Don't Fall for Drywall

Well, I began installing some drywall last night and let's just say, it didn't go quite as planned! I wanted to install at least one full drywall sheet this week and knew that there was a portion of the wall that I didn't need to make any major cuts as I still don't have a T-square. As you can see in the picture below, when you are installing drywall you are supposed to have it finish on a stud, but also need to leave room to screw in the other piece to that same stud. I had to cut about 2-3 inches off the end of the drywall. I made a cut in the back and then attempted to break it off but the drywall ripped. I realized this didn't seem to be going too smoothly so did a quick Google search and realized that I had to make the cut on the front of the sheet and then break it off. Thankfully I had to cut it down a little more and was able to make a smoother cut.

I enlisted my wife for help as the sheet needed to be lifted up a few inches well I installed the first few screws. Well, I got two screws in, and then she dropped it! Lol. So those first two screws ripped out. She pointed out that it wasn't easy to hold it up so I ended up using an old shelf that I slid underneath so it was a little easier to hold. I ended up getting a few screws in before we both realized that my young daughter was crying in her crib upstairs. She was understandably upset from hearing me drilling screws into the wall!! So needless to say, I had to stop drilling unless I wanted to create PTSD for my daughter! I decided to leave it for the night and resumed early this morning after she was gone for the day. It was a quick job but I successfully screwed the drywall fully into the wall. There were some challenges along the way - as you can see my screws aren't perfectly aligned, but I didn't really think this was a big deal. Also, I had a problem getting the corner screws in (close to the corner purple wall). There is a specific drill bit for drywall screws that I used on my drill that ensures a dimple is created and the screws are pushed in so that you can mud over top, but this didn't seem to be working great. I ended up increasing the intensity setting on my drill (don't know if that's what it's called??) and that worked better. Additionally, for some of the corner screws I couldn't get to, I used a longer drill bit which helped get the screws deeper in. Overall, I feel like I'm off to a good start, though the quality of my work is definitely not quite at renovation expert yet. My next steps involved installing drywall throughout the rest of the room. I will need to make lots of cuts so it will be an interesting experiment!