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Dry-wall repairs

pharmachippie | Posted in General Discussion on December 10, 2008 03:14am

Hi everyone.    HELP NEEDED!

Have a fair-sized irregular hole in a plaster dry-wall that needs fixing.Overall area would be approx.2 square feet. It is midway between stays.

I’ve been thinking plunge cut enough of the wall in a strip,wide enough to remove hole, to halfway across the face of the adjacent stays,replace with new bit,then attempt to plaster the joins.

Any ideas would be MOST appreciated.

Robin

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  1. maverick | Dec 10, 2008 03:29am | #1

    your terminology might be a little off but you are on the right track

    after you replace the drywall make sure you embed paper tape in the mud over the joints. then press the residual mud out from beneathy the tape with a taping knife. if there are any air bubbles lift the tape and apply more mud.

    let dry overnight then apply a successive applications of mud feathering wider with each coat. be patient

    when you think you have built it up enough sand smooth and paint.

    1. pharmachippie | Dec 10, 2008 05:17am | #5

      Gentlemen all, Danno,DonCanDo,Fasteddie, [think that's everybody],

      Many thanks for your thoughts,and yes,my terminology WAY out. Studs I knew but was having a 'seniors moment', the wall is plaster,not dry-wall..thanks for that.

      More  used to working with planes & chisels,all a bit new to this house building/renovating thing.

      Do like Fasteddies "little sister" idea,if I may call it that, could make the job much faster/easier.

      Thanks again guys,

      Robin

      1. FastEddie | Dec 10, 2008 07:14am | #6

        Wait, if the wall is "plaster not drywall" is there lath behind the plaster?  Do you perchance have a picture?"Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

        "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

        1. User avater
          Huck | Dec 10, 2008 07:15am | #7

          Wait, if the wall is "plaster not drywall" is there lath behind the plaster?  Do you perchance have a picture?

           

          Good idea.  If he's got a picture, maybe he could hang it over the hole in the wall!View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product” – Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com

        2. pharmachippie | Dec 10, 2008 08:43am | #9

          FE,

          No,it's not a lath & plaster wall.

          The material is called Gyprock here,a gypsum based board with a paper backing.This one is 10mm thick. Known as plasterboard around these parts.

          Comes in the usual sized sheets 4' x 8' and longer,and various thicknesses.

          I think your suggestion is the way to go.

          R.

          1. DonCanDo | Dec 10, 2008 02:26pm | #11

            I'm curious where "around these parts" is.  I don't hear "gyprock" or "plasterboard" much (New Jersey, USA) and I've never heard of of drywall being measured in metric (after all, dividing units of measure into unique increments depending on the unit and dividing inches into successive halves makes so much more sense...).

          2. JTC1 | Dec 10, 2008 03:32pm | #12

            Have heard "gyprock" across the river in Delaware, although I am not sure where.

            Mixing US and metric measure is fairly common with transplants from "across the pond" - lots of them around town with the chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

            10mm thick would translate to 3/8" drywall - probably not the right thickness -- but it might be! Probably 12.5mm thick (1/2" drywall)

            In any event I would attack the repair like you or Fasteddie suggested or a combination of the two techniques depending on the exact circumstances.

            JimNever underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.

          3. pharmachippie | Dec 11, 2008 03:28am | #13

            Hi again,

            Sorry guys,should have mentioned this. "These parts" are New South Wales,Australia.Go 70 odd miles south west of Sydney as if heading to Melbourne and you reach an area called the Southern Highlands.That's us!

            When we went to decimal currency in '66,the writing was on the wall for the rest of our measureing,weighing and engineering data.

            We are now metric in all things,even our measuring tapes are metric only. Our maps and road signeage are in kilometres.No wonder we don't know our a... from our elbow!

            The Gyprock range is made by a company called CSR, colonial sugar refining company,which was very big early in the 20th C when we produced a lot of sugar in northern Queensland.

            Their research division ,wisely I guess,were looking for other things to do,and whilst the name,or rather the acronym remains,the company is quite different these days.

            Gyprock is a very common material for interior walls down here.

            Again,thanks for you input,you have solved my problem.

            Robin

             

          4. brucet9 | Dec 11, 2008 04:00am | #14

            "When we went to decimal currency in '66,the writing was on the wall for the rest of our measuring,weighing and engineering data."We went metric on our currency in '76 or thereabouts - 1776 - and we STILL measure everything else in feet, inches, miles, gallons, pints, pounds, horsepower and BTU's.BruceT

          5. pharmachippie | Dec 11, 2008 04:20am | #15

            just shows what we let our politicians get away with!

            Robin

          6. DonCanDo | Dec 11, 2008 04:21am | #16

            We went metric on our currency in '76 or thereabouts - 1776...

