I totally trusted my drywall sub until today. Now I have doubts. The staircase landing walls were saved until last. Inside radius quarter-circle curves fairing to tangent walls adjacent. 38″ radius. Studs true and straight on 7″ centers. The rocker said no problem, he had done them all before, just wet the rock and wrap it. Claimed he did not need 1/4″ flexboard, and besides, no one stocks it for 200 miles.
Today I go on the job and he has a swimming pool built outside the door, lumber dams around a 6-mil poly pond bottom, and full sheets of 1/2″ rock are submerged within, having a bath and a swim. Looks like a big koi pond. He has one dripping wet sheet inside, and is wrecking it as he did the first, claiming it won’t bend tight enough to make the curve. Blames it on the “cheap recycled paper” that USG is facing the gypboard with. I didn’t ask how long the rock had been in the bathtub.
So, what are you going to do, I ask. He calls the yard and asks whether they have any 3/8 board, gets a roger, and runs down to pick some up.
I get on the cellphone and call USG tech help, and they recommend two layers of 1/4″ flexboard. I run down to the yard to see the boss, and he says maybe he can get a unit of the stuff toploaded on the delivery expected in two days. Good! says I.
I get back to the job and the rocker has the 3/8 board up and looking OK. He says it made the curve OK and that he will have the taping crew give full mud coats on the curves, starting with the hard stuff, to fair it out so it comes in nice where it goes tangent into the wall that is rocked with 1/2 inch.
I know the studs are packed tight, and I failed to mention, are foamed solid between with urethane insulation. The foamer did a beautiful job, using a flexible Japanese saw, fairing the foam to the curved stud line, after he packed it out and overfoamed to ensure complete fill. But to I really want 3/8 rock in my CENTRAL FEATURE OF THE HOUSE staircase?
I think my rocker is dog-paddling. I trusted him to do it, including ordering the right materials for the job. Am I getting a good job, or is he just bailing himself out?
Replies
Mr. Micro: This stairway that I attached a picture of was one I built two years ago. The inside radius was 11 inches. The drywaller said he could do it with 1/2 inch drywall....and he did!
I could not believe it. He did soak it for awhile and then slowly bent it to the desired radius.
I've seen rockers use the "koi pond" and done it myself. I think your guy just misjudged how tight he could bend it and went for plan "B" which seems to be working. I don't see a problem with 3/8" on 7" centered studs, especially with foam insulation backing it up.
I would tell him and his tapers that you're going to be very picky on the final curve and then be picky.
Smile. It could be worse. You could be me working for you.
He knows I am going to be picky. I told him it had better look as smooth as the hull on an America's cup racer. We've already got the halogens out.
as smooth as the hull on an America's cup racer
Hope he doesn't know that the Cup boats all have a micro-grooved laminate applied to the underwater hulls (it's a laminar flow thing, the k value turbulence gets held to the grooves, improving performance through the water). <grinn', really>
I'd want to see a shim behind the 3/8 where it tranistions to 1/2, to bring the surfaces to almost the same plane, rather than just mudding it up. But that might just be because I'd do it that way, if forced (I would have gone for 1/4 up front).
The soaking strategy should have worked but it is a bit of an art form. The big trick is that only one side of the rock should get wet. If he is soaking both sides he will get a nice mushy mess.
I should qualify that statement with the fact that I've watched this done but I've never personally tried it. Another technique I've heard about but never tried is laying the rock over a radiused buck and soaking the face up side until it relaxes and conforms. It is then left to dry in the sun until it's rigid enough to handle. Both techniques rely on only one side of the facing paper getting wet though.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Here you go again, living up to your title as the micro-managment king!
;)
It's time to close your eyes and don't look again until he says you can. Just let him know ( sounds like you already have) that if it isn't right, he'll be doing it over.
Excellence is its own reward!
Just let him know ( sounds like you already have) that if it isn't right, he'll be doing it over.
On a much tighter time frame... with you looking over his shoulder... commenting... frequently... in front of everyone else on the job. :-)>Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -