slide a few sheets up and have them sit there on the stand. Then go into the atttic and pull them up as you need them. Depending on the roof slope and joist spacing / depth, this could still be a tight operation. You may be stuck with folding them and bringing them up the stairs, in which case you may want to take the handrails off - only one way to tell.


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## brucem609 (Feb 6, 2013)

Crack the boards just like prince said. But be careful you do not rip the paper on the front side. Slow and steady. 1 at a time. Get 10' boards and you will do fine

Sent from my iPhone


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

I'm shocked at the advice to crack the boards. But then I did come for suggestions I hadn't thought of.

I mean, I'm just having a hard time believing the drywall will still be structurally sound. Does it have to be cut precisely where it will be attached to a stud? If not, will cracked drywall really hold up fine? I just have a hard time being sure of that. It seems like you'd see a line there or something, in the final result.

Passing the drywall up through the first floor ceiling and then repairing it is another interesting option. Thanks for the ideas.


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## greenfrog5 (Dec 5, 2012)

I would think as long as you were careful to keep the locations of the scoring/folding to occur over studs or perpendicular to them, they would act just like typical joints between panels. When the slit is over a stud, fasten both halfs of the panel. When perpendicular to studs, each half of the panels spans from stud-to-stud. If you score in the very middle, you'll have two 4' sections which should put the score over studs @ 16".

The drywall doesn't need THAT much structural integrity - just enough to resist regular impact without breaking. Placing a seam parallel to studs, but between them would leave cantilevered edges that would be vulnerable to impact.

I like the idea of sliding the panels up between floor joists. Also, in a tight enough space, you might be better off cutting them into more manageable pieces anyway (long strips or squares) even if it means more joints to finish.

Edit: Remember if you plan to crack/fold the boards, you'll need ample room to unfold them (4' wide space), but I think you are talking about a larger room above these narrow stairs?


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## MT Stringer (Oct 19, 2008)

Is it a pro no no to simply cut the sheet in half...one extra seam?


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

MT Stringer said:


> Is it a pro no no to simply cut the sheet in half...one extra seam?


Not just another seam, a long hard to deal with butt joint. 
I have 2 ideas,
1. how hard would it be to remove the window PITA yes.
2. 1/4" drywall will bend quite a bit. Maybe try 3/8" but won't bend as much. If code is for 1/2" you may have to double up the 1/4"


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

The room above is 16 x 16 with 9 foot ceilings.

It's not the end of the world to cut boards in half, but it probably increases the taping labor by at least 50%, I would think. All butt joints too, which is bad.

4 options are cracking the panels, cutting the panels in half, bringing them up through the ceiling, and taking the window out and putting it back in, assuming a track can go back there.


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## mgp roofing (Aug 15, 2011)

Did the crack the boards trick when drywalling my parents beach house's wc rooms that were too small to get a full sheet in and stood up. Taped and mudded all the seams as usual, where the board was cracked put a single coat of finish compound to hide the line that was barely noticeable, sanded and painted. That was in 1997. It has held to this day.


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