Tip for pulling nailed drywall off for reuse

Darren Wright

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
20,087
Location
Springfield, Missouri
The walls that were already in my shop are covered with 3/8" drywall and 1/2" foam insulation under that. I started tearing into the section that had the electrical panel in it today. I may end up re-using some of the drywall to save cost, so here's a little trick from my dry walling days that my dad had taught me when the piece is hung with nails. With screws you can usually just, unscrew the piece. This is also usually when the piece hasn't been mudded or you have an easy way to locate the nails/screws.

Trying to pry out nails will usually damage a large area around the nail. Instead put the smallest hole saw in your drill you have (could only find my 1"), jab the teeth of the saw into the paper around the nail holding the drywall, then pull the trigger, otherwise the saw will wander off.
attachment.php


Cut through the drywall around each nail in this manor and you can removed the drywall in one piece. The piece still has enough integrity to be reused, just mud/tape the holes from the previous installation.
attachment.php
 
Top