Why Remove Popcorn Ceiling When You Can Cover It With Drywall.Overview.Covering an old ceiling with new drywall is a big jobheavy lifting, a serious time commitment and a major mess.But in some cases, its the smartest way to go.We talked to a dozen remodelers, and every one of them made the same point Sometimes, covering up an old ceiling saves time, money and headaches in the long run.One of the best things about a ceiling cover up job is that you can cut holes in the ceiling without fussy repairs later.So its the perfect time to add or move light fixtures, install a ceiling fan or run networking cables.If theres living space above the ceiling, you can even fix floor squeaks or run new plumbing for a future bathroom remodel.Well focus on the details that make this job different from other drywall projects.Go to the drywall section for everything else you need to know about hanging and finishing drywall.Is this the solution for your problem Damaged drywall.The ceiling shown in this article had flaking texture, plus stains and holes, so covering it all with a new layer of drywall was actually faster and easier than repairing it.If you have only a few holes or stains, repairing them probably makes more sense.For more information, see Textured Ceiling Repair Tips.Popcorn ceiling.If you have a heavily textured ceiling and just dont like the look, you have a few options.With unpainted texture, the most common approach is to mist it with a spray bottle and scrape off the softened texture.That makes a big, sloppy mess and almost always leaves you with repairs to do afterward.With painted texture, some pros scrape as best they can and then skim coat the entire ceiling with a thin layer of joint compound.Scraping dry texture is a dusty mess, and skim coating requires some practice.And if your home was built before 1.So before removing texture, it must be tested youll find lots of labs and instructions online.You can remove texture that contains asbestos yourself as long as you carefully follow safe procedures.For all of these reasonsmess, time, skill level, asbestoscovering a ceiling is often easier than removing texture.Cracked plaster.If you have a plaster and lath ceiling with a few short, tight cracks, repairing them is probably smarter than covering the ceiling.But if cracks span the entire ceiling or the plaster alongside the cracks feels loose when you press on it, making lasting repairs is tough.Plaster cracks often come back, even after careful repairs.Repair Crack In Lath And Plaster Ceiling' title='Repair Crack In Lath And Plaster Ceiling' />Historic plaster may first appear so fraught with problems that its total removal seems the only alternative.But there are practical and historical reasons for.Thats why several pros told us they routinely cover plaster ceilings its the best way to be sure that they wont have to come back and repair the ceiling again in a year or two.Remove any loose or sagging plaster before covering the ceiling.Money, time and materials.For a 1.With a helper or two, you can cover an average size ceiling in one day.Finishing, or taping, all the joints is much more time consuming and requires drying time between coats.Then comes sanding and painting.Even if you can devote a few hours every evening to this project, expect it to span at least a week.We recommend 12 in.Its not only lighter than standard drywall but also stronger, so you can hang it from joists centered 2.Ultra.Light, High Strength Lite and Tough.Rock are some brand names youll find at home centers.If possible, get sheets that are long enough to span the room.Shorter sheets are easier to handle, of course, but youll pay dearly for that convenience when its time to finish the butt joints where ends of sheets meet.Unlike the tapered joints along the long edges of drywall, butt joints are tough to finish.Avoid them if you can.Most home centers carry 8 and 1.Specialty drywall suppliers usually carry those lengths, plus 1.Just be sure you can get long sheets into the room before you buy sometimes 8 ft.Everything else youll need is available at home centers 2 in.Video How to Cut Drywall.Expert advice from vetran drywall contractor Mike Ferguson.A drywall lift doesnt just make the job easier it helps you do the job better.When youre raising sheets by hand, youre just dying to drive a few screws so you can put your arms down.With a lift, you can take your time, trim the sheet if necessary and get everything just right.Expert advice from Senior Editor Travis Larson.I love self feed screw guns because theyre fast You just pull the trigger and push to automatically load and drive screws.Plus, the gun itself is long, so you can reach an 8 ft.Aside from drywall, Ive used my gun for screwing down subfloors and decking too.The only thing I dont like about it is that its usually missing from my toolbox, on loan to friends.You can get a corded version at any home center for about 1.A cordless one costs about 1.Step 1 Hanging the drywall.Photo 1 Shim out exposed joists.If you have a hole in the ceiling, hold a straightedge across it, measure to the framing and cut spacers to that thickness.Screw a spacer to the joist or truss to create a flush surface for the new drywall.Photo 2 Mark the joists.Locate joists with an electronic stud