Drywall Supplies You Need for Your Project

With just five drywall supplies—panels, tape, joint compound, outside corners, and screws—you can remodel walls or the ceiling in a room relatively inexpensively. A few other drywall supplies are helpful but not required: pre-mixed joint compound (for quick patches), fiberglass tape (for super-strong joints), drywall nails (to quickly hang drywall), and drywall shims (for poor wall studs).

Learn the basic drywall supplies you need to get started DIY drywalling a home.

01 of 09

Drywall Panels

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Drywall—often called wallboard or Sheetrock—comes in sheets 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Half-inch drywall is normally used for walls.

Slightly thicker 5/8-inch drywall is used on ceilings, garage walls that adjoin the house, or in fire-prone areas, such as furnace rooms.

Besides basic drywall, other types of drywall include ultra-light drywall and sound-proof drywall.

Tip

If you just need to patch a hole in a wall, many stores sell small, 2-foot by 2-foot or smaller squares of drywall.
02 of 09

Paper Tape

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Paper tape is used to join sheets of drywall. Embedded in the mud, the tape forms a hard connection after the mud has dried. Paper tape can be used for all connections, except for outside corners.
03 of 09

Powder (Dry) Joint Compound

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Joint compound is a powdery mixture of gypsum and binders. When mixed with water, the powder forms a smooth compound the consistency of peanut butter. It's used to apply paper or fiberglass tape to the drywall, fill joints, or fill screw holes.

Tip

Hot mix joint compound contains additives that accelerate the drying process. Look for the prominent number on the packaging, which refers to the compound's working time: 5, 15, 20, and so on.
04 of 09

Premixed Joint Compound

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If you're patching a wall or mudding a room, it's helpful to buy pre-mixed joint compound. Pre-mixed mud is more expensive than dry joint compound, but it helps you get going faster, and the consistency is always perfect.

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05 of 09

Outside Corner Bead

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On outside corners, plastic or metal bead forms the outermost edge of the corner. The low part of the bead is filled with joint compound. When painted, the transition from the metal/plastic corner to the wall disappears.
06 of 09

Drywall Screws

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For wood studs, use drywall screws that are coarse thread, not fine thread. Fine-thread drywall screws are for metal studs. Make sure that the screws are phosphate-coated to resist corrosion. Use 1-1/2-inch or 1-5/8 inch-long drywall screws for 1/2-inch or 5/8-inch thick drywall.
07 of 09

Fiberglass Joint Tape

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Fiberglass tape provides a super-strong joint. Paper tape requires you to lay down a thin coat of mud to get the tape to stick. But fiberglass tape already has an adhesive backing.

The downside is that fiberglass tape is thicker than paper tape, so it's more difficult to finish smoothly.
08 of 09

Drywall Nails

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Drywall nails are sometimes used instead of screws for speed and ease of depth placement.

Driving drywall screws one by one with an electric drill is time-consuming. Pounding a drywall nail takes just a couple of seconds.

Setting depth is easy with drywall nails. The hammer's blunt face forms a smooth divot and won't tear the facing paper.

Tip

Drywall nails can create nail pops, which are nails that have worked outward over time and created raised circles. To reduce nail pops, make sure that the drywall nail is placed correctly.

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09 of 09

Drywall Shims

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Drywall shims are 45-inch-long pieces of cardboard 1-1/2 inches wide, the same width as a two-by-four stud. Drywall shims are placed on the edges of studs.

Shims can bring the edge of one drywall sheet outward to match the edge of an adjoining sheet. If a stud or section of studs is concave, shims placed behind the drywall sheet fill in the concave area. Shims can also raise areas around a bowed section of studs.

FAQ

Can I put up drywall myself, or should a professional do it?

You can put up your own drywall, even if you have limited home improvement experience. Hanging the drywall—attaching it to wall studs with screws—is the easiest part of putting up drywall. The next step, mudding and sanding the drywall joint compound, can be difficult to do. With some practice, though, it's possible to learn how to apply joint compound and sand it.
What’s the difference between hot drywall mud and joint compound?

Hot drywall mud is joint compound that sets faster than conventional joint compound. Hot drywall mud allows you to add a second coat of mud in the same day, instead of waiting until the next day. Hot mud is a powder drywall mud that has an additive that accelerates its set time. One difference is that hot drywall mud can be used for filler joints but not for skim coats because it dries too quickly with skim coats.
How do you prep drywall for painting?

Prepare drywall for painting by first applying drywall primer. Drywall's highly porous paper surface is not appropriate for paint. So, the drywall primer fills the pores and adds better color consistency to the paint coat.
How do you hang a heavy mirror on drywall?

Use appropriately-rated drywall anchors to hang mirrors and other heavy items on the drywall when a stud is unavailable behind the drywall.