Wood Paneling down, What to do


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Old 04-19-05, 04:56 PM
SoccerMOM
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Unhappy Wood Paneling down, What to do

I decided to redo my bathroom. Thought the wood paneling was wall paper. now it's down and I'm down to the drywall. Started plastering the drywall with all purpose joint compound.(2 coats)..now I can't get the walls smooth in order to prime & paint. Any suggestions? Should place another coat of compound. I'm really in a bind here. Thought this was going to be a bit easier that it's turned out to be. thx.
 
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Old 04-20-05, 02:31 AM
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You need to sand and apply mud as needed. When sanding be carefull not to sand the paper [drywall surface] too hard. You may find it easier [and less messy] to use a wet sponge to smooth out the dry mud instead of sanding. You need to try to get the walls looking as good as possible before painting.
Wish you luck.
 
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Old 04-29-05, 04:16 AM
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I know this isn't exactly how the pros do it, but it is close and it works for me an admitted amature. I end up with virtually invisible repairs. Buy a good premixed light mud. Some would reccomend joint compound for the first pass, but it is pretty unforgiving because it is hard to sand (it has more glue in it to make it stronger and harder). I have never had any problem using the light compound, even in bathrooms, if it is properly painted after. Be sure to let it dry a few days at leas before priming as you don't want to lock in any moisture.

If you are doing a joint, do one narrow line down the middle just thick enough to cover the tape and let it dry. Then get a very wide putty knife (10 or 12 inch) to do the tapering into the drywall. I often apply the mud to the wall in a line parrallel to the joint down one side, with a smaller easier to handle knife (4 inch or so). Then use the wider knife running parrallel to the tape line pushing the knife against the drywall on one side about 4 or 5 inches away from the jointand the raised line of mud on the other and run it down. Don't wory about any bumps or dents at this point. When this wide line is dry, you can sand off any big ridges and fill any dents or bubbles with the smaller knife. Don't sand the paper surface of the drywall or tape too much. Then do a third line tapering further away from the joint (maybe ten inches. repeat the sanding. This is typically where a pro would stop, but I never have very acceptable surface yet. Make sure you have a relatively straight line down both sides where it tapers into the drywall surface. At this point, after sanding sown the riges and bumps, you can go back over with the small knife and fill any small indentations or places the knife skipped using the smaller knife running perpendicular to the joint. Do this as many time as you have to to get a good surface.

If you are filling holes, again do it in several passes, using a kife wider than the hole and pressing against both sides of the hole, being careful to not overapply mud and then letting it dry between passes. It won't look good on the first pass or maybe not even after the 2nd or third, but eventually it will. You will likely get sags or gaps in the first pass or two if the hole is large. before painting, you might want to set a light shining parrallel to the wall which will point out any gross imperfections in your repairs. Sometimes I also find it useful to put a coat of sealer/primer on, between layers of mud, because it is really difficult to see mud which doesn't reflect light much. After you have done a bunch of repairs and sanded a few times it gets very difficult to see how smooth the overall surface is.

The biggest problem for me has been expecting to do it properly the first or second pass. It often takes me 5 or 6, before it is how I want it. If you are patient it can actually be kind of fun. If you have a shop vac, you can buy a small sanding attachment at any home centre that that takes the sanding mesh and has a hose to attach to your shop vac. These cost only 20 dollars or so. Then get a particle bacg for your shop vac and you will have virtually no dust. You will likely end up with small scratches in the mud surface becasue the pads are a little rough, but you can smotth these at the end but runing over the surface with a layer of mud thinned to the consistency of thick paint, or you can run over the dried mud with a damp cloth, which will fill in the scratches.
 
 

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