The other reason to hang it horizontally is that you have less to tape. If it's vertical, you have an 8' high seam every 4'. If you hang it horizontally, you have an 8' seam every 8'. (Of course, you have the same length of taping where the wall meets the ceiling, regardless of which way you go.) The one argument for going vertical is that the seams all fall on the studs, while horizontal means that the joint spans studs and you may have a little more flex if it's not well done.

Now it makes sence to me.... No one had bothered to explain to me what the difference was and now I feel like I have a lil bit more knowledge on the subject. And yep, I guess the mudding does all equal out in the end. Thanks guy's. Finish framing and start the drywalling in the morn. Wish me luck! ~Liz~

Installing drywall vertically actually results in more poped seams and a weaker wall. When done horizontally you and to offset your verticle seams so you bridge studs. This helps to stiffen the studs and make a stronger wall. If a stud twists and that happens to be where your verticle join is, the joint may well break. I have never seen a drywall crew hang drywall vertically. Also I suggest you use 4 x 12 panels and eliminate 50% of your verticle seams.

From my understanding, hanging drywall horizontally provides more strength, provided pieces are staggered. For a basement (block wall?) this would not be an issue, so vertical hanging would make it easiest to finish. If you hang vertical, all the seams will be in the recessed edges and will be easier to finish. If you hang horizontally, you will have butt joints that are not in recessed areas and they are harder to finish. 4x12 sheets are nice for horizontal hanging but you will need at least two people to handle them and you may have a very difficult time maneuvering them around, especially in a basement. If you are taping and finishing yourself, check out the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Taping Drywall Joints

BTW, anybody have any info on the paperless "drywall"?

HD sudden;y has skids of this stuff - but I don't recall noticing it before. Labeling says "DON'T FEED MOLD" or something like that. Is this stuff new? Says that it cuts and finshes "just like drywall".

Commercial drywall is installed vertically almost exclusively - except on tall warehouse walls where strenth is a requirement. The object is speed and low cost. Butt joints add costs to the taping. I would rather tape tapered seams every 4' than a butt joint every 8'. For a DIY'er with little experience in taping - good luck with all the butts. The standard method is 3or4-12" knife blades of width over the butts to hide the hump in the wall.

Residential hangers usually do 'stack the drywall'. I hang vertically in my remodeling projects and have never had problems.

If your goal is to minimize taping - here is an example:

You have a wall 8' high and 24' long.

If you hang vertically, you have 40 lineal feet of flat tapered seams to tape ( not including corners and ceiling angle which would be the same in both options).

If you stack and stagger the drywall you will have 24 lineal feet of flat tapered seam plus 20 lineal feet of butt joints for a total of 44 lineal feet. The upside is strength, the downside is additional taping and much more involved taping.

i've only seen one residential remodel do it vertically, and the rest horizontally. All new construction i've seen it horizontally. Having said that, I plan on doing mine vertically, since I am drywall taping challenged. :()

Horizontally??? Well I'll be. I put in a horizontal joint and have been fretting for days thinking it wasn't as good. (using the drywall patch method on my old house walls)

What if you cut a piece of drywall in half so its 4' x 4'? Does it matter then which way it's hung? In other words-- does it keep its "grain" no matter how you cut it (like wood does) .... or is it that you always want to keep the long edge horizontal whether its the tape edge or not?

kashka,

If you cut a 4'x8' sheet in half and hung one 4'x4' section vertically and the other horizontally, the horizontal one would be stronger.

When drywall is manufactured, it is made in one continuous sheet. As it goes through the rollers that compress it to its final thickness, it's the rolling pressure along the long axis that give it it's "grain", so to speak.

That said, if I had a patch to place in a wall, or was piecing something together, I wouldn't pass up a piece because of its grain orientation.

In the whole-house scenario it makes sense to hang horizontally, and to go for 12' sheets for fewer butt joints.

On a small scale, to heck with the grain and use the piece of scrap that fits.

Vertical Only, here’s the proof & truth!

Why and How Horizontal’s Wrong (and why Vertical’s right)...don’t ruin new from the start:

1 – Defective Seam - Horizontal rows needing more than one drywall panel creates (instead of avoids) butt-joint humps, which are not flat and are a twice (minimum) the effort defect. Outlet and switch cover-plates, window and door trim, baseboards, pictures, mirrors and cabinets don’t sit flat. Using any "butt-joint product" erases all "claimed" benefits of Horizontal!

