Buying small pieces of drywall?

[EugW]

I have a hole in my wall due to the removal of a gas space heater. The heater actually worked fine but most of the time we turned it on we'd get the smell of burning dust, and it was an ugly wall wart.

So, now there is a nice round 7.5" hole in my wall (1/2" drywall).

http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt24/EugW/HousePublic/HeaterHole.png

Is it possible to buy small pieces of drywall? I'd need a 12x16" piece to hang between the studs. I don't really want a 4'x10' sheet, because I don't want to carry it home, nor do I have any place to store any leftover. I see Home Depot has 4'x8' sheets too, but they actually cost more. I guess I'll need to buy some drywall tape too.

I'd hire a drywaller to do this, but I have to get it done within the week, and I don't want to pay big bux for it either. I don't think too many drywallers would want to show up for a simple job like this.

[Drthorne]

Home depot and Rona sell smaller pieces that were salvaged from broken full sheets

[Cas77]

Where do you live?

[Concrete5]

Have you looked on Craigslist? Normallly there are people who are looking to get rid of scrap pieces of drywall for free or cheap.

Have you also taken care of the outside siding, the insulation & vapor barrier? While a drywaller may not come out, a handyman might.

[Si98]

They come in 2' by 2' too. I know they are available at Lowes and some HD's carry them.

[EugW]

I live in Toronto - southwest Scarborough.

The outside siding was covered over in sheet metal, by the HVAC company that removed the heater. It's been weather sealed outside.
I do have insulation but I'll have to stick in a sheet of plastic there with the edges taped over as a vapour barrier.

I'll look for the small sheets of drywall at Lowe's/HD/Rona. It's just that I looked on the HD online site, and they only had the big sheets. I also thought the big box hardware stores mostly stopped selling the scraps. I know my local HD stopped selling wood pieces from discarded cuts.

[Catherine111]

Better contact with your nearest home improvement store or search in Craigslist. Ask them about it.

[Sylvestre]

HD and Rona sell 2'x2' pieces. Go ask instore.

[Thai]

Ask on Facebook or Kijiji! I guarantee someone you know has extra leftover that you can have.

[goofball]

I have some but I doubt you're in Ottawa. I've seen the 2x2 sheets at HD plenty of times. Lowes as well.

[kr8zymike]

I was just @ Home Depot this morning for drywall panels. I bought the ultra light panels for just under $10.
I saw the 2x2s in a small bin in the aisle. They are about $6 for one piece. Those guys are making a killing on those 2x2's.

[lazymonkeygod]

Just go to new developing neighborhoods where there's construction going on. Look inside the construction bins and I guarantee you'll find pieces of drywalls in there.

[Steve98]

...also, you can buy the full sheet from HD, cut it down to the size you want right in the store and leave the rest for them to resell as offcuts. My local HD still sells sheet-good offcuts.

[Techhead]

If you were closer or don't mind the drive, I have peices sitting around.

[Fraser River Rat]

Hi,

Is there any construction happening in your area? If you ask nicely, they'll probably give you some scrap pieces of drywall in exchange for a box of donuts.

[Drthorne]

Saw 2' x 2' pieces at Lowes today for $5.98, what a rip

[EugW]

Thanks guys, for the offers. Also, I told myself I wasn't going to go garbage picking but nonetheless I couldn't resist looking over the edge of the dumpster of a construction site I passed by. :razz: None there though.

However, a friend of mine happened to have some of the green drywall left over from her last reno project. Is that OK to use, in terms of priming, if we paint a light colour? It's green on once side and regular cardboard paper colour on the other (not white). If not, I guess I'll just go and pay the 6 bux for a small piece of regular drywall.

[goofball]

green is fine, normally reserved for bathrooms or other rooms with humidity. A good primer and you're all set.

[rfduser199]

Have you tried Home Hardware? They often do small projects in their areas (e.g. chair re-caning, build window screens). They often have a scrap bin of wood, acrylic sheets, sheet metal, maybe even drywall.

[Mattones]

Just go to new developing neighborhoods where there's construction going on. Look inside the construction bins and I guarantee you'll find pieces of drywalls in there.

Exactly.