Our house is now 4 years old. Our family room has 19 foot high ceilings, and when the house was being built, the rough framing was waterlogged from all the rain we had before the roof was finished.
Needless to say, we have screw-pops all over the walls. They are not noticeable at night, but in the daytime when the sun streams across the wall, it is quite a sight.
I had try to repair some of them, but made it worse because you can see little flat spots where I repaired and then reprimed and painted.
Is there any type of finish that can be either troweled or better yet sprayed on to give the wall a skimcoat-type finish like when the old-time plasterers worked with blueboard?
This is regular old sheetrock with paint on top. We would want a nice smooth finish, not like those fake stucco finishes you see.
Thanks.
Dave
Replies
Before you start playing with the final finish make sure you secure the rock with new screws.
"Live Free,
not Die"
What rez had to say...
screw off rthe DW as though it was new install... set the pops...
bed and top coat... you could roller on thinned DW mud with a smooth roller to blend yur repairs...
very lightly sand the rollered mud... when you reprime and paint use a heavy knapped (3/4"+) roller to give it more blend...
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What rez had to say...
screw off rthe DW as though it was new install... set the pops...
I asked in another thread what DW was, and they told me............
So............ how does rez know about his "dear wife" and he should do what?-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I believe the fix is simpler than you are assuming at this point. Youve fixed the pops, sanded, repainted. Its close, but you can see the sheen difference. Im going to argue simple paint prep is the cure. Pole sand lightly the whole wall. Now its a little dull. You will be able to easily see any shiny spots that need another lick. If you repaint with two or more coats, the whole wall, I dont think you'll see the repairs anymore.
I do a lot of patchwork. Its inevitable that spot patches show, but after I've patched, then painted them, I got back and do the whole wall corner to corner like I just described. No worries.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
What I have found about screw pops, is this.
The pops must be dug out so that you can reset the screw by driving it tight again. It is a good idea to drive a new screw above or below each fixed pop.
Then re-mud the fixed pops and all the new screw recesses. Sand the entire wall, and use a product like USG's "Tuff Hide."
Go to USG's site and download the specs for Tuff Hide. You'll see that it can be tinted to approximate the final paint job. This might not be the case if the final paint job is to be a dark color.
Then you are ready to repaint.
Tuff Hide approximates a skim coat, and will mask all mud work. Your finished wall should look perfect!
"Is there any type of finish that can be either troweled or better yet sprayed on to give the wall a skimcoat-type finish like when the old-time plasterers worked with blueboard?"
Sounds like a contradiction to me - nothing "sprayed on" could approximate a hand-troweled finish. Drywall finishers often use a skip-trowel finish to approximate the look of a plastered wall, it's attractive and easy to patch should the need arise. Not a homeowner project, 'though, you'd want an experienced finisher.
You don't say what type of texture is on there now. That would definitely be a factor. Skip-trowel only works over a flat, untextured wall. If you have a sprayed "orange-peel" or "knock-down" texture, you'd be better to try to match it, and yes, that does come in a spray can for small touch-ups.
To the best of my knowledge no texture applied with a paint roller could ever match a professional drywall finish. Maybe it's different there, but here in Calif. the only trade that uses paint rollers are painters.
Unfortunately, when I originally was doing the patching, I thought the answer was to leave the repair slightly elevated when sanding (like a small himp).
Now you can see these all over the area where I patched (10-15 of them).
The paint was applied with a roller, so there is a slight orange peel. Would it make sense to sand down the little humps or just go over everything with new compound and feather it out?
Your case is perfect for the D-Mix. If you do a search on breaktime you will find the EZ Way to skim coat the walls without any sanding or special skill.
Greetings Dave,
If you scroll down in the lower left corner of your screen there is a search function that will take you to previous threads dealing with whatever you type in the search bar.
If you type in 'D-mix' or other keywords of the subject matter you'll get a supply of data from those old threads.
Cheers"Live Free, not Die"
"Orange Peel" is a sprayed texture. Paint applied with a roller might have a slight tooth, but it doesn't actually add texture to the wall. Drywall joint compound is very hard to sand once its been painted. If the humps are low, I'd recommend skimming over them, and then sanding. If they're high, sand them - but be prepared to go through a lot of sandpaper, latex paint doesn't really sand very well, it tends to gum up the paper. Probably the best bet is try sanding, and see what happens.A lot depends on if the area is easy to get to. If its easy access, and not a large area, I'd consider skimming/sanding the whole thing. If you're not experienced in drywall finishing, get someone who does drywall, and offer them cash to come over and make it look right. To me there's no substitute for a professional finish, and no way to hide anything less.
Okay, Guys.
I read the other threads on D-mix, and it sounds great. I am a true amateur and would be looking to do 2 walls that are each about 20x24. Would there be anyone on the list in the Hartford,CT area that is experienced in this?
Or how would I find someone in my area who knows about this technique?
