How To Remove Drywall - DUST FREE
Video Summary
How To Remove Drywall - DUST FREE
Before you get started, make sure the electricity is turned off. I'm using an electrical outlet tester. I go over to the circuit breaker and make sure the electricity is off. Then I can move on with taking off the outlet covers, the light switch covers, HVAC ducts anything that is screwed into the wall.
Now I can take the baseboard and all the trim off. And if you want to use the trim later, use a pry bar and a putty knife or a 5-in-1 tool to carefully take off the trim. And then, I take the nails out from behind with the wire cutters to prevent damage to the trim.
So take your knife and push pretty hard and make a couple of passes if you have to and run right down through the corner like that. That'll break the seal and now this wall and this wall are now divided and when we take this wall down it won't rip off the paper from this wall. We'll have a nice clean line that you can work with later.
What I want to try and do is get behind there and pry it off. Now you can use a bunch of different things - You can use a saw zall, like this, which has a blade that moves very quickly and does a lot of demolition - it also makes a lot dust. You can use a jab saw or a drywall saw. Basically this has a sharp point on the end of it that is made for digging into the wall and then you can physically move it. And the blade is similar to this.
When I'm taking this saw across through here, I'm being very careful not to go too deep. Because if I push it in really deep, like that, I can cut through wires, I can cut through ductwork which I have right on the other side of this or I can end up cutting through a pipe or electrocuting myself in some way. So I turn my knife to this depth like this, so that I'm only cutting ( the drywall is only 1/2" deep) so I only want to cut 1/2" deep.
Now this is glued on (I don't know if you can see that) but that's a large bead of glue. Which means this is going to be a lot more difficult to get off in one sheet.
Your goal is really to get your fingers behind that first piece. And to do that, I'm using a pry bar to gently coax the drywall away from that first stud. So I can get a good pull on it. Now it snaps at the first stud, but that's kind of normal for your first piece. Don't worry, you'll get bigger pieces later. And there's that ductwork I was talking about. You've gotta be careful when you're cutting through that wall.
If you encounter nails, pop them out if you can. It'll help you get started on the piece. And then once you get it started, you can really heave-ho on it. And I'm not sure if you'll notice but in the corner - when I pull this away - it's nice and clean. That edge is perfectly clean because we cut it with a razor knife from the other wall.
Now I've got all of my sheets out here in the garage. I've got the door closed so the dust won't go inside. All I have to do is take my razor knife and score the paper with it and it'll snap into pieces. I'll show you what I mean.
Be careful when you're doing this. You have a very sharp knife in your hand and the last thing you want to do is cut your leg, foot or your hand. So I always keep my body out of the way when I'm making my marks. You should probably do the same thing unless you to go the hospital.
There you go! Throw them right in the garbage bag. Put a zip tie on it and you're good to go. Don't make the bags to heavy. They get real heavy, real quick.
Do not put drywall outside and let it sit there for any extended period of time. It's just going to turn into mush and you'll have one heck of a mess on your hands. If you put them in garbage bags , you can let them sit outside and wait for the trash to come and you don't have to worry about it. Or you can pick them up and take them to a dump if you're lucky enough to have one near you. But get a good quality, heavy-duty garbage bag.
If you're sick and tired of spending too much money on your energy bills. Stop by my website at www.howtohomeinsulation.com. You'll find the videos and information you need to start saving money on your energy bills, right now. My name's Corey Binford. Thanks for watching.