            Really?  How many nickels in a dime, how many quarters in a dollar? :-)

          7. brucet9 | Dec 11, 2008 04:31am | #17

            "Really? How many nickels in a dime, how many quarters in a dollar? :-)"Now that makes no cents at all. :)BruceT

          8. User avater
            CapnMac | Dec 12, 2008 07:57am | #20

            We went metric on our currency in '76 or thereabouts

            I'm going to guess that he's referring to when the UK changed their currency from 20 12 pence shilling to the pound to 20 5d shillings the pound.

            Argh, wait, he's antipodean, they decimalized into 100d 'dollars' with various changes to crowns, shillings, farthings and the like before the UK did.

             Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

          9. ruffmike | Dec 11, 2008 05:27am | #18

            The Gyprock range is made by a company called CSR, colonial sugar refining company

            Brings to mind a joke I heard in Jamaica about the stale bread. Something about the flour plant being next to the cement factory.                            Mike

                Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.

          10. pharmachippie | Dec 12, 2008 05:32am | #19

            Ruffmike,

            Like it. :-)

            R

      2. brucet9 | Dec 10, 2008 08:21am | #8

        Since your wall is plaster, the aforementioned methods may not be the best because drywall is not as thick as plaster and not as hard when you get finished.To repair the hole to match the original, you can expand the hole to the studs on either side and sister on 1x2's as another poster suggested for support. I like to use Hardie backer (found in the tile section of HD or Lowes) to bridge the gap because it is quite rigid and good for adhesion of plaster over it. If you break out the edges of the widened hole, there will be high and low spots for the new plaster to grip to, so the joint will be firm. I take a spray bottle of water and soak the hardie backer and the margins of the old plaster. Then I trowel on patching plaster (not the fast-curing kind, the two hour kind) pressing a thin coat firmly to the backer and the edges for good adhesion and then apply full thickness for the final finish. It sets in a couple of hours and can be sanded to remove any high spots. If the wall is unpainted, you're done.After 72 hours, according to the manufacturer, the plaster may be painted or primed and papered. I like to wait a week if possible before painting.BruceT

        1. pharmachippie | Dec 10, 2008 08:52am | #10

          BruceT,

          This is another great suggestion.Didn't think along those lines at all.This would be quite an ellegant solution.

          Thank you

          Robin

  2. Danno | Dec 10, 2008 03:34am | #2

    BY "stays," do you mean the vertical 2x4's that are in the wall? Studs? Your idea to make the patch land half way on the studs is a good one. I would probably cut the patch piece and then trace the piece onto the wall and cut the wall. There is a way you can make the patch piece oversized and then remove strips of the core of the drywall, leaving just the facing paper, so you don't need to tape it, but that may be a lot of messing around.

    Anyway, cut the drywall out, put in the new piece, using drywall screws to fasten it to the studs. Drive the screws until they "dimple" the paper of the patch piece without tearing the paper. Put pre-mixed joint compound on the joints and bed the tape using your drywall knife, then cover the tape with joint compound and smooth it with the knife. Thin layers are best.

    There have bben lots of discussions about taping technique that you should be able to get by doing an "advanced search" on words like "drywall finishing" or "taping drywall" that will tell you in great detail more specificalluy how to do it.

    Best wishes.

  3. DonCanDo | Dec 10, 2008 03:42am | #3

    Is it plaster or drywall?  Those are 2 different things.

    If it's drywall (also called sheetrock), you can do what you suggested... btw, they're called studs, not stays, but there's an easier way.

    Get a new piece of drywall slightly larger than the hole you need to repair.

    Hold this patch over the hole and trace it.  Then enlarge the hole to the mark you traced.  You now have a perfect-sized patch.

    Secure some backer material (e.g. 1X4 or 3/4" plywood strips) behind the drywall by screwing through the face of the drywall above and below the whole.  Use a piece of backer every 12" or so and use at least 2 of them.

    Drop you patch in place (you did remember to mark which way it goes, right?) and screw it to the backer strips.

    You're now ready for taping and spackling.  And it's not called plastering unless you really mean to use plaster, which I'm guessing you don't.

    1. FastEddie | Dec 10, 2008 04:49am | #4

      I agree with Don.  For a slight alternate, if he is intent on cutting back to the adjacent stud-stays, cut flush with the inside of the stud, then put a 2x2 against the side of the stud and butt up against the back of the sheetrock.  Screw rthe 2x2 to the stud, then screw the sheetrock patch to the 2x2.  Or a piece of straight 1x2 could also work.

      "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

      "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

      Edited 12/9/2008 8:50 pm ET by FastEddie

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