I took down paneling in a small room because I am having one of the walls moved as part of a separate remodeling effort. I will post pictures but the windows and doors all have different width jambs. Additionally, the walls have a layer of drywall like material (0.25" thick). This leaves me with a 1/8" depth at the door, 3/8" at one window and 1/2" at the second window (each is on its own wall). I am considering using 3/8" and 1/2" for each of the windows respectively. For the door, I am thinking about taking down the underlayer and then using 3/8". They is something odd about the doorway since the jamb is only 3" wide to start with. Does this approach sound right?

A second issue is that there is a pipe (vent?) near one window. I am guessing that since it is an exterior wall, they wanted to keep the pipe inside so it stands slightly proud of the drywall. I did not notice it when the paneling was up so i am hoping that putting up 3/8" over it and trimming the boards the are bent around it will leave me with a fairly smooth wall. Does this sound right?

- Peter

 

While waiting on pics, your door casing is probably a clamshell design and can extend in width if the nails were to be removed.

 

here is a link to the pictures:

Office Drywall Photos by pjaffe7136 | Photobucket

- Peter

 

Good grief! What a mess of sheetrock installation! Why all the squares?

 

Its not a careless mess. it is actually finished pieces. this is style of backer board used under plaster or in this case, paneling. I think it called a two-layer plaster or something similar.

 

Are you going to re-panel it or plaster it?

 

That looks like the old timey drywall lath that is normally plastered over. I assume the house was originally hung and intended to have plaster but they decided differently on that room.

I'd go ahead and tear off all the plaster lath, update the electrical and insulation and then hang new drywall.

 

Depending on how you want to finish walls. Marksr said it all time and updates with that stuff would take longer to fix than replace. With varying thickness lay a string from jam to wall and shim to leave a1/2 inch for drywall.

 

I appreciate the input but let me refocus the question. Specifically on the wall with the door, there is only 3/8" if I were to take down the existing backer boards. I understand the 1/2" is the standard for walls but the door jamb only protrudes 3/8". I prefer not to play with jamb extensions for such a small amount. Can I use 3/8" drywall here or am I asking for trouble?

Also, if I layer 3/8" on the wall for window #1, do I just nail it over the existing backer boards or use adhesive with nails/screws?

- Peter

 

3/8" drywall can be used if the studs are on 16" centers. If the door jamb/casing paints - I'd use 1/2" drywall and not worry about the minor gap - I've caulked worse. The main reason to use adhesive is to cut down on the number of nails/screws needed.