A few years back we had an earthquake in our area, and it caused several drywall seems to crack in our upstairs living area. One of the cracks just happened to be on the ceiling of my living room along the ridgeline of the roof. It was a hairline crack, nothing huge. But I figured over time it would probably just get bigger, so I tried to repair it and do the job right.
I read Myron Ferguson’s Drywall book, and tried using his advice. First, I cleaned out all the debris with a utility knife, then put a layer of Beadex down, then paper tape, and feathered it out with two more layers of Beadex (after proper drying of course). Now after all that work, I see that the tape has bubbles and my feathering was less than perfect (the tape edges are showing up). Needless to say, the job looks less than professional, and I only made a mess out of my ceiling. Is there any way to remove what I have done, and start over from scratch? I’d rather not sand it off becuase of all the dust that would be created in this furnished area, and I’m thinking of using water and a drywall spunge to wipe it off. I thought I’d check with you folks first. I can’t find a reference to doing this in Mr. Ferguson’s book.
Replies
Not familiar with "Beadex" but drywall mud will soften with moisture, as long as its not painted. To do the fix right you will need to sand anyway, so I'd clear out or cover the furniture, and patch it right. You might be able to cut out the bubbles, then mud and sand till its right, and texture. Or start over from scratch.
Which means mud embedded tape, with 2 more coats, sand after each coat has dried, and texture to match - a 4 step process. Primer and paint adds a few more. I usually use mesh tape for patches, but if I'm using paper tape I dip it in a bucket of water before embedding it in the first coat of mud - minimizes bubbling. If its done right the patch will be invisible.
Can't speak to the technical side of how to make the repairs, but as far as controlling the dust you will create, investigate Zipwall (http://www.zipwall.com/).
Found it at my local Sherwin-Williams store - reasonably priced, goes up in a few minutes, even has a zipper entry way so you can leave it up until the job is done and still get in and out of the work area to take a break.
Effective in controliing the migration of dust - some will invariably get through, but 99% of it is contained within the walled off section.
Now, if Zipwall just made a suction device that, when you pop the cap, sucked the wall and everything inside it, including all the dust, into a waste bag outside your house.....
Good luck.
Griff
Thanks for posting that. I've been looking at the ads for Zipwall, and wondering just how easy/effective it really is. I do a LOT of drywall patching, and have had more than one angry customer, despite my warnings ("this will make a lot of fine white dust that gets everywhere"). How many times have you used it? How is the plastic attached? Love to hear anything else you can tell me about it.
Well, with the admission up front that I am not a pro, just a homeowner who thinks he can do a lot (probably debatable), I've used it 3 times in my own house and once in my mother-in-law's house (as close to a finickity customer anyone could ever get!).
It went up quickly using the telescoping poles (I had the help of my brother which no doubt made it easier), and after a bit of adjusting the tension of the plastic the first time (more than I really needed to do, but what did I know), I taped the edges to the ceiling, walls and floor. The taping provided the real seal I guess. I took extra time to make sure the taping was secure and covered all areas.
The 1st two times I was lucky - bare flat ceiling w/no light fixture in the way, smooth walls and bare wood floors. Tape sealed everything like a charm.
The third time, in the basement, was a bit different - popcorn ceiling with a recessed lamp, smooth walls but with a window, and low pile indoor outdoor carpeting which was headed for the dumpster but had not yet been taken out. Sealed the walls perfectly as always. Even the ceiling wasn't too bad, although it took several layers of tape to make sure I had continuous coverage. Used extra sheeting to cover the window and extra tape to join it to the main sheeting. The carpeting, however, was hopeless. Very little if any of the tape stuck and stayed. We laid out 2x4s along the length of the floor on the extra plastic and stacked extra tools and tool chests and anything heavy we could find on the wood to keep them solidly in place.
While the bulk of the dust stayed in the enclosure, some did get out from the basement area - enough that you could easily see that some got out. Especially on the carpeting. On the other hand, very little extra dust was noted upstairs after the first two tries.
I used painter's tape for most of the taping as it's not supposed to leave a residue. On the basement ceiling and floor, though, I tried everything - from duct tape to aluminum tape to wide band scotch tape. Nothing much stuck and a good deal of dust got through.
My mother-in-law's place went pretty well as everything was flat. She groused about all the extra work I made her do to prepare the area (move furniture, take up rugs, pull down drapes, etc), and I warned her that dust may get through and circulate throughout the house despite my best efforts, but things did go pretty well and not much, if any, dust was noticeable afterwards. DW was a big help to mollify the old gal. I told her it was the least I could do for my favorite mother-in-law which produced a big smile and a hug from her and a kick from DW. To this day, I don't think she's gotten it.
So, I guess, tell your customer that, in all likelihood, some dust will get past your best hi-tech efforts to control the flow. Even if she doesn't notice a lot of dust afterwards, you've not done any damage. Perhaps she should cover high value items with sheets or remove them completely from the area to begin with.
Before you take it down, after all your work is complete, clean, clean, clean it up!. Vacuum and dust everything several times. Even use a damp rag if that doesn't compromise your work. Even wipe down the inside of the plastic sheeting. Keep your vacuum handy and work it as you start to dismantle the plastic frame. I used an old shaggy dust mop that I sprayed with Endust (supermarket item). Take it down and fold it up in an orderly manner, take it outside and shake it out away from the entry to the job.
And, if you can, step outside quickly (through a side entrance if you can) and slap and brush the dust off yourself and your clothes. Same with your partner. No one needs to do a great job only to track dust back in from his own clothing and boots.
Good luck. Let us know how your experience works out.
Griff.
Thank you gentlemen. Although I hated doing it I ended up misting the the taped area with a spray bottle, then scraped and pealed off the tape, and wiped off the mud with a damp spunge. I had a drop cloth down to catch the debris. No dust this time, but for future reference I'll look into the zipwall for the sanding. Thanks again.