I'm confused. Is this a remodel or a new build?

Is it a one story or two story house? Consider and plan for how they will get drywall sheets into the house. If its a 2nd story you either have to carry it up the stairs, or get the delivery company to deliver it directly to the 2nd floor through a window (preferred). Most guys can't hand-carry more than about 2 sheets of drywall at a time, and even then its heavy and ungainly.

All the receptacle boxes and ceiling boxes should be covered or plugged before they apply any mud to the walls. This might be part of the work plan, but you should verify. I assume there is no finished flooring yet?

Ask the contractor how they will handle the cleanup after drywall is installed. Most companies want to get drywall up and mudded as fast as possible, so the place becomes a holy mess while they are working. There will be empty drywall mud boxes, cut pieces of drywall, and drywall dust and fragments everywhere. They do not want to pay a good drywall guy to be a janitor, so for an entire house they may delay cleanup until the end and bring in a different crew. If you have a fast moving job it will get very messy before it gets better. Protect everything you can and leave nothing out to get in their way.

Bruce

cpartist - new construction - not sure what is confusing?

Bruce - it is 1 story with a loft. It is up 6' on piers though and no interior stairs are built yet. We do have a hoist with pulley installed so they can lift the loft sheets that way if preferred. A contractor we know is letting us use his crew at his cost as a favor. They came over and saw the place before quoting (on the spot!). I saw a house of their work and was pleased. I have a local drywall supplier that will deliver the sheets to each room. The price was similar to local big box who deliver to the driveway.

There are no finished floors installed yet. That will be one of our very last things.

Good to know about cleanup - I will talk with them about that when we nail down the schedule

checked my list and have covering HVAC return and vents on there as well.

Making your life easier is a puzzling goal.. Are you the general contractor? Is anyone living in the house? What is there to remove? If the windows are new they should have a protective film on the glass.

No 1 rule, remove everything from the house or it will be covered in a drywall dust.

res - you don't like your life to be easier? not sure why that is puzzling. Yes, I am contracting the house from here on out. The windows are new but there is no film on them. The things in the house are the tools we have been using to build it and a little furniture we have been given or bought. That will all be moved to the garage or porch before drywall. Background - We flooded, tore down our old house and are living in our garage - storage is tight, so a few things have migrated to the house.

You might have started with that information. Good luck

Take photos, so you can find electrical boxes and HVAC vents and returns in case they're inadvertently covered. No point in covering electrical boxes; any mud will take the electricians a few seconds to clear.

How will the drywall be finished -- any sort of sprayed on texture?

How will the painter apply the primer and paint -- spray?

PPF- the drywall will have a very very light spray texture. we will be painting with our sprayer.

Thank you OliviaG for such a detailed thoughtful; post. That is very very helpful! I will be taking your advice for the photos. We have checked walls and openings already. Who checked your duct work? Was that your HVAC contractor or someone else?

I have heard great things about this drywall crew - crossing my fingers. We have had some great contractors and a few not so great - but luckily no BIG problems with anyone. Hope to keep it that way! We have been very very lucky post-flood compared to so many. I am thankful every day. So many people are still struggling.

Take pictures of your plumbing in all of the showers.

Put blocking between the studs anywhere that you might want to hang art, mirrors, curtain rods, grab bars, etc. The header above the windows is not tall enough for drapery rods. They are installed higher. Put blocking above the headers for curtain rods.

scraps will work for blocking. If you remind your builder not to pitch everything.

ILoveRed - We blocked for a lot of things, but your list is more extensive than what I was thinking of. I will walk through tomorrow and mark the rest. My kids are on spring break, so I have some good helpers this week!

cpartist - new construction - not sure what is confusing?

What was confusing was that if you normally have a GC it is his/her job to worry about what you're worrying about. Like RES said if you had let us know upfront that you were your own GC, your question would have made a lot more sense.

The best thing I had/have is an excellent cleaning guy on standby for after the fact. There is no way you can keep the dust from flying which is why once a house is mostly finished, most GC's have a cleaning crew come in and wipe down every single nook and cranny.

And yes, cover every single duct so the dust doesn't get into the HVAC system. Make sure the HVAC is turned off when they do drywall mudding, taping, texturing and painting.

Note every light switch, etc. Our drywallers covered a few over and I had to point out to the GC where they had been.

Cyndy,

good luck on the drywall. I like how you are trying to be as prepared as possible for the task and you have gotten some good advice here from OliviaG etc

Curious why you fired your G.C. thanks

I didn't see any statement about firing the G.C. It seems the homeowner is serving as her own G.C, which is relatively common for folks who post on this site.

Bruce

CPArtist, DE, and RES - I see now. I don't usually volunteer that we are GCing the house because that brings up a lot of animosity and doubt on this site and tends to draw people away from the question at hand. I will keep that in mind for any future questions.

We did hire a builder to get us to dry-in (after I had the piers poured). Then we took over.

" I don't usually volunteer that we are GCing the house because that brings up a lot of animosity "

Animosity? On Houzz? No way ;)

Any reason to tape windows?

Guessing you are thinking masking the windows.

Easier done pre drywall than after. It also keeps them cleaner.

If you are using a vinyl window where drywall wraps the opening and butts into the window, I often run plastic over the window then a few inches on to the 2x.

After the drywall is done -- texture sprayed and maybe painted, then using a knife cut the plastic loose.

I'd check with your crew to learn their preferences.

Love the ideas above to block for hanging items and to take pictures. I would just add to include a measuring tape in all your pictures of the studs, plumbing and outlets. Even with a stud finder I have at times been challenged to find a wall stud for hanging / securing items, and everything looks so different after the drywall is up.

Thank you Jeffrey. We didn't do the electrical, but we did have to move a wire or two after he finished. I'll make sure everything is flush inside the boxes. I will verify that the texture folks plan on masking. I am in Texas, so no extra heat necessary for drying. I can leave the doors open and run fans. Kitchen cabinets are ready, waiting in a warehouse. I need to finalize the bathroom vanities. Our budget is fluid as we are still finalizing insurance settlement and also applying for some disaster funds. Don't want to cheap out on those if I don't have to! I think we will probably just finish the kids bath 100% and then complete the master post move-in. Then kids tub surround is already tiled as we are having to use that tub prior to move in. Our build is not the norm for sure, but it is plowing on ahead!