Drywall & Interior Finish

I'm hanging 1/2" board in a bedroom with wood studs 16" on center, no adhesive. How far apart do my screws need to be on the walls versus the ceiling?

Painter wants a satin finish on a big living room wall that gets raking light from a bank of windows. What level of drywall finish should I be giving him and what does that actually mean in terms of coats?

Ceiling joists in this addition are 24" on center and the builder wants to blow in R-38 cellulose after we hang. Can I just use regular 1/2" board on the ceiling like I do everywhere else?

Why do most hangers run wall sheets horizontally instead of standing them up, and what do I do about the butt joints when I go horizontal?

What's the actual difference between setting-type compound, all-purpose premix, and topping compound, and when do you reach for each?

Paper tape versus self-adhesive fiberglass mesh tape — I keep hearing arguments both ways. What's the real rule?

How deep am I supposed to set a drywall screw, and what happens if I go too deep?

What are my options for outside corner bead and how does each one get attached?

I've got a 70-foot-long hallway ceiling with no breaks in it. Do I need control joints in the drywall and if so where?

What does 'floating' the inside corners mean when hanging, and why do it?

Fire-rated assembly on the plans calls for 5/8" Type C on the ceiling but the yard only has Type X. Same thickness, same rating on the label — can I sub it?

How do I actually put on a Level 5 skim coat on a whole room without it taking three days?

What's the difference between moisture-resistant 'greenboard', mold-resistant board, and glass-mat board, and where does each belong in a house?

It's cold and the house isn't heated yet. What temperature does the room need to be for taping and finishing, and for how long?

Doorknob went through the wall and left a 4" hole in 1/2" drywall. What's the clean, permanent way to patch that without a mesh patch showing?

Customer wants a home office wall that actually blocks noise from the kids' playroom. Wall is already framed as a standard 2x4 single-stud wall. What gives the biggest STC jump for the money, and what kills it?

How do I sand joints without wrecking the paper and leaving scratches that show through the paint?

I need to match an existing knockdown texture on a patched ceiling. What's the process and where do people screw it up?

First time hanging on 20-gauge steel studs at 16" o.c. What's different from wood — screws, which way I work, anything about the studs themselves?

I've got a 12x24 room with 9-foot ceilings. How would you lay out the sheets to minimize joints and where do the butts go?

Attached two-car garage with a bedroom above it. What drywall does code want on the garage ceiling and on the walls between the garage and the house?

We framed a dropped soffit over the kitchen cabinets that's open to the stud wall behind it, and the inspector says we can't hang until something is fixed. What's he looking for?

Tub-shower combo with a tiled surround. Can I hang greenboard behind the tile, and does code say what has to go there?

Homeowner wants a little storage closet under the basement stairs with a door on it. Does the drywall in there matter to the inspector?

Hanging 5/8" board on wood framing — how long does the screw have to be per code, and does the rule change on steel?

Townhouse job: the wall between units is a 1-hour rated assembly. What do I have to do differently on that wall than on a regular interior wall so it passes?

I'm in Clay County, Florida and want to start a drywall-only company. Do I need a state contractor license from DBPR to bid drywall jobs?

Bathroom has an exhaust fan but the walls stay damp. Can I put water-resistant greenboard over a poly vapor barrier on the exterior wall behind the tub?

Crew is hanging a 1,600 sq ft great-room ceiling with regular 1/2" board, running the sheets parallel to the 24" o.c. trusses because it 'saves a cut.' Blown-in insulation goes in tomorrow, then we spray knockdown. Anything wrong?

It's January, the house has no HVAC yet, temps are hovering around 40°F and the finisher is running a propane torpedo heater in a closed-up house. He's taping with all-purpose and planning to recoat every morning and have it painted in four days. What's going to happen?

New guy taped the whole house with fiberglass mesh tape, including all the inside corners, and bedded everything in lightweight all-purpose. Looks fine today. What am I going to see in 90 days?

Apprentice hung a bedroom and I'm walking it. Screws are every 8" on the walls, a few are angled and I can see torn paper around maybe one in ten heads, and there are a couple of runs where the screw obviously missed the stud and he just left it. Callbacks coming?

Two-story house with roof trusses. Every winter the homeowner gets a 1/4" gap between the ceiling and the top of the interior partition walls, and it closes back up in summer. The finisher has 'fixed' it twice with mud and it keeps coming back. What's actually happening and what's the real fix?

Townhouse framing crew set the party wall with regular 5/8" board on one side, stopped it at the second-floor ceiling with the attic open above, and left the joints untaped 'because it's getting covered.' The GC says it's fine because 5/8" is 5/8". Is he right?

Remodel bath: sub put 6-mil poly on the exterior wall, greenboard over that in the tub surround, and is about to thinset tile directly to the greenboard. Anything you'd stop?

Long hallway with a row of west-facing windows, walls finished to Level 4, painted with an eggshell. Homeowner is furious because at 5 pm every joint and screw shows as a stripe. Finisher says it's a paint problem. Who's right?

Walking a hang job: sheets on the long wall have all the butt joints lined up on the same stud top and bottom, the top course was cut so the joint lands right at the corner of the door opening, and every sheet is jammed tight to the slab. Finisher hasn't started. What do I make them fix?

Sound-rated ceiling: crew installed resilient channel across the joists at 24" o.c., then hung double 5/8" with 2-1/2" screws so they'd 'get good bite,' and the recessed can lights were cut in afterward. Drywall is tight to the walls. Will it perform?

GC says we can start hanging Monday to make the schedule; the electrical rough, plumbing rough, and insulation inspections are all scheduled for Wednesday. Insulation is in. Anything wrong with that plan?

Flip in Cape Coral, house built 2007. Copper on the AC coil is black, the second evaporator coil has already failed, there's a faint sulfur/rotten-egg smell, and all the electrical wire ends in the boxes are dark. The seller's fix is 'paint with Kilz and put in a new coil.' What is this and what's the real remediation?