Common Drywall construction terms 6

Common construction terms 6            Drywall

Have you have ever been on a construction site talking to your contractor and been totally lost in the terms that they are using? Well I’m here to help; here are some common terms that contractor’s use that you might not understand.

• California patch. This is a way to patch a hole in drywall, leaving the wall seamless by cutting the meat of the drywall out around the actual hole that you are going to cover while leaving the paper to help blend the joint.

• Corner bead.  This is either metal or a paper edge that is installed at the outside corner of a framed wall; it covers the raw drywall edge allowing the corner to be made smooth.

• Sheet rock 90. This is a brand of drywall compound. Water is added to it creating a paste so that it can be smoothed out over joints and holes in the drywall.

• Drywall mud. This is drywall compound that has had water added to it to create a paste.

• Mudding. This is when you use drywall component that is mixed with water to make a paste that is smeared over all the joints and screw penetrations in the drywall.

• Drywall tape. This is a paper product that is about 2 inches wide, it is installed over drywall joints.

• Taping. This involves mudding a joint in the drywall and then placing the drywall tape in it. Then the mud and tape is smoothed out and the mud is allowed to dry permanently bonding the tape to the drywall board.

• Cement board. This is a product that is made from concrete in the same thickness as drywall and is installed in showers so that tile can be installed over top of it.

• Green Board. This is a moisture, mold and mildew resistant drywall that is usually installed in bathrooms.

• Dens armour plus. This is a moisture, mold and mildew resistant drywall that is usually installed in bathrooms.

• Blue board. This is a type of drywall that is used when doing a stucco interior finish.

• Type X. This is 5/8 thick fire rated drywall.

• Metal work. This refers to when the drywallers build around pipes and heating ducts. They use small gauge metal that is fastened together in a way that is lighter and straighter then using wood studs and has no shrinkage.

• Bulk heads. This is when the drywallers create boxes around pipes and heating ducts in the ceilings.

• Firing channel. This is metal channel that is installed on the bottom of the floor joist and on wall studs to help stop cracking in the drywall when wood shrinks. It’s also used to help stop sound vibration from penetrating from floor to floor.

• Coats. This is what a layer of drywall mud is referred to once it is installed. 

• Sanding. This is what drywallers do after they have coated the drywall with mud. To make the drywall mud smooth drywallers use sand paper to sand down the mud so that it is left smooth. 

• Finish coat. This is the final coat of mud that is installed on the drywall.

• Finish sand. This is the final sanding of the final coat of mud once it has dried. This sanding is done until the wall is smooth.

• Drywall return. This is when the drywall turns on an angle and runs into a window or door. This is done instead of using a wood build out and trim.

• Barrel ceiling. This is a type of drywall ceiling. The drywaller builds a metal frame in the shape of a half barrel. Then ¼” drywall is installed in multiple layers on the curved surface, drywall strips are added until the ceiling looks like the outside of a wine or beer barrel.

• Coffered ceiling. This is a type of ceiling built by drywallers. It has bulkheads around the outside of the room and a raised ceiling in the middle.

This should help you understand what your contractor is talking about the next time you have a meeting with them. Look for part 7 of common construction terms, coming soon.

Rob Abbott

Operations Manager

Village Builders Inc.