finder, or just probe for joists by driving a nail through the drywall.All the joists should be centered either 1.Mark each joist location with a chalk line on the ceiling and with tape on the wall.Photo 3 extend electrical boxes.Screw a 12 in.This extends the box so that it will be flush with the new drywall.Photo 4 Measure to joists and cut the rock.Cut sheets so that the ends fall on the centers of joists.Measure from the wall to the chalk line and subtract 14 in.Also cut off the tapered edge that will run along the wall.Photo 5 Raise rock the easy way.Hoist each sheet with a rented drywall lift.Be sure to leave 14 in.Those gaps allow you to slip tear away bead behind the edges of the drywall bead later.Photo 6 Screw to the joists.Screw each sheet along the tapered edges, then add a couple near the center.That will be enough to hold it in place.Later, when all the sheets are up, snap chalk lines and drive the remaining screws.This project is a lot like any other drywall job.But there are a few differences.For starters, youll have to fur down joists at holes in the drywall Photo 1.Dont try to simply span holes larger than 6 in.Also, shut off the power and remove any light fixtures in the ceiling.Next, take your time to carefully locate and mark the centers of joists Photo 2.The rest of the project will go a lot smoother if your marks are accurate.The final prep step is to extend junction boxes with mud rings Photo 3.If you have recessed lighting in the ceiling, youll have to lower the cans by loosening screws inside the housings, but its best to do that after the new drywall is up.Now youre ready to head for the rental center to pick up a drywall lift 4.You can hang drywall without a lift, of course, but a lift makes the job faster, easier and better.When you cut the rock to length Photo 4, remember to subtract 14 in.But you dont have to be exact about this As long as the gap is between 18 in.Heres another critical thing to remember Along walls, cut the tapered edge off the sheet.Because tapered edges are thinner than the rest of the sheet, theyll cause trouble when you mud the tear away bead later.Raise and position each sheet Photo 5.Take your time.Make sure its aligned with the chalk line that marks the center of the joist.Theres no need to completely fasten the sheets before removing the lift.Just drive enough screws to safely hold the sheet Photo 6.When all the sheets are up, snap a fresh set of chalk lines and add the remaining screws.Step 2 Terrific tear away bead.Photo 7 Install tear away bead.Staple the bead to the drywall every 8 in.Be sure to hold the bead tight against the wall before you fasten it.Photo 8 Mud the bead.Skim joint compound over the bead, using the track to guide your knife.Mesh tape isnt essential, but its cheap insurance against cracks.Photop 9 Tear off the flange.After sanding and painting, rip the protective flange off the bead.To avoid scraping off the fresh paint, pull the flange downward along the wall, not outward along the ceiling.The usual way to finish the joint where walls meet the ceiling is to apply coats of joint compound.Making it all smooth, straight and square takes patience and practice.Repair Your Walls and Floors In No Time Repairing Walls.In this chapter youll learn how to patch up walls and floors, two elements of a home that take their bumps and knocks.Fortunately, with some inexpensive materials and some clever techniques, the blemishes to walls and floors are fairly easily fixed.This chapter is from the book Learn basic repair techniques for plaster, drywall, and ceramic tile walls.Learn how to repair wooden floors and how to repair and replace resilient.We dont often think about the walls around us and the floors beneath.But sometimes these important structural elements of our home call.Walls need to support pictures or heavy shelves, and they.Floors hold up well to the traffic.Fortunately, most work on walls and floors is fairly straightforward.You.One nice thing about repair work on walls and floors is that the improvements.They rid eye sores to make the planes of wall and floor.In this chapter, you learn some basic techniques for repairing damage to a.The chapter also talks about basic repairs to wood, resilient, and ceramic tiled.To do list.Determine whether your homes walls are made of plaster or drywall.Learn how to choose the correct fasteners for your wall type and the task.Learn basic plaster repair techniques.Learn how to repair scrapes, dents, and larger damage to drywall.Clean and repair grout and replace broken tiles in ceramic wall surfaces.Walls do not take up much of our attention, but we actually work with them.We hang.Although many of these items are lightweight, some are quite heavy and.To ensure that what we.And walls occasionally need repair.Dents, scrapes, and bumps need to be.In this section, you learn how to deal with these minor.You also learn about the basic makeup of plaster, drywall.Working with Wall Surfaces.Although most modern homes today are built with drywall, most homeowners at.These types include.In the following sections.Drywall Basics.Until the middle of the last century, nearly all wall surfaces in homes were.To save time, and thus labor charges, the building.These are panels of plaster like material.Drywall sheets are