Showerthought: I just hung my 10,000th sheet of drywall this morning

I was finishing a basement in a new build over in the Westgate area and realized I was putting up sheet number 10,000. I kept a rough count in a notebook over the last eight years. It hit me because I remember how slow I was on my first few hundred, maybe three sheets a day with a lot of mess. Now, with a good lift and a cordless screw gun, I can do a whole room in half a day. That number made me think about all the little tricks I picked up, like always cutting your sheets a quarter inch short so they never bind on the framing. It's not a race, but seeing that count felt like a real mark of time in the trade. Has anyone else ever tracked something like this, maybe sheets hung or miles of tape?

3 comments

3 Comments

ben_fisher1mo ago

Actually, @jackson.max, that's a 3/8 inch gap.

jackson.max1mo ago

Yeah, that quarter-inch gap is a lifesaver. I learned the hard way after a summer job where we didn't do it and had to redo a whole wall. Those little tricks really do add up over time.

lee5821mo ago

Remember when everyone used to skip the gap behind baseboards? @jackson.max is right, that's a brutal lesson to learn. My uncle built a whole sunroom without that gap, and the first wet winter made the trim buckle like an accordion. He spent more time fixing it than building it. It's one of those things that seems small until you see the damage. Now I leave a gap even on inside walls, just in case.