Home Improvement

Daidraco said:

When I was doing a whole bunch of DIY stuff with sheetrock and mudding - its definitely back breaking work and makes you find a new appreciation for the guys that do it all the time. But I really enjoyed how just out of no where, shit would just "click" in my mind and stuff would just come together perfectly. Im sure you're going through that now - as figuring that type of shit out usually ends up making you feel accomplished in its own right.

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I agree with this, drywall is more art than science in one respect. At the end of the day it's just materials and tools though. I think most of my frustration is that while YouTube is a great resource, most of this content isn't the same thing as a real mentor or training.

Drywall/mudding/painting is best when you keep it simple. Don't do it over old/dirty/dusty shit either, strip everything down, the prep work is key to success. Pro mudders just need a good couple of blades, stilts, couple buckets, a paddle mixer, tape holder, and a disc sander on a pole same as 40 years years ago. Don't fall for the extra shit & fancy shit, unless you actually doing fancy shit. 4 walls and a ceiling doesn't need that. Remember, the concept is so when the paint goes on the walls look smooth and unblemished, nothing more. Got a fucked up spot giving you trouble? put a hole in it and put a patch in with backing, don't waste time playing arts and crafts. Got a fucky section of old drywall? tear the whole fucking thing out and replace it, a sheet of drywall is like 14$

I fucking hate painting and mudding, my brain tells me it looks like shit, even though I know it will be fine after drying/sanding, I got that hyper attention to detail, wonderful for most work, and people hate me when it comes time to check for deficiencies. I actually used to love boarding, but how I fucked up my shoulder 10 years ago.

Never seen anyone roll mud in my entire life, pro mudders I work with mud and tape so fucking fast, adding rolling to the process would slow it down. I don't know where the concept came from that you need to skim an entire wall, that's what primer is for FFS. I see people doing this a lot these days. If it worked like that, we'd just use an airless and spray the whole fucking wall down.

Rent a drywall lift for DIY, makes your life so much easier, priceless for ceilings, I don't mean the mini scissor lifts, I mean these:



Like 30$ for a day from Home Depot IIRC, makes everything so much easier and faster if you solo. I used to board entire houses solo in a day with one of those things.

Please fucking wear a mask, pretty much only time I'll ever say it lol

mkopec said:

Another tihing that helped is lighting the shit up from the side to see any imperfections, using the shadows method. You would not believe what you catch with some side lighting.

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I love ruining motherfuckers days with this sometimes. It's a handy trick to keep in mind, and applies to other things in construction too.

For home DIY, I'd really advise people not to stress too much about minor imperfections. 99% of people won't even notice that little bump or or slight indent here and there. If your paying someone however, the motherfuckers better do it perfect.

Cynical said:

Drywall/mudding/painting is best when you keep it simple. Don't do it over old/dirty/dusty shit either, strip everything down, the prep work is key to success. Pro mudders just need a good couple of blades, stilts, couple buckets, a paddle mixer, tape holder, and a disc sander on a pole same as 40 years years ago. Don't fall for the extra shit & fancy shit, unless you actually doing fancy shit. 4 walls and a ceiling doesn't need that. Remember, the concept is so when the paint goes on the walls look smooth and unblemished, nothing more. Got a fucked up spot giving you trouble? put a hole in it and put a patch in with backing, don't waste time playing arts and crafts. Got a fucky section of old drywall? tear the whole fucking thing out and replace it, a sheet of drywall is like 14$

I fucking hate painting and mudding, my brain tells me it looks like shit, even though I know it will be fine after drying/sanding, I got that hyper attention to detail, wonderful for most work, and people hate me when it comes time to check for deficiencies. I actually used to love boarding, but how I fucked up my shoulder 10 years ago.

Never seen anyone roll mud in my entire life, pro mudders I work with mud and tape so fucking fast, adding rolling to the process would slow it down. I don't know where the concept came from that you need to skim an entire wall, that's what primer is for FFS. I see people doing this a lot these days. If it worked like that, we'd just use an airless and spray the whole fucking wall down.

Rent a drywall lift for DIY, makes your life so much easier, priceless for ceilings, I don't mean the mini scissor lifts, I mean these:

View attachment 487943

Like 30$ for a day from Home Depot IIRC, makes everything so much easier and faster if you solo. I used to board entire houses solo in a day with one of those things.

