Should you hang drywall horizontally or vertically?

In homes, hang wall sheets horizontally. It puts the tapered long edges at a comfortable taping height, creates a single continuous seam across the middle of the wall instead of a vertical seam at every stud, and ties more studs together for a flatter, stronger wall. Vertical hanging is mainly for commercial fire-rated assemblies and very tall walls. Either way, hang the ceiling before the walls.

What thickness of drywall should I use?

Use 1/2-inch board for most walls and 5/8-inch for ceilings, garages, and anywhere fire rating or sag resistance matters. Ceilings especially benefit from 5/8-inch because 1/2-inch can sag between joists over time, particularly under insulation. Moisture-resistant board belongs in bathrooms, and cement board (not drywall) goes behind tile in wet areas.

How many coats of mud does drywall need?

Three coats is standard: a bedding coat that embeds the tape, a fill coat, and a thin finish coat, each wider and thinner than the last and feathered into the wall. Butt joints (non-tapered ends) often need a fourth pass because there's no factory taper to hide the buildup. Let every coat dry fully and sand between the last coats.

How to Hang Drywall — Step-by-Step Guide

Q: How many drywall screws do I need per sheet?

Plan on roughly 28–32 screws per 4x8 sheet on walls (screws every 16 inches into each stud) and more on ceilings (every 12 inches). Set each screw just below the surface with a depth-setting bit so it dimples the paper without tearing it — a screw that breaks the paper holds nothing and has to be replaced.

An eight-step guide covering ordering sheets, the ceiling-first sequence, horizontal hanging, cutting openings, the screw pattern, and taping through to primer — the order the pros work in so the joints disappear.

Hanging drywall is two different skills stacked on top of each other: the hanging is fast and forgiving, and the finishing — taping, mudding, sanding — is slow and is what actually separates a wall that looks flat from one that shows every seam under a lamp. The good news is that most finishing problems are prevented during hanging: hang in the right order, stagger the joints, and set the screws correctly, and the mud work gets far easier. Start by ordering the right number of sheets with the Drywall Calculator so you are not making a second lumberyard run for one sheet at hour six.

Tools & Materials

Tools: drywall T-square and utility knife for scoring and snapping, a screw gun or drill with a depth-setting bit, a drywall lift or a strong helper for ceilings, a rasp or Surform to clean up cuts, taping knives (a 6-inch and a 10–12 inch), a mud pan and hawk, a rotary cut-out tool for outlet boxes, and a pole sander with sanding sponges. A raking work light — a bare bulb held low against the wall — is the single best finishing tool for spotting ridges you can't otherwise see.

Materials (size sheets with the calculator below):

Drywall sheets — 1/2-inch for walls, 5/8-inch for ceilings and garages; count sheets with the Drywall Calculator
Drywall screws — 1-1/4 inch for 1/2-inch board, 1-5/8 inch for 5/8-inch board
Paper or mesh joint tape and metal or paper-faced corner bead
Joint compound — setting-type for the bedding coat, all-purpose for finish coats
Drywall primer (PVA sealer), then finish paint — estimate paint with the Paint Calculator

Step 1: Measure and Order Sheets

Measure total wall and ceiling area, don't bother subtracting small openings, and add 10–15 percent for waste and cuts. Use 1/2-inch board on walls and 5/8-inch on ceilings and garages, where it resists sag and adds fire rating. Order 12-foot sheets wherever a wall is long enough to take them — every butt joint you avoid is one less hard seam to finish. Run the room through the Drywall Calculator to turn square footage into an exact sheet count.

Step 2: Mark the Studs and Plan the Layout

Before any board goes up, mark stud and joist centers on the floor and on the plates so you can find framing once it's covered. Plan the sheet layout to stagger joints between rows and keep seams away from the corners of doors and windows, which is exactly where stress cracks start. Thirty seconds of layout planning saves a lot of taping and a lot of callback cracks.

