Bad drywall job
8/26/2011 at 11:58:31 AM
The previous owners "finished" the basement. I think they had several issues, one being they couldn't get full sheets of drywall down the stairs and two they had no clue what they were doing. So both the ceilings and walls are patched together, but to make matters worse when the mudded the joins they DID NOT SAND before painting!! Shy of taking all of the drywall out (which I really do not want to do because of the mess and the expense of replacing) what are our options to make this diaster look better? I know it will never look perfect, I just want it to look okay. We have considered a powersander to try to get thru the paint to reach the mud/drywall compound or skim coating the entire ceiling and walls and try to smooth it out a little.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
8/26/2011 at 11:02:26 PM
Roxane,
I highly recommend that you do not use a power sander on your walls. It won't give you the outcome that you are hoping for. Sadly in these cases the best that you can do without replacing drywall is to skim the walls. You should sand them first with 80 Grit and a pole sander, then apply new mud. A skilled drywaller should be able to smooth out your walls with a couple coats of mud (Depending on how bad they are). I hope this helps.
Joe Bartley
Jospix Construction
705-772-3709
8/30/2011 at 4:27:49 PM
Roxanne,
I agree with the Jospix response. We have successfully skim coated over bad mudding jobs and small textured ceilings in the past. A good taper can achieve perfect results so you will never see the rough job again. Sanding the walls provides a better bite for the paint especially if it has any sort of gloss to it. Make sure all dust is removed before the mudding work starts.
Good luck
Steve
Red Hill Renovations
604 615-6657
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