Please fucking wear a mask, pretty much only time I'll ever say it lol

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Primer doesn't fix height differences with lifted paper or paint sheets after removing wallpaper. Maybe people get used to lunar surface texture but I'm not going to have torn up walls like some rental property that smells like cat piss.

I'm not tearing out drywall because to me it's less impact to refinish as a one man side project. I agree it would be easier in principal to rip and replace (and most the contractors I know say this) but I have zero experience with hanging drywall and many years handling a knife, brush and airbrush, so I went with the approach that seemed more relatable.

If you doing quick renos just to make it look good and trying to save,and don't want to snowball a small job into a big one due to inexperience, I get it. I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot, honestly I avoid this thread because I don't like coming off as some jackass lecturing people, but I tend to sound like that sometimes without meaning to.

I've did property management for a bunch of apartment buildings back in Ottawa, and next to zero budget, trust me I understand the many ways of having to make something look acceptable for tenants, using some fucking wonky solutions and shit I'd normally shake my head at.

There are good methods for wallpaper that don't involve steaming, but the costs probably not acceptable for DIY. I honestly don't like how it looks after skimming a wall like that, and generally just throw new 1/4 sheets over the old ones, if removal isn't possible (asbestos compound, lead ect all in just a simple wall built before 70's)

I also shouldn't be advising people to just rip out drywall unless they aware. I had a fella rip out ceilings in a house once, and instead of taking it out carefully, he ripped through the paper too, entire master bedroom filled with celleose and vermiculite, and of course the shit had asbestos in it. Cost 12000$ to for a company to come in for clean and removal, and it took them 4 days.

Wallpaper is still wildly popular in commerical stuff, did a Bank of Montreal once, and half the fucking walls were some kind of wallpaper in the end.

Cynical said:

If you doing quick renos just to make it look good and trying to save,and don't want to snowball a small job into a big one due to inexperience, I get it. I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot, honestly I avoid this thread because I don't like coming off as some jackass lecturing people, but I tend to sound like that sometimes without meaning to.

I've did property management for a bunch of apartment buildings back in Ottawa, and next to zero budget, trust me I understand the many ways of having to make something look acceptable for tenants, using some fucking wonky solutions and shit I'd normally shake my head at.

There are good methods for wallpaper that don't involve steaming, but the costs probably not acceptable for DIY. I honestly don't like how it looks after skimming a wall like that, and generally just throw new 1/4 sheets over the old ones, if removal isn't possible (asbestos compound, lead ect all in just a simple wall built before 70's)

I also shouldn't be advising people to just rip out drywall unless they aware. I had a fella rip out ceilings in a house once, and instead of taking it out carefully, he ripped through the paper too, entire master bedroom filled with celleose and vermiculite, and of course the shit had asbestos in it. Cost 12000$ to for a company to come in for clean and removal, and it took them 4 days.

Wallpaper is still wildly popular in commerical stuff, did a Bank of Montreal once, and half the fucking walls were some kind of wallpaper in the end.

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I appreciate contractor perspectives. I do find that there's sometimes a lack of shared perspective though, even between people who do new construction only vs reno. It's like yes, great that you can tape and mud an entire house with bare subfloor, no occupancy or finishes with only 3 guys and 10k in drywall tools and bang it out in a day... lol.

Cynical said:

honestly I avoid this thread because I don't like coming off as some jackass lecturing people

There are good methods for wallpaper that don't involve steaming, but the costs probably not acceptable for DIY.

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Hit us with those expensive methods and feel free to lecture! I like lecturing much more than the shitty wallpaper I've been putting off removing. I know I should probably just put up new sheetrock, but I'm lazy and some of the walls are still plaster/lath.

Lanx said:

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Zoinks, that's in bad shape. Did you get a lightning spike or something?

So sanding complete on ceiling. I have to say this level 5 finish thing is legit. It looks so smooth, my patch for wire fishing, tape repairs, old butt joints, they're so gone.

Damn. I was not sure this was reasonably possible but to go from unpainted popcorn to this is unreal.

So in the daylight today there's a few things to touch up but it's overall looking very good.



One of the reasons I want to get it very smooth is going with these wafer lights, and with nightlight mode I don't want it to show a lot of flaws.