[FireFly]

Hey all, I just put a drop ceiling in the basement of my parents house, the thing is the walls aren't finished yet. I brought the edges of the ceiling out an inch with 1" by 4" wood strips so I could sheet rock the walls after the drop ceiling was done. My question is, How close to the windows to sheet rock?? do you go right up to the frame and put molding around the window? or do I need to leave space between the window frame and the Sheet rock? In other words, do I need to frame the sheet rock larger than the window frame or do I put the sheet rock right up to/against the window frame? Thanks

[highsider]

I've always put the rock right up to the window, leaving about 1/4 - 1/8 inch for ventilation, then put the trim on.

[FireFly]

Thanks for the knowledge.

[RandyO]

sheet rock right over it then cut it out

[dhuze]

If your windows are in (which I'm assuming they are) they should protrude past the framing the thickness of the drywall or less then you drywall up to the window frame leaving enough space for expansion. It doesnt matter a whole lot just as long as your trim will cover it.

The real question is Why would you put in the suspended ceiling first? You left 1" from the wall to put the drywall up behind it? if you did there will be a 1/2" gap if you're using 1/2" drywall.

Don't forget to insulate the walls first even if it's concrete you will still lose heat.

[FireFly]

i wanted to get the ceiling out of the way first because theres a SH#@ load of stuff thats blocking most of the walls since the basement has served as a storage area for my folks. About the sheet rock, I'm going to use 5/8ths sheet rock and ferring strips if neccessary when I put up the sheet rock.

[MnM]

make sure you have a hand when purchasing it because that shit is heavy.....

[Ecooke21]

5/8" drywall, + 1"x3" ferring = 1"3/8"..your are going to cover some of the grid, if you only padded 3/4"

[Cue Ball]

I did my sheet rock first in teh basement, now playingwith teh ceiling and the wonderfull world of "Crown Molding" Thank God for the compound miter saw...

[ZX-12R]

Originally posted by RandyO
sheet rock right over it then cut it out

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

[stoinkythepig]

Put the sheetrock against the window and rotozip around it. Leaves a perfect 1/8" gap and a shitload of dust, but takes almost no time, measurement or effort.

Read the directions on the rotozip! It is easy to make a mess. Going around a window, you need to move the tool counter clockwise since you are resting the guide bit against the outside frame of the window. When cutting a hole for an electrical box, you rest the bit against the inside of the box and must go clockwise.

From the manual:

"When routing or cutting, the direction of
feed with the bit’s cutting edge into the
material is very important. Always feed
the bit into the material in the same
direction as the cutting edge is exiting
from the material. When viewing the tool
from the top, the bit rotates clockwise. If the
tool is between the workpiece and you body,
then feed the tool to your right. If the
workpiece is between the tool and your body,
then feed the tool to your left. Feeding the
tool in the wrong direction causes the cutting
edge of the bit to climb out of the work and
pull the tool in the direction of this feed."

Wear a dust mask and googles.

[stoinkythepig]

If you can avoid using 5/8", do so. It is absurdly heavy. Do you have to use it for your local building code or something?

[FireFly]

Naa, THe reason I gotta use the 5/8ths is because I put the drop ceiling in first and mounted the perimeter of the ceiling to leveled 1 by 4 strips of wood so I could try and finagle the sheet rock afterwards. I did this hoping that I could have the sheet rock neatly butt up against the ceiling without protruding over the the edges of the drop ceiling( the L type brackets around the perimeter of the ceilng). If I was smart about it I would have finished the walls first but I had a limited amount of time and wanted to get the ceiling out of the way. The ceiling came out great, I put some high hats in for the lights,,, now I gotta deal with trying to make the sheet rock look neat up against the ceiling.. any thoughts??

[gmdboston]

Originally posted by FireFly
Naa, THe reason I gotta use the 5/8ths is because I put the drop ceiling in first and mounted the perimeter of the ceiling to leveled 1 by 4 strips of wood so I could try and finagle the sheet rock afterwards. I did this hoping that I could have the sheet rock neatly butt up against the ceiling without protruding over the the edges of the drop ceiling( the L type brackets around the perimeter of the ceilng). If I was smart about it I would have finished the walls first but I had a limited amount of time and wanted to get the ceiling out of the way. The ceiling came out great, I put some high hats in for the lights,,, now I gotta deal with trying to make the sheet rock look neat up against the ceiling.. any thoughts??

Yeah...don't quit your day job......

[R7]

Originally posted by FireFly
,,, now I gotta deal with trying to make the sheet rock look neat up against the ceiling.. any thoughts??

Take the ceiling down, put the dry wall up, put the ceiling back up
They sell a finished edge you can slip over the sheetrock joint, it's like a J channel. Pad the wall out (you can even use 2" rips of sheetrock over the wall studs) and slip the J channel over the sheetrock edge and butt that edge upto the ceiling track

As for the windows, I always like to leave 1/2" space for some insulation. If you don't insulate around your windows, don't waist your money on wall insulation

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by FireFly
Naa, THe reason I gotta use the 5/8ths is because I put the drop ceiling in first and mounted the perimeter of the ceiling to leveled 1 by 4 strips of wood so I could try and finagle the sheet rock afterwards. I did this hoping that I could have the sheet rock neatly butt up against the ceiling without protruding over the the edges of the drop ceiling( the L type brackets around the perimeter of the ceilng). If I was smart about it I would have finished the walls first but I had a limited amount of time and wanted to get the ceiling out of the way. The ceiling came out great, I put some high hats in for the lights,,, now I gotta deal with trying to make the sheet rock look neat up against the ceiling.. any thoughts??

Go with 1/2" drywall and put up some molding like a miniature crown molding.

[stoinkythepig]

Originally posted by R7


As for the windows, I always like to leave 1/2" space for some insulation. If you don't insulate around your windows, don't waist your money on wall insulation

Insulation needs to be in before the sheetrock goes on. That's a given.