2 – Unsupported Seam – Horizontal’s tapered edge is 90% unsupported, only 10% (instead of Vertical's 100%) contacts framing, the seam will and does crack. Light switch and countertop electrical boxes within the seam equals more weakness and butt-joint doubled, minimum, efforts.

3 – Structural Defect - Horizontal only reinforces a wall height of 4’ or less, a full-height wall's top-plate is never connected to the bottom plate. As in and due to #2 above, Frictional Contact is minimized (instead of maximized by Vertical).

4 – Seam Deception...4'x8' Panels – Example 1: 48” tall by 102” long wall, Horizontal = 48” (technically) and it’s a 24” wide butt-joint or a minimum of doubling the 48" (Vertical = the same, generously, 96” but they’re easy 6” wide joints). Example 2: 96” tall by 102” long wall, Horizontal = 222” with 50% being 24” wide butts (Vertical = 192” of 6” wide easy joints, yes less)...in a Kitchen Horizontal = 100% of 24” wide butts (Vertical = 0%). Yes, Horizontal does the taper area twice (minimum) in order to hide its butts, so very minimally just another 24” was added and #5 below was not factored into Horizontal's monumental fraud.

5 – Self-Defeating Angles – Horizontal only uses one of a panel’s tapered edges and puts the other taper at the ceiling corner and baseboard creating (instead of avoiding like Vertical) a twisted angle that must be shimmed or additionally mudded. This too, instantly erases all "claimed" benefits of Horizontal by doubling the seam amount, patching itself to equal Vertical!

6 – Unfriendly Seams – Horizontal celebrates the chest height seam and pretends there’s no 24”-wide floor to ceiling butt-joint and the ever present baseboard bevel of unfinished work. (Vertical has easy joints and the top's screwed, taped and mudded later with the ceiling corner and the baseboard spots can also be done separately).

7 - Fire Hazard Liability - Horizontal only fills the coin-thin seam's face and has no back blocking, causing smoke and fire’s spread by inviting fuel air for a fire's growth (Vertical is full depth and airtight once simply screwed-in).

8 - Unsafe Installation - Horizontal needs 2-people for a safe installation and the panel is airborne, literally creating the chance to cause injury (Vertical easily tilts-up with just 1-person). Using a panel lifter isn’t even as easy and safe as Vertical’s tilt-up.

9 - Additional Waste - When correctly covering a knee wall, half wall, tub front, column or soffit by first removing both tapered edges, Horizontal can't use the tapers elsewhere (Vertical can and does). And, Horizontal wastes 4-times the mud on their completely unnecessary butt-joints and baseboard bevels...if ever done.

10 - Destructive Ignorance - Foundation and Framing crews go to great pains to make everything flat, level, plumb and square. Horizontal destroys those efforts with their defective humps and baseboard bevels (Vertical keeps the perfection).

11 - Grasping At Straws with Outright Fraud - Horizontals falsely and unknowingly wave the absurdly invalid (FPL439) 1983 testing “Contribution of Gypsum Wallboard to Racking Resistance of Light-Frame Walls” by the self-convicted fraud Ronald W. Wolfe. FPL439 found that all tapered paper wrapped edges must be fully intact for Horizontal to beat Vertical, period. In the real-world, Horizontal's bottom paper wrapped edge is removed by law, for spacing from all floors and thereby completely negate Wolfe’s inexcusably deceitful and worthless "study" (laughable) and summation.

12 - Joint or Seam Treatment - According to the ASTM's C840 8.2, Horizontal's seams must be mudded to provide any fire, smoke and air travel resistance (Vertical's so good that it's not required to have its seams treated at all).

13 - Costly Slow Complication - Horizontal's depend upon pricey special muds and even messy tape or taping tools that waste mud. Taping tools still require a 2nd step of knifing the tape and the muds require a mixing step. That's more expense, more time, more tools and equipment and more water...for an inferior job! Vertical's superior with the cheapest ready-mix bucket muds and dry self-adhesive tape. Again, Vertical's seam treatment is just for looks.

14 - Fire Rating Fail - Most Single-ply or Single-layer drywall for Commercial Work is required to be installed Vertically, to obtain drywall's actual rating. This is well-known by the majority of Horizontals, but you and your children don't matter to a Horizontal. And for what, to honor the frauds that taught them wrong?

You've now seen that Vertical's faster overall and immensely better in every way.

Only promote Horizontal as wrong and confidently cite the above incontestable facts.