I am thinking about buying a house and it also has the old tentest for most of the walls. Is it possible to sand this stuff down at all or plaster it over a bit before repriming and painting to make it a little smoother or will that ruin it and make a big mess? I don't really want to replace all the walls right away with gyprock.
Hello, A hopefully quick question about drywall.
I have a 96x80 closet opening that used to house bypass doors. This is not quite centered in a 12 ft. wall. I'm adding a small partition at the center of the opening and installing double doors on both sides. The partition will be about 12 in wide.
Regarding drywall the obvious naive approach would be to simply slap up a couple of approximately 80x12 in piece of drywall, tape the top seams and be done with it. From what I've read however this is almost certain to crack at the top corners as these are door openings.
If it was new construction I guess what would be done is to install 2 4x12 sheets of drywall and cut out the opening. From what I've read it sounds like folks just put it up and cut it in place.
I'd kind of like to avoid removing and rehanging all that drywall just to put up a 12 in wide strip.
Is there something I can do to strengthen the taped joint so that it will better resist cracking over time?
Doing it right > doing it easy or cheap so if I have to redo that drywall I will but I'd like to hear how you professionals would deal with it. Redoing that drywall seems an awful lot of work for these two small pieces.
thank you for replies ml
Some additional info about this job that might influence how to do it.
The ceiling is not level at 96 in. across the wall.
It's gabled and goes from 66 in at the left (facing the opening) wall all the way up to 156 in at the ridge and then back down to 152 in. So assuming i did replace the lower 2 12 ft drywall panels the top one would have to be trimmed to fit the ceiling and the seam between it and the next piece would have to be taped/finished etc.
Not a tremendous difference but it's clearly more work than if the ceiling was just at 96 in across the length of the wall.
again thank you for replies ml
Might I suggest using a piece of expansion joint. See one here:
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I would just make certain there was solid blocking behind the joint. In other words, after you place the two studs 12" apart to frame the new partition, fill in between them at the top with a piece of 2 by fastened securely to the existing header. Use a nice, dry piece so it won't shrink on you. Fasten the studs to the header and the blocking and fasten the blocking to the header. You want as rigid an assembly as possible. Then screw the drywall to the blocking and tape the joint as usual. You might even consider using double studs at each side of the opening to really make a stiff assembly. The drywall won't crack if the joint is backed up solidly.
HTH,
Paul
I am a novice DIYer who is renovating a second floor bathroom.I took a wall out and extended my bathroom into an adjoining closet.There is now a 4inch gap between the drywall of my bathroom and the drywall of the closet where the old wall used to be. The gap is also in the ceiling. Is it better to patch the gap, or remove the drywall in the old closet and use one piece? Thanks
Both ways will work. Patching is the easiest but you will be putting tape on two seams 4" apart and then finishing it as one very wide seam.
Harry K
I agree (after having just drywalled my basement with zero experience...) You can do either. If you replace the drywall in the closet, you'll have a better chance of feathering that one seam than if you put a patch piece in. Plus, with one seam, you have a better chance of the tapered edge making for an invisible seam. With a patch - you're probably going to end up with one or two but-jointed pieces meeting - they're harder to feather out.
Either way is fine. Do you have exposed studs in the gap?
a
Depends on you. Patching is easy, and cheaper. If you have texture, write back, and I'll give you some tips I have learned for retexturing small areas.
Steve
"SteveB" wrote on 21 Jan 2008 in group alt.home.repair:
Give us your tips anyway. I'm always up to learn a new trick. Thanks!
I have exposed studs in the wall, but I don't know yet about the ceiling. The ceiling in my bathroom has popcorn stucco, while the ceiling in my closet was just bare drywall.The wall I removed had 2
2x4's--a header?--nailed into the rafters.I removed one of the 2x4s, but I am worried when I remove the top one the blown-in insulation in my attic is going to fall into the bathroom.I guess I will have to do it eventually. I think finishing the ceiling is going to be a head ache.