53989.1
I looked at the link that you left about the D-mix, but I'm unsure what I should do.
Should I find someone in my area to try this,? I'm afraid to do it myself as the walls are massive, and they tend to show up any irregularity since the room faces south and gets alot of light, especially in the winter (when the sun is low).
What is the exact ratio and ingredients:
I saw that you use joint compound, latex primer, and plaster of paris. What ratios do you use for these?
Thanks.
Dave
Dave. you can do it.
May be I can come over to start the job for you and anyone who likes to learn the D-MIX.
Talk to Mike Smith. He can make it happen. may be he can organize a D-mix day at your house?
If you want to try it your self, mix 3 gallons of JC with one quart to 1/3 of latex primer (PVA) and one small coffee cup of plaster of paris.
The rest is try and error until you get it. And you will.Use a genuine lamb skin 3/4" roller and try to cover a 4' x 4' area each time before you make it smooth with a taping knife.
Yes you must have a thousand questions now because the Devil is on the details and you're afraid to try something new.
And I think your case may be a good place for a video?
I would love to have a few guys over for a D-mix party. I don't know Mike Smith, but are you guys close to me in the Hartford area?
I do have a few questions....Should I rescrew down where the new screw pops are, or can I just roll right over them?
Do you have a video on how to do the job? To tell the truth, though, since I've screwed up before with the walls, I'd rather have a professional do it.
Thanks.
Dave
What Razz said.
Screw it like it was new.
The nail pops... Don't hammer them back.
Cut around the pop with a utility knife and remove the... pop.
Then hit the nail in again. The areas from the removed nail pops can be patch one time only prior to the D-mix with Durabond.or similar setting compound.
The new screws don't have to be cover prior to the D-Mix.
now, let see if some folks want to joint in for one day D-Mix party.
I be going to JLC LIVE RI in march 17. The show is on the 18 and 19. I can make a stop over your place the 17. And in 30 minutes you can take over the job.
YC, I'm finally somewhat figuring out what this d mix is all about. I'm curious about the finish. Is it a smooth finish, or some sort of textured finish?
I have a garage to do, but more importantly I just finished roughing in a second floor master suite for a GC that used to post in her...a fellow BTer and he had some serious need for a D-Mix application in the lower level. In his living room they tore off paneling and it ripped huge chunks out of the plastered walls where the glue had set. He has numerous nail holes too.
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
YC, I'm finally somewhat figuring out what this d mix is all about. I'm curious about the finish. Is it a smooth finish, or some sort of textured finish?
B.E.D. You can make it very smooth or you can make it "very interesting" knock down stucco. I'm trying to find the EZ way now to demo this thing and in few weeks I will have a video. And if everything works out with Dave,I will stop over his house March 17th to "start" the job for him and anyone who likes to learn this.
any more questions talk to my manager. "Jeff"
Jeff. You ask for it.
Welcome Dave,
I don't believe it's been cleared up as to what type of finish you have on the walls yet. You say it's a 4 yr old house...so I'm going to go ahead and venture a guess that it's a light orange peel (splatter) texture.
Gig out the old (loose) mud if you can synch it down a bit and okay...but not necessary if you put another screw close to the old one, ( think Razz said that) about an inch away is good. If your dealing with drywall nails, just drive one in right next to the one that popped and tie it down with the new one.
Get yourself some "one time" spackle (red devil) and fill the holes flat. When dry get a wet grout sponge and wipe off the patch gingerly and pay special attention to the edges, blending them into the textured surface. You going to be going from a smooth patch to a textured surface, so you're going to be tapering (so to speak) from all patch to no patch at the edges where you are at the original texture.
Get yourself a can of spray texture, a piece of cardboard or anything with a straight edge to use as a shield. Hold it tight to the wall and give the patched area a little spritz of texture. (Practice on a scrap piece of anything first)
Let it dry, and paint. If you use a spray texture that is water based, don't overwork it when painting...try with a one time across approach, or you'll kill the texture.
The petroleum based spray textures are my favorite because they produce a better finished product because they don't flatten off as easy when painting. (A side note on the water based texture, if you happened to get it on anything, it'll just wipe off with a damp sponge or cloth. And if on carpet, just let it dry and vacuum up.)
You can use drywall mud instead of spackle, but it shrinks and takes longer to dry.
Done literally hundreds of patches this way, with only smiles and thanks for the great job.
It's not as hard as you may think! Good luck.
Dez
Dez,
The wall was sprayed with primer (no texure) and then rolled with rollers. When I said "orange peel" I meant the slight texture you get with a roller.
Dave
Dave,
Then you have a 'smooth wall' finish. Unusual (unless you repainted) that your 4 YO house was rolled and not sprayed.
Patching should be even easier then. As in my first post to you except skip the texture. Strike off the spackle as flat as possible with your knife...if any tell-tale edges show on the outside edges of the spackle, gently sponge them away from the patch to blend.
Peace