Putting Up Drywall on High Vaulted Ceiling Frame Alone

Putting up drywall on our high vaulted ceiling frame alone was a task that my husband Nate tackled and accomplished with little experience.

DRYWALL ON HIGH VAULTED CEILING FRAME

Nate was finally able to start working on the drywall on the vaulted ceiling frame that is above our living room and kitchen. 

First of all, the vaulted ceiling in this space was absolutely beautiful. Amazing how much it opened up the area and made it feel so much larger in such a tiny space. 

The beam of the vaulted ceiling consisted of two 2x12s that were placed straight up and down. At the bottom of it was a flat part that sort of became the base of the drywall work here, which is why Nate started to add strips of drywall to this area first. 

VAULTED CEILING BEAM – BASE FOR HANGING DRYWALL

He measured the right strips to go across the entire horizontal beam of the vaulted ceiling. This would create a flat surface for him to place the rest of the drywall to have a flat surface going down the sides of the peak. Then the rest of the drywall sheets would go right up to the peak on both sides evenly without bowing. 

If he didn’t place that horizontal piece of drywall across the beam, the drywall pieces that connect to that base area would hit the base since it’s not flush with it and it would end up warping and bending the drywall going down the sides of the peak. 

The beam going across was flat, but the vaulted frames going up to it were not flat, so when the drywall would come up to that point, it would hit the beam – boom, right there. And then it would bend the board instead of having it securely attached to the framing at that peak. 

LIVING IN FIXER UPPER COTTAGE FOR THREE WEEKS

As Nate was working and measuring the drywall, I recalled how at that time we had been living in our unfinished fixer upper cottage for three weeks already!

It’s hard to believe that we were living in this unfinished fixer upper for about three weeks already and it still looked like we didn’t make a whole lot of progress.

Nate did a lot of prep though, especially with the tar paper throughout the house. And really that was the most tedious work and it took a lot of time to do. The prep work did seem to be the hardest and most tedious task to do! 

PUTTING UP DRYWALL ON VAULTED CEILING

And now he hung his first large pieces of drywall on the sides of the vaulted ceiling. As he continued to make more progress, I counted the number of drywall sheets he had already put up. It looked like six sheets would be enough for one side, so I wondered if the other side would be the same. 

Nate continued to remain focused, counting out loud, and measuring the sheets of drywall. He is such a diligent worker!

Wow, he made so much progress on the vaulted ceiling. It was so cool to see all this coming together and this huge open space that we couldn’t have imagined before. 

There goes Nate measuring and measuring the drywall and marking it. He would cut it exactly to fit perfectly right where he needed it. 

NEVER THOUGHT WE’D HAVE A VAULTED CEILING

It’s crazy to think that we never really thought that we’d have vaulted ceilings because when we first came into this tiny fixer upper, it was so small. It was like a little box. And it just seemed really closed off.

Now it’s all open and we’ve put drywall up everywhere. Wow, what a difference it makes! It looks larger and more spacious. Really, it’s just cozier and has so much more character than the boxy little rooms that we previously had.

I found old footage of our walkthrough of the little cottage when we first bought it and you can see how the ceiling in the same area used to look like. At that time, Nate was pointing out what also used to be the support beam and we noticed bowing and cracking up there too. We have truly come a very long way! 

Despite the construction zone we were living in, it felt really good to finally have our own home, even with the condition it was in. And look at that cute little fanny pack my husband was wearing! Styling as he works!

After measuring and cutting the drywall, he placed it up on the ceiling and then screwed it into the framing studs.

DRYWALL COMPLETED ON VAULTED CEILING

Ok, he finally finished the job and put drywall up on the entire vaulted ceiling! He was able to accomplish it all in less than two days! By himself.

It was also crazy to see the background in our house with all the construction materials everywhere. And yes, we were still living in the house at that time, while we were renovating it! That’s why it was so messy. 

I was really impressed with how fast Nate was able to drywall the whole vaulted ceiling on his own. It looked so awesome! Yay – good job Nate! 

THANKFUL AND ENJOYING OUR FIXER UPPER COTTAGE

Oh yea, and if you’re wondering, we were still enjoying our little front porch and having simple meals sitting outside.

We continued to pinch ourselves wondering how we got such a sweet deal to buy the cutest little fixer upper cottage in the neighborhood that we did. It was truly something beyond our imagination and completely a God find. Seriously.

So, we are actually thankful for our messy construction zone because we always did see the potential behind it and for our future to come. A fully paid off house, an asset to possibly rent out and earn an income from, and most importantly, a place to call home at the end of the day no matter what it looked like at the time and condition of it. 

FINANCIAL FREEDOM ON THE HORIZON

If you have been following our story then you may know that in only a few short months, our mortgage should be paid off in full! We would have accomplished this in only about three short years!

We have been so blessed to have such great jobs in this season to be able to do this. And to be disciplined enough to live way below our means to actually and practically make it happen. It has totally been worth it. Debt free scream at the Ramsey Studio, here we come! 

2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS

Thanks for joining us on this journey! We hope that you will find inspiration watching us learn as we go while we’re attempting to renovate and rebuild this old small historic cottage mostly on our own. Stay tuned for more progress updates ahead!

You can also watch a video about this here.

To see more adventures of our tiny fixer upper journey, click on the links below.

💪🏼 FIRST TIME HANGING DRYWALL ALONE AND BUILDING TRAILER TO HAUL IT 🏚

🏚 CHALLENGES OF LIVING IN AN UNFINISHED COTTAGE 💧