Angies List: Why Drywall Isnt A Great DIY Project

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) There are tons of home improvement projects that lend themselves to doing it yourself.

But as Angies List finds, theres one job that doesnt.

Painting and wallpapering are popular DIY home improvement projects, but they can quickly become complicated if your walls arent in good shape. For most homes, that means your drywall needs to be a flat, even canvas that will easily accept your new paint or wallpaper.

DIY projects can be a lot of fun but, honestly, drywall is a lot harder than it looks, said Angie Hicks of Angies List. Its heavy material, takes lots of tools. Its really best left to the professionals.

Even small drywall repair jobs can get messy and complicated but those jobs can be DIY-ed especially if youre handy. But finishing a basement or other room with no drywall in place or installing new drywall to repair damaged walls is another story.

The reason why its not a good DIY job is that if you dont know what you are doing its going to look pretty bad in the end product, said drywall contractor, Robert Morrison. A professional knows how to install it especially in a whole house. If you go to try to do a whole house, a whole basement, it could take you days. Professional could do a house this size in a day, him and a couple of other guys.

Hanging the drywall, which can weigh 80 pounds and generally takes a three-person crew, is just step one of a four-step process.

Next comes mudding, taping and sanding, all very detailed and necessary to provide that flat, even canvas.

For a 1214 room it will take a professional about three or four hours to hang a room that size and a few days to finish it and get it ready for paint, said drywall contractor Andy Ferguson.

For a 1214 room a DIY project, it could probably turn into two weeks, if not a month, pretty quickly, he added.

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Angies List: Why Drywall Isnt A Great DIY Project