Drywall Fixup
I am buying an 3 family partial rehab house. All the drywall has "gobs" of gawdy textures. Looks like a ceiling gone wild. Do I have to completely rip out or can I sand the finish down with out screwing up the wall. Easiest route?
Tess:
Yes, you can sand the textures off, but keep in mind...it will take forever and and a day. You would be better off just tearing it out and replacing.
Kerry .... Ex Drywall Contractor
[addsig]
Hey, a contractor just fixed the ceilings in a house I'm having rehabbed by just buying 1/4" dry wall, and putting on top of the ugly ceilings that were there. Didn't tear it out, just nailed on top of what was there, then finished it out, and it looks great!
It's alot easier to put a cover on a ceiling than it is walls. If you do that on walls none of your trim will fit anymore.
There isn't an easy way out for this situation I'm afraid. Maybe try a razor scrapper, take off what you can, leave a texture but not so glumpy.
Our home was textured by what looked like a wadded up newspaper.....Pretty ugly...what I did and it like all choices is a lot of work, was to knock down the high stuff and then float the entire house with mud... It looks a million times better.....once it dried I sanded, textured and painted .....
Years ago we had a sarcastic mantra in the trades – “lam-i-nate! lam-i-nate!”, which is the previously mentioned process of mounting drywall directly onto the existing surface. It’s the simplest way to hide the sins and transgressions of those before us.
I/4” drywall is acceptable but I prefer 1/2” just because the items you’re trying to hide may tend to show through the 1/4”. As previously noted (in mykle’s post) it does not come without it’s own problems. Each property will be different. If you’re lucky, there will be no crown moulding, or picture or chair, and only the baseboard will need replacing. If you’re really lucky, the baseboard will have a flat top ridge with room enough to accept the wall’s new girth.
I’ve also compounded (applying mud) large areas, but would recommend against it. Go into it with the knowledge that it may, in fact, hold and last, or you may be redoing it again real soon when the cracking starts. Use a bonding agent like plasterweld between new and old.
I like to say that my renovation decisions are predicated on a fluctuating level of insanity, but the real mantra here is “it’s all about the numbers”. The property and the area will tell you what it warrants. Sometimes it’s best to try to find the true beauty in those textures, and let it alone.
Regardless of your decision, remember that flat, neutral-toned paint rules the world.
Quinn