Sheetrock repair

[Jack]

In removing wallpaper some of the sheetrock paper layers peeled off partially. I try to repair it as much as possible by removing all the paper edges on the sheetrock before applying the skimcoat. The problem appeared the next day after the skimcoat in that there are many bubbles where the paper damages were. I had to either cut out the bubbles or glue it down and skim coat it again. It took a few cycles before it was done right as some of the bubbles reappeared again and then again. For the time spend it would have been faster just to rip off the sheetrock to bare studs and re-rock. Is there a special way to repair the damaged sheetrock with not so many skimcoats?

[Mike Paulsen]

Before you start mudding: Peel/scrape off the loose paper. Prime the area with an oil-based primer and let it dry. Peel/scrape off any remaining loose paper and re-prime those spots.

You may find a few bad spots after you apply the first skim coat. If that happens, carefully remove the loose paper and give those spots a quick shot of KILZ spray primer.

I've used BIN, KILZ, and a few other brands of primer for this application and haven't noticed that one works better than another. Zinsser makes a product specifically for this, but I haven't tried it yet:

[teddybear]

Best method is to rip out all the sheetrock in the entire house and start over. Why piss around with old junk....

[NickySantoro]

There is a product called Gardz. I think it's made by Zinnser. Right now I'm too tired to go out to my truck to check. Two coats about an hour apart then a two hour dry. Hardens the damaged drywall like a rock. No bubbling when you spackle. I've been using it for a couple of years and it has given me excellent results after difficult paper removals. Truth be told, I think water based sanding sealer will give you the same result. Looks and smells the same to me. FWIW YMMV