|
Posted by on January 7, 2007, 10:57 pm
>
> JD wrote:
>> The original owners of our 30+ year old home put in a hidious fake
>> brick backsplash in the kitchen. I would have simply painted it white
>> and held on until we completely redid the kitchen, but we had an above
>> the oven microwave put in and they had to take a couple of chunks out
>> of it in order to get it to fit. 1st off, how do I get this crap off
>> the wall without doing too much damage to the wallboard underneath, and
>> 2nd, how do I repair the wallboard after I finally blast this stuff
>> off? I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to take a
>> hammer and chisel to the mess, but I don't want to do too much damage
>> to the wallboard.
>>
>> Also, I've got 3 layers of UGLY WALLPAPER to get off. I've gotten the
>> 1st layer down to the backing paper, but I've found 2 layers under
>> that. It was badly put up (they didn't do the corners right at all)
>> and I don't know if a steamer and/or paper tiger are going to even put
>> a dent into it.
>>
>> HELP!
>
> First you need to get over the notion that old wallboard is worth the
> hassle of saving. Get out your SawzAll and wrecking bar and get it into
> a Dumpster. Clean off the studs, put a straightedge to them, and
> shim/plane or otherwise get them level. Then put on new wallboard, or
> cement board if you want to tile. Taping and mudding wallboard is not
> rocket science, just read any DIY treatise on the techniques and learn
> them as you go. It helps to have a MagnaSand and shop vac for dust
> control when you sand down the joints. Use low angle lighting to judge
> areas to be sanded, and the results will amaze you. Pennies to peanuts
> it will actually be much faster than all the struggle you now
> contemplate, and maybe even cheaper. Go for it!
>
Gutting and replacing the wallboard completely basically means removing the
cabinets, countertop, and just-installed microwave. No good way to replace
just the backsplash area and leave all that intact- you would never get a
clean joint under the uppers and at the backsplash line. I think he was just
looking for an interim repair, until his time/money/interest level were up
to gutting the kitchen.
BTW, drywall mudding ain't as easy as people who do it every day make it
look. I grew up in residential construction, I have the DIY books, I've
watched it done hundreds of times. The last two mud jobs I did in this place
(small patches) STILL look like crap. It ain't rocket science, but it does
take practice, and better eyesight than I have left. If I keep this place
long enough to redo the previous owners half-ass kitchen and bathroom DIY
disasters, I'll definitely be hiring the rock and mudding out.
aem sends...
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap