Drywall is commonly used for layering over the walls of a garage. But it’s not an easy job to put drywall on some parts of the garage.
The area over and around the garage door is one of those. There arises an important question: how to drywall around a garage door?
The area around the garage door has joist bays, brackets, multiple lockers, and travel rods, and it is tough to fit the drywall. But, you can use chalk, a wood trimmer, or recess the existing drywall to finish it off well.
If you want you can learn what type of drywall should you use in your garage or garage ceiling.
Why Is It So Difficult To Fit Drywall Around The Garage Door?
Covering garage walls with drywall is not necessarily & a complicated task. With the help of the right tools and minimal knowledge, you can do it without any professional help.
But, as easy as it seems to hang drywall sheets throughout the garage, it is so difficult to put up a perfect finish around the garage door. The garage door, unlike traditional house doors, has multiple components.
They are an opener, spring, tube, drum, cables, tracks, rollers, brackets, hinges, emergency cord, and sometimes a safety sensor. [source]
Most of these components are mounted around the door or above the door. That’s why it is really tough to fill those two or three-foot spaces with drywall sheets or inches of gap beside the door.
How To Hang Drywall Above The Garage Door? [Simple Steps]
The space between the garage door and the ceiling is so small that you can’t fit regular drywall panels there. And by any means, you shouldn’t hang your tracks from the drywall. So, there can be two options here.
1) By Taking Off The Whole Door Setup
The first one is to take off the whole assembly and springs and place the drywall. And then make spaces or pockets in the drywall for the trackers to sit on the wall.
But you must know that it’s extremely dangerous to take out the springs.
If done wrong, it might give you a strong punch and cause severe damage. That’s why, if you opt to go for this option, you must call a professional.
2) By Running The Drywalls Over The Door Tracks
The second option is to run the drywall over the tracks. This is much easier than the first option. All you need to do is cut the drywall panels according to the size of the available space.
You can either use a 2×4 or a 2×6 frame to mount the tracker and the drywall.
Firstly, on the interior side of the frame, you can fit the door trackers.
On the exterior side of the frame, you can mount the drywall panels. But the problem is more complicated. There are many joist bays over the door, so the gaps between the ceiling and the door are hard to fill.
You can leave these portions the way they are. But many people don’t want to compromise on aesthetics. So, leaving it might not be a piece of good advice.
You can simply recess the drywall panels into the ceiling to fill these gaps. Recessing is better than other methods when there are only a few inches of space available.
You may need to add more blocks around the bracket to hang the drywall in that extra space. You can also create a notch in the panels to fit them perfectly.
The Best Way To Drywall Around The Garage Door: 2 Ways
After you’re done hanging drywall above the door, it’s now time to get the job done beside the doors. There are some different methods to do it.
1) If The Gap Between The Door Frame And Drywall Is Too Tight
Some people prefer to put mud and plaster in the gaps between the drywall and the door. Since the gaps between the door frame and the drywall are too small, so it’s not possible to hang drywall there.
But the problem with mudding is that they will crack eventually.
So it’s better to get the space chalked. Many will disagree over the longevity of chalking. But, in our opinion, it works.
2) Include Wood Trimmings
By far, the best option would be to use some slim wood trims. You can easily find them and install them without any professional help.
The problem with these methods is that you will have to do justice to the finish. You have to prime and paint the whole thing to match the color of the drywall.
If you haven’t painted the drywall already, you have to paint the whole thing.
Be Careful While Hanging Drywall Around The Garage Door
After hanging drywall in all parts of the garage, it all comes down to the area around the door. You have to be extra careful around the door. Sealing the gaps and the joints requires perfection.
Here is the list of things you’d need:
This is how you should hang drywall around the garage door:
When To Call A Professional?
In most cases, you don’t need to call a professional. But as we mentioned earlier, setting up the drywall around all those garage door components can be very tricky and requires so much time and patience.
So, if you want to save your time and energy, call a professional. And if you’re planning to take off the door assembly and reinstall it after hanging the drywall, we highly recommend you get professional help.
Conclusion
Drywall is a popular and easy material to decorate and insulate one’s garage. Compared to other materials, they are slightly easier to install.
But it is a bit complicated to hang them around the door. Wood trims, chalking, priming, plastering, or recessing the drywall panel, there are many options.
Now that you know how to drywall around garage doors, you need to find the most suitable method for you. If it feels like too much, do not hesitate to get help from a pro.
