Avoid Common Drywall Problems With These Uncommon Drywall TechniquesAnd that's good for you, because by using these tips you will avoid common drywall problems that often plague the do it yourself individual. You may be thinking, "why this page about drywall? My concern is repairing my plaster problems." Fair enough. The fact is, knowing how to drywall is something you will find quite handy in your plaster repair project, because you will have recourse to drywall as a plaster repair material.
If you have holes in your plaster, drywall is often the most efficient way to close them up. And if you should decide to overlay that really bad plaster with thin drywall, knowing the right drywall techniques - I call them pro drywall tips - can save you much grief. To start with, keep in mind that drywall is fragile. It is very easy to break corners, by banging on the floor or into something else. Broken drywall must be fixed during the taping process. Crushed corners, breaks, torn paper - each must be dealt with. Here is the key drywall tip to keep in mind. Anything that breaks the bond between the gypsum core and the paper face must be repaired if you are going to avoid bubbles in your finished product. This usually involves cutting out the loose paper at the damaged site and applying drywall tape over it. At the same time, you will remove any crushed or powdered material you can see before you apply mud. Then, for filling the gap, hot mud (chemically hardening joint compound) is perfect. And it also provides excellent bedding for the tape you put over the damaged area later when it is ready. Here's a novel drywall technique for you. Use only dry wallboard. Damp or really wet drywall needs to sit awhile in a dry area before it can be used. If you order drywall from a supplier whose drywall is stored in an unheated space, and it is a damp or cold time of the year, it's going to come to you wet. It may not feel so wet, but take my word for it - it needs to dry for a few days in your heated space. Now, for a pro wallboard tip I have never seen discussed before. Butt joints are usually the hardest joints to finish well, since there is no recess to take the tape. The common drywall technique to apply to butt joints is to go thin but wide with your topping coats. Well enough. But there is a step that is often left out, which leads to ridged joints. When you look carefully at the end of a drywall sheet, you will often see that the edge has a burr to it. This is created by the knife in the factory that cuts the sheet to size. That burr is a subtle paper ridge, a little fuzzy, that will not usually glue down snuggly under your tape. You put two of these together as a butt joint and you've got trouble. Even one side of the joint with a burr can ruin your finish work. The solution is simple: take a sharp utility knife and carefully cut along the edge of the sheet, at an angle, and slice that burr off. Cut cleanly so you don't raise up any additional paper. Now when you tape over this, the mud will shrink down a little into the joint as it dries and you will get a snuggly taped seam.
Any loose or burred paper, wherever it appears, should be trimmed cleanly away and mudded over. What about joining two pieces of drywall together, with one being a "factory edge" (the paper-wrapped long edge of the drywall sheet) and the other a piece you cut? Conventional wisdom says - "don't do it!." The truth is, it can be done but a precaution is in order. The two pieces in this case are not the same thickness, the factory edge being a little thinner than the cut piece. The remedy is simple - just prefill the thinner side of the joint and let dry (or harden, if using hot mud). Then tape and finish as normal and it should work just fine. Fasteners. Which is better, nails or screws? I vote for SCREWS. The fewer nails you use, the better. But ... for people who insist on using nails, I say a special drywall technique is in order. Be VERY careful how you set the nails. If you slam that nail creating a big dimple at the end, you're gonna have trouble getting your finish work to look good. And why is that? When you smash rock around the nail with your final blow, you have just crushed the gypsum core around the nail head, and you no longer have much of a bond between the core and the face paper. When you mud over your nailheads later, the moisture in your joint mud causes the paper to swell and you often will get a blister over the nail head. You may not see it right away, but it will show up later, maybe when the job is being painted. I have seen jobs that were "professionally" installed and finished and I could count almost every nail through the paint. What a pity! It doesn't have to be that way. When you hammer nails, be very careful to set the nails just deep enough to be easily covered with joint mud. No big dimple is necessary. You can even set the nails with a nail set. GROAN! Yes, I know it's a hassle, so don't use many nails! Use screws! Besides, you get a lot less pops later down the road with screws than with nails. The drywall techniques I have just offered should be "common sense", which unfortunately is not common enough. The mistake drywall hangers often make is to treat drywall like some kind of rough sheathing. No, no. Drywall is finish material, and deserves some respect. And when it is installed with some decent care taken, it makes the finisher's job a lot easier. One last drywall tip: don't overset the screws. You want them in just far enough to cover well with mud, but not deep enough to break the paper. About a sixteenth of an inch is right. If you do break the paper, just move over an inch or two and put in another screw. Knowing good drywall how to procedures and following these basic drywall techniques should make your finishing work go a lot easier, with a trouble-free result you can be proud of. ___________________________________________________ Looking for a good local drywall contractor? Here's a free service to get no obligation estimates for your drywall project.Check out the form at the bottom of the page. Return from Drywall Techniques to Home Page
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