Step 3: Hang the Ceiling First

Always do the ceiling before the walls. Hanging the ceiling first means the top row of wall sheets butts up underneath and supports the ceiling's edges, taking the sag out of the perimeter. Run ceiling sheets perpendicular to the joists, use a drywall lift or a helper (a ceiling sheet overhead is genuinely dangerous to muscle alone), and fasten to every joist. This is the hardest part of the job physically — get it out of the way first.

Step 4: Hang Wall Sheets Horizontally

Hang wall sheets horizontally, top row first, pushed tight to the ceiling. Horizontal hanging keeps the tapered long edges at a comfortable height for taping, replaces a vertical seam at every stud with a single continuous mid-wall seam, and ties more studs together for a flatter wall. Butt the second row up beneath the first and stagger the butt joints so they don't stack. Lift the bottom sheet snug to the top one with a foot lever; leave the small gap at the floor where the baseboard hides it.

Step 5: Cut Openings for Outlets and Boxes

For outlets and switches, either measure and mark each box and cut it out before hanging, or tack the sheet up and follow the box with a rotary cut-out tool. Cut window and door openings after hanging — run the board right past the framing and trim it flush, so no seam lands on the corner of an opening. A clean, tight box cutout means the cover plate sits flat and hides the edge; a ragged one shows forever.

Step 6: Screw to the Correct Pattern

Drive drywall screws every 16 inches on walls and every 12 inches on ceilings, into every stud and joist, keeping them about 3/8 inch in from the edges. Set each screw just below the surface with a depth-setting bit so it dimples the paper without tearing through it. A screw that breaks the paper has zero holding power — back it out and drive a fresh one an inch away. The dimples fill with mud later; torn paper does not.

Step 7: Tape and Mud the Joints

Bed paper tape into a first coat of compound over every seam and inside corner, set corner bead on the outside corners, and skim the screw dimples. Then apply two or three progressively wider, thinner coats, feathering each one further onto the surrounding board so the buildup fades into the wall. Let each coat dry fully before the next — rushing a wet coat is how you get cracks and lumps. Butt joints usually need one extra pass because they have no factory taper to hide in.

Step 8: Sand and Prime

Sand the dried compound smooth with a pole sander, holding a raking light low against the wall to reveal ridges and hollows you can't see head-on. Don't sand into the paper face. Wipe or vacuum the dust, then roll a coat of drywall primer (PVA sealer) over everything. Primer equalizes the difference between bare paper and mudded joints so the finish paint lands uniform — skip it and every taped seam telegraphs through the color. Estimate the topcoat with the Paint Calculator.

Common Mistakes

Walls before ceiling. Hang the ceiling first so wall sheets support its edges. Do it backwards and the ceiling perimeter sags.
Overdriven screws. A screw that tears the paper holds nothing. Use a depth-setting bit and replace any that break through.
Stacked or misplaced joints. Seams that stack between rows, or land on the corner of a door or window, crack. Stagger them and keep them off openings.
Too much mud, too few coats. One thick coat sags, cracks, and sands into a crater. Thin, feathered coats that dry between passes are what disappear.
Skipping primer. Bare paper and joint compound absorb paint differently. Without a primer coat, every seam shows through the finish.

Cost: DIY vs. Contractor

DIY materials for a standard 12 × 12 room (walls and ceiling, roughly 20–24 sheets) run about $350–700: board is the bulk of it, plus screws, tape, several buckets of compound, corner bead, and primer. Board prices move with the lumber and gypsum market, so check current numbers on our Drywall Prices by State page and size the sheet count with the Drywall Calculator before you load the truck.

Contractor-installed drywall — hang and finish to a paint-ready level — typically runs $2–4 per square foot of board, so that same room lands roughly $1,200–2,400. The finishing labor, not the material, is what you're paying for; a pro taper makes seams vanish in a fraction of the time. Many DIYers hang the board themselves and hire out only the taping and finishing, which is the part with the real learning curve.

Related Calculators

Drywall Calculator — Turn wall and ceiling area into a sheet count with waste
Paint Calculator — Size primer and finish paint for the finished walls
Drywall Prices by State — Current board and finishing costs where you live

Written by Daniel McCarney — AceCalc