Why Should You Invest In A Drywall Lifter?
Anyone who has ever installed a sheet of drywall knows that to attempt to hang drywall single handed is nearly an impossible task. Hanging drywall can be a challenge for even two skilled tradesmen, depending on the height of the wall or ceiling, the angle of the space you’re dry-walling, and a laundry list of other factors that can make the job difficult, aggravating, and very time-consuming.
With the help of Hangpro drywall lifter, you may also find that lowering and side to side movement, often necessary several times per sheet in adjusting the sheet to the wall, will be a breeze when using a drywall lifter because of the easy lowering and sideways motion afforded by the drywall lifter.
By slightly lifting one corner of the panel to slide the lift under the drywall sheet, the heavy lifting and holding in place is a thing of the past.
Fortunately for the drywall installers, someone in the industry saw a need for a tool that could make hanging drywall a job that could be tackled by one person. The drywall lifter, or drywall hoist, can have you hanging twice the drywall without the strains, difficulty, and backbreaking lifting that is usually involved in hanging drywall. In addition, you can hang paneling, OSB, and plywood with this tool, making much lighter work of what used to be a major physical toll and labor-intensive job.
What Should You Look For In A Drywall Lifter?
You’ll want to ensure that the drywall lifter that you’re investing in is going to meet or exceed the need that you have in your current drywall hanging jobs. First, you want it to be made from steel or another heavy cast metal. This is because choosing a drywall lifter with low-quality craftsmanship increases the change of having drywall fall on you. You also want to ensure that the cable that lifts the drywall is strong and durable.
The horizontal lift reach should be somewhere between eleven and fifteen-foot, which is the standard ceiling height. The wall-length heights are usually somewhere between ten and fifteen feet, but some models allow for an extension to be installed, which can give you a lift height of up to 19 feet. You want to be sure that these height requirements are met or exceeded, or you are still left with a situation where you’re trying to balance and secure drywall sheets or panels without support on the opposite side of the sheet.
The broader the base of the drywall lifter, the more stable and sturdy the unit will be. You want to be sure that it can handle the weight of the drywall without losing its’ stability, as an unstable base increases the chance of injuries, dropping drywall, and strains due to trying to catch falling drywall. Ensure that the base doesn’t seem wobbly or insecure once you have loaded a sheet of drywall on it. Even a slight wobble can result in serious consequences from falling drywall.
How Do I Determine What Specifications Are Right For My Drywall Lifter?
Not every tradesman is going to require a top of the line drywall lifter. Other tradesmen, however, need every possible advantage that can be given by a drywall lifter in order to accomplish their workload requirements. You want to consider the material that you’ll be lifting in order to determine the right drywall lifter for you. Will you be using it solely for drywall, or will it be used for paneling, plywood, and OSB also?
You also want to be sure that the drywall lifter will be able to handle the thickness of the sheets or panels that you will be lifting. Not all drywall lifters can handle all levels of thickness of drywall. Double check to be sure that the drywall lifter you opt for can handle every thickness of panel and sheet that you need to hang.
What height do you need your drywall lifter to reach? Do you only need to hang drywall on walls? Do you need it to hang drywall on high ceilings, or higher than standard walls? If you need to often hang drywall or paneling at over industry-standard wall or ceiling heights, you may want to ensure that the drywall hanger you select can be fitted with an extension that can reach to those abnormal wall or ceiling heights.
Also, an often overlooked part of the drywall hanger is how the unit moves on its wheels. How smoothly will the wheels be able to move the unit around the room, with and without a load of drywall or paneling loaded on the unit? If the wheels can’t safely and smoothly move the load around the room for you, it won’t be much help in getting the drywall hung. Be certain that if the drywall or paneling is loaded that the base unit is still stable and easily transported around the room without any wobbling or instability in the unit at all. One way to assist in ensuring that this base will be sufficient is to check the size of the base. Generally speaking, the broader the base, the more stable the drywall lift will be overall.
An Overview
As a brief recap, you know what materials and sizes that you are often hanging. If the drywall hanger can handle the weight and size requirements of the sheets and panels that you hang, you need to check only a few other specifications to ensure that this is the unit for you. The next most important aspect to look into is the lift height. If you often do ceiling or wall heights greater than standard, you’ll want to ensure your drywall lift has the ability to have an extension installed to reach the height you need to perform your job.
Ensure that the base is wide enough to keep your load stable so that injuries from falling drywall don’t occur. Also, be certain that the casters can move your drywall lift around the room without a struggle, allowing your panels and sheets to move around the room with you with ease.