Glossary
Drywall Installer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential drywall installer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key drywall installer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in drywall installer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Bazooka
- An automatic taper that applies tape and mud together.
- Butt joint
- A seam where two non-tapered panel ends meet.
- Corner bead
- Metal or vinyl trim that protects outside corners.
- Drywall lift
- A tool that raises panels to the ceiling for installation.
- Gypsum board
- The panel material commonly called drywall or sheetrock.
- Joint compound
- The paste used to tape and finish seams, also called mud.
- Levels of finish
- Industry levels from 0 to 5 describing how smooth drywall must be.
- Metal studs
- Light-gauge steel framing used in commercial buildings.
- Moisture-resistant board
- Drywall designed for areas with humidity, such as bathrooms.
- Screw pop
- A screw head that pushes through the finish, often from framing movement.
- Skim coat
- A thin layer of compound over a whole surface.
- Soffit
- A boxed-in area that hides ducts or pipes.
- Suspended ceiling
- A grid hung from the structure that holds ceiling tiles.
- Tapered edge
- The recessed long edge of a panel that hides tape and mud.
- Type X
- Fire-rated drywall with added glass fibers.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Drywall Installer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Drywall Installer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.