nailed or screwed to wood or.Where panels meet, the narrow gaps are called seams or.The compound is sanded smooth with.Most drywall in homes is 12 thick.Most builders use.Drywall might. Download Get Data Back For Ntfs here. Builders also might use thicker drywall on ceilings to.Drywall is criticized for being thin and having a thin ring to it, and it.But its.Hanging objects on drywall requires special fasteners, due to the limited.When working.Plaster. Plaster is the former king of home walls.In early construction, plaster was.Builders long ago discovered.To accommodate the plaster, wooden lath strips running.Each piece of lath was.This arrangement was standard in homes from the mid nineteenth century to.Beginning in the first part of the twentieth century.In modern homes, when.Plaster is still considered a superior wall.It has a solid, thick feeling to.Apa 6Th Edition Website No Author Reference .But it also tends to chip and develop cracks more easily than does.When putting fasteners into plaster walls, you have to contend with a tough.Wood Paneling.Wood has been used for centuries as a wall material.In the eighteenth.Georgian wooden.In America, wood was so plentiful east.Mississippi that vertical wood boards composed the paneling.Today, these.Like plaster and wallboard, wood paneling is backed up with vertical wooden.Masonry.Bricks, concrete, concrete block, cinder block, and stone are used to.There is no mystery to how walls of these are made.For.In the case of poured concrete walls, liquid concrete is.Ceramic Tile.Ceramic tile walls are commonly used in bathrooms and often do not extend all.Ceramic tile walls are made by adhering individual tiles to a backing of plaster.The tiles themselves are very.Choosing and Using Wall Fasteners.The method you use for attaching a picture, bookcase, display case, or other.The best chance for success depends on matching the.As you learn in the next sections, heavy objects must be hung from wall studs.Light objects are easier.A small nail hammered in at.Heavier frames require picture hooks, and the.Especially heavy frames.Before you hammer a nail or drill a hole into plaster that you suspect is.Drill through.Locating Wall Studs.Heavy objects, such as book or display cases, should be fastened into wood.Use a stud finder.Stud finders use either a magnet to detect the metal screws.As you move a stud finder along a wall, indicators tell you.Studs typically are located at 1.In older homes especially, the 1.When you have located a stud, you can determine if it is wood or metal by.The sound and feel of hitting the stud.If not, when you continue, with metal.Nails or screws can go into the studs to support weighty objects.If the.Type S drywall screws rather than nails.These have.If you have trouble getting the screw to penetrate.Then the screw should fasten to the.Studs are doubled to the left and right of doors and windows, thus doubling.The frames above.The wood members here.Headers extend up from the top of windows and doors.Using Fasteners That Dont Require Studs.If youre hanging relatively heavy objects on a hollow drywall or.If the object is of moderate weight, use plastic shields and appropriate.Plastic shields and screws to fit are.For.Molly bolts, or toggle bolts, as shown in Figure.These bolts penetrate the wall and then a portion.Figure 3.From left.Plastic shields, Molly bolts, toggle bolts, and lag anchors are some.Molly bolts are made of two pieces, a threaded bolt and a metal sleeve.To.Molly bolt, you first drill a hole in the drywall using a twist bit.You then slip the Molly bolt through the hole until its front collar grips the.You then turn the bolt head with a screwdriver, making sure the.As the bolt turns, it draws the sleeve projection against.The bolt can then be removed and set through a loop or.Molly bolts have to be sized to the exact.A toggle bolt locks into a wall using two hinged arms that spring out from.To install a toggle.Molly bolt.The toggle bolt, however, has to be placed through the object.After you.Then you have to pull back slightly on the bolt head, or what it is connected.Using Fasteners for Masonry Walls.Hanging items from brick, stone, and other types of masonry walls requires.Masonry nails with twisted shafts and.Various kinds of anchors or what are similar and are.To use them.When screws are. turned into them, the anchors expand to firmly grip the surrounding masonry.Toggle bolts and Molly bolts can work on concrete block or cinder block if they.Repairing Plaster.Plaster can be damaged in a number of ways.When a house settles with age.These cracks can develop into rather wide.Plaster can also be damaged when struck by tools, furniture being.Plaster can even develop cracks owing to vibration nearby, as.And plaster can be damaged if water.But all these problems have solutions, although some plaster cracks and.Sometimes this recurring damage is seasonalcracks.Or it can be due to nearby.In this section of.Things Youll Need.Water squirt bottle.Spackling compound or joint compound.Medium grit sandpaper and sanding block.Fixing a Hairline Crack.Hairline cracks are annoying but not too difficult to fix.Follow these.Squirt the area of the crack with water from a water spray bottle.Try to.
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