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sloppy drywall joints in Garage - want to make it look nice

sloppy drywall joints in Garage - want to make it look nice


  #1  
Old 03-26-10, 09:14 AM
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sloppy drywall joints in Garage - want to make it look nice

Our garage was sheetrocked when the house was built but never painted. This summer I will finally have time to do that - however, when they did the seams it was sloppy - a quick and dirty job if you will ... I am wondering what might be some options for me ... right now I am thinking ...

1). Pay a pro to come in and redo the joints and make it look nice. The only downside here is finding someone and the cost ...

2). Attempting to smooth over the joints with new mud myself and make it look nicer - then paint. Downside here is I am not good at this and the time involved ...

3). Some kind of textured paint over the whole thing that would hide the sins of the sloppy joints ... ??? It is a garage ... I just want it to look "nice" - perfection not required - comments?

TIA
 
  #2  
Old 03-26-10, 01:24 PM
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Welcome to the forums!

I'm not fond of just covering it up with texture - the odds are you will still see the defects

It isn't all that difficult to mud over them and do it right. Mix in a little water with the joint compound and apply it with a 10"-12" drywall knife. The smoother you apply it, the less you have to sand Use a sanding pole [or most anything that can hold the sandpaper flat] to finish leveling it out. J/C sands easy although it is dusty. If you lay a straight edge along/over the joints, you'll be able to tell how level it is without having to paint it first.

Even if you decide to go with texture - fix the drywall finishing first, even if you don't get it perfect, it will look better than just texturing.
 
  #3  
Old 03-26-10, 02:49 PM
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Depending on just how much mud was originally applied, you might see a lot of improvement just by sanding smooth what's already there.

Just my opinion but I don't like painting garage walls - painted walls show dings much more readily than bare sheetrock.
 
  #4  
Old 03-26-10, 03:26 PM
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Usually when a builder does a house without painting the inside of the garage, the drywall finisher only does the tape coat [to satisfy code] Often new residential construction is priced by the amount of living [or heated] square footage. Since the garage isn't part of that sq footage, many skimp on that portion if you don't pay the painter or drywall finisher enough for the main portion of the house, it's hard to get them to do the garage for free.

IMO it's best to paint the drywall in the garage, that helps the drywall to resist absorbing moisture...... but I might be a little biased
 
  #5  
Old 04-11-10, 08:44 PM
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this is the perfect chance!

you say you dont know how to mud? heres a perfect place to learn. as long as the seems havent been painted over you can sand or even wash off the mud with a wet rag or sponge. go buy a bag of setting type compound like 60-120 minute set. this will give you alot of playtime. make a mistake, wash it off! simple as that. buy yuorself 2 or 3 knifes (4,6,10"). dont waste money on premixed 5gallon pail of mud. takes 24 hours to set and when you get comfortable with your knifes you'll hate having to wait between coats. plus then you can get faster set time muds. also get a mud pan i prefer all metal but they also have plastic. when you use your knifes you want to put some bend to em. place knife at about 20 degrees off of surface aply presure and bend handle back to you. this will place about an inch or so of knife in contact withe surface. steady even pressure and draw will produce smooth results. have fun with it, experiment, play! you'll soon be doing seams worthy of showing off to your freinds! oh and about mixing your mud think of sour cream and you'll have a good mix. periodically scrape your knife face off on the pan, clean knifes make clean seams. let me know if you need further instruction, i love mudding and hate sanding.
 
  #6  
Old 04-12-10, 05:11 AM
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"dont waste money on premixed 5gallon pail of mud"

I disagree. I also like and use setting compounds [durabond] but they are hard to sand and IMO it would be better for a novice to start with ready mix joint compound. It's a lot more forgiving

"i love mudding and hate sanding"

me too!!!
 
  #7  
Old 04-15-10, 05:19 AM
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let me clarify, when i say setting type i mean a setting type of easy sand light weight joint compound. yes durabond is also a setting compound and i forget that its what alot of people think of when someone mentions setting type mud. i use easy sand in place of readymix 100% of the time. sorry if i confused anyone.
 
 

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