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Product: Tool: Lifting
Drywall boots   (+21, -1)  [vote for, against]
Metal plate on the toe to facilitate handling

Guess what I did all weekend.

We need a steel toed boot with an extra 5/8 metal plate on the front. You could slip the plate under the rock and lever it up by standing on your other foot.
-- Bonarein, Aug 27 2001

Plasterboard Footlifter http://www.fsmarket...ZXNzaW9uPSUyRDE--ua
A page of plasterboard/drywall accessories - the first item, the "Plasterboard Footlifter" - is this what you're getting at, Bonarein? Or are you after this sort of thing built into your boot? [hippo, Aug 27 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

British Gypsum http://www.british-gypsum.bpb.co.uk/
[hippo, Aug 27 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Mmmm...tools... http://www.fantasti...heet_handlers_2.htm
[hippo, Aug 27 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Great idea!

Market this puppy.
-- phoenix, Aug 27 2001


Not enough leverage, waugsqueke. Drywall is heavy. The steel plate would probably have to go most of the way back through the boot.

Most people just use a flat prybar and a piece of wood, but that tends to be a little clumsy, if the wood moves. And if you're fast enough, like professional contractors, it slows you down a lot.
-- StarChaser, Aug 27 2001


I'm guessing drywall is British for what we Americans call sheetrock? Good thinking.
-- snarfyguy, Aug 27 2001


drywall and/or sheetrock on West Coast of US
-- thumbwax, Aug 27 2001


Actually, no. Drywall is what we Americans call 'Drywall'. Sheetrock is a brand name.
-- StarChaser, Aug 28 2001


I see.
-- snarfyguy, Aug 28 2001


I'll vote for this. Also a hardhat with an extension so you can brace that pesky sheet in place 'til you get a few nails in.
-- Dog Ed, Aug 28 2001


I believe the technical term is "gypsum wallboard". "Plasterboard" is something of a misnomer, since there's no plaster involved.

+1 for the hardhat extension, too. I suppose real construction workers have the muscles to effortlessly toss a 4'x8' sheet up with one hand and nailgun it in place with the other. Not me.
-- egnor, Aug 28 2001


<Real Estate Agent to Prospective Home-Buyer: Oh that's Bob, the drywall man. He comes with the house because the toe-plates of his drywall boots are stuck in the wall. He blends in with any decor, and he's really great with kids.>

Wow! I can smell the testosterone on this page!
-- Canuck, Aug 28 2001


'Plasterboard' is the UK generic name. British Gypsum is the UK manufacturer's name. Can I have a go with your screw gun, UnaBubba?
-- hippo, Aug 28 2001


I built custom cabinetry for six or so years - was lead man on the 'Finished End' - that being the assembly and readying for installation side - of a shop of 60 - occasionally I got to go out to the jobsite. The drywall guys were already drinking beer at 7 a.m. At least we waited until 5 minutes after we clocked out. Man those guys could drink.
-- thumbwax, Aug 28 2001


This idea is much better than what I pictured from the title: boots made of drywall. (Wouldn't do you much good in the rain...)

[hippo] Is that a euphemism? :)
-- MrWrong, Aug 28 2001


That's it...the plasterboard sheetlifter (link) built into the boot! And add a bottle opener for thumbwax's friends!
-- Bonarein, Aug 28 2001


StartChaser,

Most good steel-toed boots already include a full steel shank, so you can step on a nail without puncturing your foot. If you extended that a half-inch or so front and back, it would turn the boot into a prybar. You'd probably only want it on one boot, though, so you can kick things into place with the other one and not put 1/2" holes into everything.
-- sneed, Aug 28 2001


I've never dismembered a set of steel toed boots <but I'm about to. Rather disappointed in these that only lasted a few months before the soles started cracking...>. Actually, are the steel toe and the shank one piece? It'd make the boot completely inflexible, and probably uncomfortable to walk in...

There is also 'plasterboard', egnor...it's specially designed to be used beneath plaster. There's also 'cement board', which uses waterproof cement instead of gypsum...
-- StarChaser, Aug 31 2001


Try ducttaping a piece of steel and a small piece of wood (for a fulcrum) to your boot to see if it works. My guess is that it will be very clumsy to walk around in. A flat pry bar with a curve built into it, such as a Wonderbar, works great.
-- twhip, Aug 31 2001


A Wonderbar is what I was thinking of when I said 'flat prybar', thanks. Couldn't remember the name...

I was thinking he was talking about something more like a short prybar angled up from the front of the boot from the sole, so it wouldn't stick out from the sole itself. Kind of like _____/ <although not that angle.> That's why I said the bar would have to extend back through the boot itself, for the leverage. Would pivot on the bottom of the angle.

That's how I see it, anyway...
-- StarChaser, Sep 01 2001


I didn't see it before, but was amused to see that on the first link, further down the page are some Gyproc "Making Good" tools - I don't know if the term "Making good" is used outside the UK, but here builders use it to refer to tidying up all the niggles that are left at the end of a job.
-- hippo, Nov 27 2001


I thought this idea was going to be something to do with dry stone walling. Why did [Bonearein] use the term "rock" if this is about plasterboarding?
-- Lemon, Nov 27 2001


[lemon] - covered in previous annotations: Drywall = Sheet rock = Plasterboard, depending on where and who you are.
-- hippo, Nov 27 2001



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