Walls and Ceilings - Drywall placed right on concrete?

I am finishing my basement and was wondering if I could place the drywall right on the concrete floor when I hang it or do I need to come up off the floor 1/4" or so? It's a newer home (less than a year) and to this day I've never seen water or dampness down there. A sump pump is also standard in our area.

Thanks!

For best results raise it up a little. The drywall will suck moisture out of the concrete. If it is an 8' ceiling then it will most likely be off the floor anyway. Hang the top sheet first then the bottom. Buy a foot jack ( a small lever device --pretty cheap) or use a prybar to lift the bottom sheet into place.

By your response I am assuming you mean to hang the drywall longways instead of verticle? Is there any reason to do it this way or is it all just a personal preference? I was going to hang it verticle so I'd have less seams to deal with. Now I guess that brings up my next question:

Which way is best and why? I've heard if you hang the boards horizonally there is a four-way seam if you don't stagger them and this seam could lead to problems later down the road where you may start to see the seam? At least I've been told this. To me it seems like it would be much easier to hang verticle, especially trying to do this alone. I was just going to lay a board on the concrete floor (about 1/4" thick) and start screwing, no big deal. Am I missing something here?

Thanks.

Actually you have more seams when you hang it vertically. I never hang drywall vertically in a residential setting. Your studs won't be exactly 4' on center. Instead of having a 4' butt joint you will have an 8' butt joint. I suggest you hang horizontally and stagger your butt joints.

Coops, you actually have less joints by hanging vert. Because you eliminate having to tape a 8' flat and a 4' butt. All you have is a 8' butt. But agreed with hanging horizontally in residental. Verticle is more for commercial work, but if code allows you to, then go for it.

I got to agree with Coops on this one. Only time I stand up sheets in a residential is where you have a short wall (under 4'). Closet walls, hallway end walls, etc. If you've done your homework & ordered correct rock sizes, all of your smaller rooms will not have any butts in them at all, just corners and nice long recessed seams. But do not ever allow rock to sit directly on a concrete floor when hanging a basement. Also as Coops suggested, if you opt to stand-up the sheets you'll end up having to rip some of the sheets the entire length of the sheet to match your studs.

If you're planning on having a suspended lid in your basement & you do decide to stand up the rock, use scrap pieces of drywall laid on the floor & then sit your sheet on top of it to keep it off the cement floor & give you a uniform top edge. Do the same thing if you're hanging sheets horizontally in rooms without a drywall ceiling in place. Hang the bottom sheet first, sitting it on top of the drywall scraps, then sit your top sheet right on top of that. And you do not ever want your butt joints stacked, they should always be staggered. ;)

Just for an example, if you have a ten foot long by eight foot tall wall and you stand up your rock you will have 3 joints to tape. If you hang it vertically and use 10' rock you will have one.

With that example Coops, yes you are correct. Sometimes I forget that not all walls are 12' or higher. LOL. My mistake. Sorry for the confusion herman22

Just did my basement and hung the boards vertically. Just shy of 8' ceilings--couldn't get longer boards down anyway. With over 100 4 x 8 sheets I only had to rip two boards (other than corners) and that was at the stairway. So all my joints (except those two and on the ceilings) were manufactured edges. worked pretty slick.

Saved not only doing the but joints but also having to trim 3 inches off the long edge of all of those boards.

Would've been 30% more seams (linear feet of seams) altogether by my reckoning to hang the boards the other way.

Just about all basements in my area are walk-outs, rarely run into one where you're stocking down the stairs, no fun at all but I don't generally stock rock.

If you handle rock alot you can rip a sheet just about as quickly as cutting one to length and if properly done neither is it harder to finish a butt joint than a recessed seam. However in your case sounds like stand-ups worked out fine.

Yeah, well Missouri has hills to give you walkouts. I'm not saying it's flat here on the Illinois side of the river, but they do have to post signs to show the rainwater which way to drain.

For an amateur the upright thing worked well. The butt joints may be OK for a pro, but i kept trying to sand right through the seam tape!