7 Things to Think About Before Drywall That Will Save You Later

Most clients think that framing is a rough stage of construction, that all the small details will come together several more months down the line when the painters, cabinet makers and trim carpenters show up.

But the truth is, many of the details that look incredible at the end start with a lot of planning and forethought while the framers are nailing studs together and flying trusses.

A lot of those decisions and details entail what I like to call "back-framing". And smart back-framing is the difference between normal trim casing that protrudes from the wall three-quarters of an inch, and recessed Reglet-style trim.

Blocking

Ever gone to mount your TV, a picture, a toilet paper holder or a towel bar, and you can't find something solid to mount it to? You're missing blocking in your walls.

It's a simple step that's part of our back-framing list. We place blocking for cabinets, grab bars, stair handrails and television mounts. It stays hidden behind the walls so you'll never know it's there, but it's there when you actually need it.

The beauty is, we're also using up a lot of the scrap lumber left over from the framing process, so we don't have to purchase any additional material.

Pictures

We take lots of pictures! When you're going to mount a TV to that blocking that was so handily provided for you, make sure the lag screws they provide in the packaging won't puncture any plumbing, wires, or refrigerant lines hidden behind.

This also helps if there we're ever to be problems with the mechanicals in your home. Having pictures can help trace plumbing or electrical lines to their source to help troubleshoot problems more efficiently (and possibly without having to remove any drywall or trim).

Pressure Testing

If you've ever had to go to the hospital, they don't just check your vitals once when you get admitted. The doctor or nurse checks at regular intervals to check against a baseline.

It should go without saying, but I've seen a lot of plumbers that will pressure test drain and waste venting (underground) at the initial ground rough-in, but won't test it again after the true rough-in is finished.

We assume that nothing's been punctured or knicked during framing, but it never hurts to test again. Pressure testing your drain and waste vents, as well as the water lines (whether that be copper, Pex, or a combination of both) can prevent costly mistakes before the water is turned on and the home has been turned over to the clients.

Planing and Shimming Walls

You've probably seen the meme of the comically bowed or warped piece of lumber with a joke about the quality of Big Box Store lumber.

But even your local lumberyard will send out lumber that isn't perfect - it's part of working with a natural material that expands, shrinks, twists and warps.

This is why we take a few days to run a straight-edge (such as a screed or level) along all of the interior wall surfaces to catch any humps or valleys that inevitably occur when the lumber starts to acclimate to the environment around it.

Using an electric planer and 1/16" thick compressed cardboard (drywall shims), we mow down the humps and fill in the valleys. Especially in homes with lots of natural light, you'll notice when this process is skipped because those humps and valleys with catch the light.

Sanding Floors

Your sub-floor is either plywood or OSB (oriented strand board). Whether you're home is being built during the summer or winter, it will be subjected to some kind of liquid moisture, which will cause that material to swell.

When plywood or OSB swells over time, the edges won't ever go back to being perfectly flat. This means there will be humps in the floor where the edges of the sheets meet. If those edges aren't sanded before the flooring is installed, that swelling will affect the integrity of whatever product is being installed (and most times will void the manufacturer's warranty).

We go through and sand those edges with a high-grit sanding wheel, to grind them back flat again.

Deep Clean

Although we're cleaning the home top to bottom weekly, the time before the drywallers come to hang sheets is a fantastic time for a deep clean.

Deep cleaning not only allows for a clean slate, many times we catch things that need to be fixed before the inside of the walls are inaccessible. It's also a great time for us to reorganize and take stock of the material that's left over that could be returned for a credit.

Prep

The drywall stage can be a messy stage of home building, between the dust thats created from hanging (and later sanding), to the joint compound, or "mud", thats mixed to fill in the corners, screw holes and gaps.

Many of our clients choose a Level 5 Finish (see our blog post about Drywall Finish Levels here) which can be particularly messy due to the whole wall needing to have a skim coat of mud.

This is why putting down a layer or two of Ram Board or X-Board is necessary. In the Passive House we're building currently, the clients opted for polished concrete, which needs to be completed before drywall goes up. We want to protect this finished surface as much as we can to eliminate the need for any touch-ups later on.

And then to the next stage...

These are just seven of the many small steps we're thinking about before drywall. The general consensus is that the drywall stage is the halfway mark in your home building process. It's a great time to take a breath and make sure the details are being thought about now, before it's too late to fix without costly change orders.

Curious about what the home building process looks like when you build with Unshakeable Custom Homes? Take a look through our blog posts. There's lots of good information about the stages of home building that will give you insight on how we work.

Want to see if we'd be a good fit for your next project? Reach out via email at davis@unshakeablecustomhomes.com and we can set up a consultation call where we'll walk through what the process looks like.