With those cans, saying "get everything masked" because of overspray is like saying you need an umbella in New Orleans because of the hurricanes. Those things are like setting off a small paint bomb. If you've mastered it in two cans, you're better than me -- I'm still having nightmares.
I've had better luck with the roll/brush on version of paint (at least I don't end up picking styrofoam out of my teeth for the next month).
They have to do with fixing texturing. These are for orange peel and knockdown. There's not much to say about taping and mudding other than to have it flat.
I remodeled a couple of rooms, and there were about ten square feet of retexturing to do. A couple of really narly places where boxes were covered over and such. A three square foot space on the ceiling that I thought I could never get to looking good. Now you can't find the repairs.
Texture of mud for retexturing is critical. I find thin to be best. Some people have developed ways of slinging it off a particular brush, or taking a whisk broom and flicking a few straws or straight daubing. Point is, I'm only telling you what I got to work.
And that was fingers. BUT, there's a huge difference in where you dunk your fingers into the wet mud and how you flick/fling your fingers. If you dunk your finger or fingertips in the mud, when you flick your fingers from a fist it flies off different than if you put the long part of your finger into a tray and let it get on the edge that has your fingerprints on it. I call flicking like you'd pop your kid on the noggin holding your fingertip on your thumb and holding your hand still. Flinging is when you fling your whole forearm and hand. Fingertips will give you smaller areas of dots. Finger sides (the palm side) will give you longer patterns, and be more elongated then just spots. Flicking gives one result, flinging another, and kind of a popping action with the hand/wrist another, although it makes your arm ache for a couple of days.
So, either way, take a piece of trash drywall and try flicking and flinging. For small areas, I have found that for me, doing it with just my fingers works best.
If you do a knockdown, the timing of the knockdown is critical. You wait until the drops have dried with a white ring around them, and the center is still tan from being wet. Don't get impatient, you will have a lot of time to knockdown before it actually dries hard. You can't wait eight hours, or have it 100 degrees from a heater in there and expect to get any kind of knockdown.
As for other textures, it's just a matter of trial and error and doing it a lot. But understanding the thickness of the mud, spattering/application techniques, and knowing when to knock down help a lot.
And if you mess up, just take a wet towel, wipe, and do it again.
HTH
Steve
I have exposed studs in the wall, but I don't know yet about the ceiling. The ceiling in my bathroom has popcorn stucco, while the ceiling in my closet was just bare drywall.The wall I removed had 2
2x4's--a header?--nailed into the rafters.I removed one of the 2x4s, but I am worried when I remove the top one the blown-in insulation in my attic is going to fall into the bathroom.I guess I will have to do it eventually. I think finishing the ceiling is going to be a head ache.You may have to tape the joint. Or build some type of backup.
If it's popcorn, it's doable with those cans. Just have everything masked you don't want texture on, and realize that once you hit the button, you have got about three seconds of blasting spray. I wasted about two cans just getting used to that. Distance is critical, and if you're too close, you'll end up with a blob that looks like a cowpie. And then it will fall on your head. Start your arms in motion before you hit the button, and let off the button while your arms are still moving, trying to push the button when it lines up with the area you want textured. Swing past both ends. Try to put it on light rather than heavy. You may get lucky and get it right in one pass. It ain't rocket surgery, but it IS tricky. Clean up excess that spatters while it's wet with damp cloth.
Good luck, have fun, and wear something to keep it from falling into your eyes.
Steve
I have a tip on the _path of least destruction_! Cost just .99 cents.
Texture tips are extra :-))
Oren
--
If you are going to patch the 4" gap, you can try using a drywall which is thinner than the existing walls (if possible). So if you have 1/2" on your walls, use 3/8. This can make feathering in the patch easier.
You said you had a double top-plate? Hopefully it wasn't load-bearing
- you might want to confirm. Did the builder use furring strips under the joists? Or is the ceiling drywall attached directly to the joists? Adding add'l furring strips is pretty easy and gives you a nailing edge for your drywall.
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