Drywall Installer

Drywall installers typically do the following:

• Reviews design plans to minimize the number of cuts and waste of wallboard.
• Measures the location of electrical outlets, plumbing, windows, and vents.
• Cuts drywall to the right size, using utility knives and power saws.
• Fastens drywall panels to interior wall studs, using nails or screws.
• Trim sand smooth rough edges so boards join evenly.

Ceiling tile installers typically do the following:

• Measures according to blueprints or drawings.
• Nails or screws supports.
• Puts tiles or sheets of shock-absorbing materials on ceilings.
• Keeps the tile in place with cement adhesive, nails, or screws.
• Sometimes called acoustical carpenters because they work with tiles that block sound.

Tapers typically do the following:

• Prepares wall surface (wallboard) by patching nail holes.
• Applies tape and use sealing compound to cover joints between wallboards.
• Applies additional coats of sealing compound to create an even surface.
• Sands all joints and holes to a smooth, seamless finish.

Installers are also called framers or hangers. Tapers are also called finishers.

• Manual dexterity: good with your hands
• Hand eye coordination
• Critical thinking and problem-solving: You will encounter unexpected problems and you will have to figure them out in a timely fashion.
• Attention to detail
• Physical strength and stamina

• Works indoors.
• Pretty physically demanding: workers spend most of the day standing, bending, or stretching, and they often must lift and maneuver heavy, oversized wallboards.
• In order too work on ceilings, may have to stand on stilts, ladders, or scaffolds.
• Must wear protective masks, goggles, and gloves.

• Drywall contractor company: Range from mom and pop shop (4-8) to large shops (200+)
• Facilities and Building Maintenance

• Union negotiates competitive rates: For example) In SF Bay Area, $40.37 per hour as journeyman which is the position after you are an apprentice.
• Full medical benefits (medical, dental, vision)
• Pension
• Annuity
• Access to better jobs and amazing opportunities.

“I’ve worked on the Golden Gate bridge, the top of the tower of the new Bay Bridge, and every aspect of the California Academy of Sciences. Those opportunities would not have been given to me if I wasn’t a union painter.” Robert Williams III, Business Rep, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 16, Northern California

Injuries: Common injuries include falls from ladders or stilts, cuts from sharp tools, and muscle strains from lifting heavy materials.

• Building and fixing things! : working with your hands.
• Being outside in nature.
• Sports
• Anything mechanical: Working on cars.

“Some of us we have more Neanderthal DNA than others. You’ve got to be able to express that in the best way possible. We all have a sense of creativity that can be shown and it’s finding that way to show that creativity. Some people they can do that behind a computer, other people it’s great to be able to build a building. It all comes into that sense of being of whatever makes you feel alive.” Robert Williams III, Business Rep, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 16, Northern California