# How did you decide to specialize in drywall?



## admin (Jan 4, 2010)

> If you’re looking to branch out from general contracting into a specialty, drywall may be the way to go. Since drywall is fairly ubiquitous in modern buildings, there’s rarely a lack of work, barring slumps in the economy. With a background in general contracting and a specialization in drywall, you’re nearly guaranteed to always have work available. *Should You Specialize in Drywall?*


How did you decide to specialize in drywall?


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

I played around on what jobs my dad could bring me on as a kid .. then dropped out of school when i was 15. My dad threw me in the truck ,and I've been doing it ever since . I used to be good at it. Now I'm just good and slow. 50 hurts !!


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## endo_alley_revisited (Aug 9, 2016)

I was told that the only thing I needed in order to be a drywaller was a strong back and a weak mind. Everyone told me I was a natural for the job.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

endo_alley_revisited said:


> I was told that the only thing I needed in order to be a drywaller was a strong back and a weak mind. Everyone told me I was a natural for the job.


:lol::lol:


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

Man ...this place really did die !


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## thefinisher (Sep 2, 2011)

moore said:


> Man ...this place really did die !


Sure did.... My story is probably similar to most people. My dad finished and I started learning at a young age spotting screws and running angles, etc. Would work summers, weekends, days off from school for years. We had a full blown business by the time I was in high school and after I graduated from college I decided to stay and run business. Mainly do all the business work daily but I still will finish here and there.


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## Pennhed52 (Jul 13, 2016)

Started laboring the day after graduating high school. Father was working for the General Contractors and thought hauling around metal studs and drywall to the carpenters then cleaning up after them was my cup of tea. After 2yrs of gathering knowledge and advice from some good skilled carpenters, I started buying the proper tools and walked on the job geared out and told the boss my laboring days is over, he told me boy I'll give you a shot but if you can't hang with the big dogs and get my quota I'd be fired. Green as hell I managed to wing it through that job and been doing commercial framing and drywall and Acoustical ceilings for 21yrs now


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## pytlik86 (Sep 3, 2016)

thefinisher said:


> Sure did.... My story is probably similar to most people. My dad finished and I started learning at a young age spotting screws and running angles, etc. Would work summers, weekends, days off from school for years. We had a full blown business by the time I was in high school and after I graduated from college I decided to stay and run business. Mainly do all the business work daily but I still will finish here and there.


Same story here  

My dad is almost 70 year old, and still working with me.. No pain or anything, and still damn fast.... but maybe he could use some glasses when sanding :whistling2:


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## HomeDrywall&Painting (Oct 4, 2018)

pytlik86 said:


> Same story here
> 
> My dad is almost 70 year old, and still working with me.. No pain or anything, and still damn fast.... but maybe he could use some glasses when sanding :whistling2:


:laughing::laughing:


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## Phillytaper1955 (Aug 31, 2018)

I was exposed to the drywall biz as long as I can remember. I got to follow my dad and uncle on jobs as a boy picked up spent tape rolls,scrape mud spot nails and then the seed was planted I’m gonna be a taper someday haha


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## 800PoundGuerrilla (Nov 24, 2013)

Looking in the rear view mirror, one sees what's coming up on him as well as what he's past. Damn … 1975 … When I was seventeen … It was a very good year … It was a very good year for small town girls … And soft summer nights … We'd hide from the lights … On the village green … When I was seventeen I was a scholar-athlete who played monster man (defensive up and down middle guard-middle linebacker) and pulling guard on the football team. I was young, dumb and full of … many things. The quarterback on the team had a brother-in-law who owned a commercial interior contracting company that needed help weekends and during the summer. By the end of the first day on the job I knew that this was something worth paying attention to and figuring out. I was a quick learner, an eager earner and a candle-lit-on-both-ends burner. I was on a track to attend college … loved academics, athletics and the arts. Construction offered opportunities to tap all of these. And, the quarterback had a sister who, because of rendezvousing at their house before and after work, I had many opportunities to get to know her better. Fall of 1976, I was off to college to get me some knowledge. By then, I was less motivated to learn and more motivated to earn. I had been working with some pieceworkers framing, hanging and finishing. We were a crew and I was their 800 Pound Gorilla. I lasted the football season at college. Called the "quarterback's sister" up. Asked her to come and get me. I went back to work with the crew. The "quarterback's sister" and I got an apartment together … fell deeply in love ... and, started making babies. I kept working at being better than the best people I'd be working with (better beats best every time). The better I would get, the better I wanted to get. Piecework does that to you. You continually work on finding new ways to produce more in less time while watching your dollar per hour figure get larger and larger … because, $/unit paid = $/hr earned x hrs/unit produced … $/hr earned = $/unit paid / hrs/unit produced. Three sons and two grandchildren, 40 years of marriage to the "quarterback's sister" and 60 years of living … and, I'm still looking for better ways to beat the best ways of doing the work. And, loving every minute of it.


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## nbriley (Oct 28, 2018)

I married into it 51 years ago. met my wife on a blind date, her father was a drywall contractor who taught me to hang first then finish then texture, I'm 71 and work 5 days a week contracting and I still hang and finish when I need to, I Love the Drywall Trade


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## endo_alley (Nov 2, 2013)

nbriley said:


> I married into it 51 years ago. met my wife on a blind date, her father was a drywall contractor who taught me to hang first then finish then texture, I'm 71 and work 5 days a week contracting and I still hang and finish when I need to, I Love the Drywall Trade


Yah dat!


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