In general, drywall screws should be spaced a maximum of 16 inches apart on wall fields and 8 inches on wall edges. On ceilings, space the fasteners 12 inches apart on the fields and 7 to 8 inches apart on the edges. Keep the fasteners around 3/8 inches from the ends and edges of the drywall panels.
Fasteners shall be spaced not more than 7 inches (178 mm) on center at all supports, including perimeter blocking, and not more than 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) from the edges and ends of the gypsum board or gypsum panel product.
A 4-foot by 8-foot drywall sheet normally needs roughly 32 screws for horizontal installs. The suggested pattern calls for using six screws on each of the two sides and four screws on each of the five middle studs.
Drywall. Approximately 34 screws per 4x8 sheet.
R702. 3.5. 1Screw fastening. Screws for attaching gypsum board and gypsum panel products to wood framing shall be Type W or Type S in accordance with ASTM C1002 and shall penetrate the wood not less than 5/8 inch (15.9 mm).
Measuring Drywall Sizes
Divide the total square footage of drywall by 300 to determine the pounds of screws required for your project. For example, if your project requires 1,600 square feet of drywall, you'll need approximately 5.33 pounds of screws (1,600 ÷ 300 = 5.33).
The coarse, wide threads present on the Stainless Steel Drywall Anchor Screws grip both wood and plasterboard in a snug fashion. Standard: ISO 14585C ~DIN 7981C. DIN 7973C ~ISO 1483.
For the ceiling, start in a corner with the panel tight against the walls. For walls, place the sheet tight against the ceiling and against one wall. Get a friend or drywall lift to hold the sheet in place while you attach it to the studs with drywall screws.
Keep the screws 3/8 inch from the edge. The screw heads should be just below the paper. You will cover them with joint compound later. Drywall drills are specially designed to make this happen every time.
Although the more closely spaced your studs, the more screws you'll be using to attach drywall panels, you can still figure on an average of one screw for every square foot of drywall.
A general rule is to choose a screw length that will penetrate the stud by at least 1/2 inch. However, this varies depending on the thickness of your gypsum board and the material of the stud.
Keeping the joints between sheets of drywall too close is an invitation for troubles along the way. Professional drywall installers allow for ⅛-inch space between sheetrock placement, and this allows for expansion and contraction for the frame of the building, avoiding cracks and damage to the drywall.
When determining what size screws for drywall you need, take into account the thickness of the drywall panels. When working with 1/2-inch drywall panels, use 1-1/4 or 1-3/8-inch nails or screws. When working with 5/8-inch drywall panels, use 1-3/8-inch or 1-5/8-inch screws.
Generally speaking, drywall screws should be placed 8-16 inches apart on each side of a 4×8-foot sheet of drywall. If using a larger sheet of drywall, such as a 4×10 or 4×12, then the screws should be spaced 10-20 inches apart.
It might sound counter intuitive at first to leave space between your floor and your wall, but you should always leave a ½ inch to ⅝ inch gap between drywall and the floor. There are several reasons for this: Drywall absorbs moisture.
All edges of all sheets of drywall must land on a solid surface such as a stud. A hanging drywall edge may work in the short-term, but in the long-term it can result in cracks and other serious wall issues. Sometimes, the drywall does not horizontally reach a stud.
Both the International Residential Code (IRC) and USG, the manufacturer of Sheetrock, note that the recommended maximum field screw spacing for wall drywall is 16 inches. Some builders like to space fasteners tighter than that, so they go down to 12 inches.
J.5.3 Minimum Edge Distance of Screws
The distance from the center of a screw to an edge of a part shall not be less than 1.5 times the nominal diameter of the screw. See Section J. 5.5. 1 for the effect of edge distance on the bearing strength.
When hanging drywall, always hang the ceiling first. This is the hardest drywall to hang, so get a partner and go slow. Large cracks due to misaligned sheets are hard to repair because the extra mud required to fill them will constantly fall out and drop to the floor (or worse, down the back of your neck!).
Hides uneven studs – Hanging horizontally also allows the drywall to flow over the framing so that bowed studs create less of a problem. If the drywall were hung vertically and a seam placed on a bowed out stud, the seam would be magnified because of the bump in the wall.
The maximum spacing of the screws is 12" on center for both the perimeter and the field of the Gypsum wallboard sheets. Screws shall be long enough to penetrate a minimum of 5/8" into the wood stud framing and penetrate a minimum of 1/4" into the metal stud framing.
ISO - 21.060. 10 - Bolts, screws, studs.
Use a #6 gauge drywall screw when attaching drywall to studs in good condition. Use the thicker #8 gauge drywall screw when driving into older wood, where more gripping power is required. Gauge refers to the diameter of the drywall screw. As gauge numbers increase, the screw becomes larger in diameter.