Finish a Basement: A DIY remodeling adventure!
Great home theater tips to help you design and setup your basement home theater!

Return to our Home page
Visit our project planning page to learn how to prepare to finish your basement whether you're remodeling your basement by yourself, or hiring a contractor to finish your basement
Visit our design page to see how we created our basement design, and for tips on how you can design the basement of your dreams
Check here for information on the tasks you'll need to complete to finish your basement. Complete with the lessons we learned as we remodeled our basement, and tips to help you avoid some of the mistakes we made.
Whether you're designing a dedicated home theater, or creating a multi-purpose media room, check here for tips on selecting home theater components, and calibrating, and setting up your AV equipment
Check here to follow along as we complete our DIY basement remodeling project!






 

>Home >Our progress >More hanging drywall

More hanging drywall

See the previous topic in this sectionSee the next topic in this section

The next couple of weekends were more of the same. I continued around the basement with a series of short walls next to the stairwell, and leading to the office. I decided to insulate and finish the drywall in the closet that I had built to conceal water pipes. I worked my way around to the 8 foot wall under the main duct, and hung the sheets to conceal the support beams.

Drywalling a long wall

After that section, I decided to hang the drywall for the 28 foot wall that would be the most prominent in the basement. Compared to the series of short walls I had just completed, the long, straight wall (with no obstacles) was a piece of cake! I was glad I decided to run the wall in front of the ductwork. The only challenge on this wall was the fact that I had to make circular cutouts for the three wall sconces.

When hanging drywall, it helps to have a buddy to help you lift the drywall into place.

Drywalling around light fixtures

Drywalling around light fixtures, switches, and other openings can be a bit of a challenge. In addition to all the wall outlets, my longest wall needed openings for three wall sconces. Luckily for me, I found a great way to do it that takes away much of the hassle!

Other people I've talked to would measure where the opening is on the wall, then measure and mark the opening on their sheet of drywall and make the cut. DON'T DO IT! It takes forever and leaves too many ways to screw it up! You'll end up wasting a few sheets of drywall for sure.

Cutting drywall openings for wall sconces

I found an almost foolproof way to cut drywall around outlets and openings- the 'lipstick' method. For complete details of how to cut drywall around wall boxes, outlets, and other openings, see "How to cut around outlets" in the Basement Construction section. In short, use a tube of red lipstick to outline the outlet box or opening. Push the drywall up against it, then cut on the red line. It really is as simple as it sounds!

Outline the light fixture or switch opening, the push the drywall against it to make an outlineCut along the line with a small drywall saw. The cut drywall opening will fit perfectly around your fixture, switch, or electrical outlet!

Progress Topics

Getting electrical estimates - How much does an electrician charge?

Drywall estimates

Electrical rough-in

Soundproofing: Caulking the walls

Drywall, insulation, & hardware delivery

Insulating the walls

Hanging drywall

Hanging drywall: Day 2

More hanging drywall

Drywall finishing

Drywall sanding

See also...
Phase 1: Basement prep and framing

Phase 3: Priming, painting and finshing touches

 

 

 

Home | Project Planning | Design | Construction | Home Theater | Our Progress | About this site


©2008-2012 Wilk Web Works
All content is protected by copyright. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
All rights reserved.