Sheet Rock Down To Brown Paper Backing, Botched Wallpaper Removal?

atv71

Hello All, welder by trade. Helping an older neighbor....the old paper is down and so is the layer of paper off of the sheet rock?

advice needed? Her end goal is to paint. It is a bathroom about 5x12....her budget is the concern, can it be retaped and re mudded.


Warm Regards,

Aaron (atv71)

Nigel S. Shorts

Alright, Bro, what you need to do is get some Gardz from a paint store. It's made by Zinsser and it will be with the other primers. Get as much of the loose paper off as you can, peeling, sanding, however you want to do it.

The Gardz is very thin, and what it does is seal up the paper so that the mud wont make the brown paper bubble, causing you to have to dig all the bubbles out. Roll it on heavy so that it floods the areas. Roll starting upward as much as possible, because if you start by rolling down, all the Gardz will flood your shoes. I'd say a gallon will do the job with some to spare.

Now you can skim it out without worrying about bubbles, which you'd have to go back and pop, sand out, re-seal, and mud. That really sucks. No telling if the paper job was botched, but it sounds like there was poor prep at minimum if the drywall was ruined. You should be able to pull paper off without incident if walls are primed properly.

Nigel S. Shorts

Here's yer stuff right here. You wont likely find it at the big box stores so don't waste your time. For some reason it's only in paint stores where I am.

kgphoto

If ALL the paper is off the sheet rock, then Gardz WILL NOT help! You need to re-rock or at least go over it with another layer of 1/4-1/2 inch rock depending on what is in your area. Don't forget to extend out the electrical boxes.

Gardz is used when there is SOME tearing of the paper here and there. It seals the paper so it doesn't absorb water and bubble the next layer of mud.

ProWallGuy

Gardz will do the trick. I've primed over complete walls of 'brown paper', and it really seals it up tight. It's a perfect surface to mud over.

__________________
Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

Glasshousebltr

Gardz always get in my way .......they keep trying to put that frickin white jacket on me.

__________________
Bob

atv71

this may turn into something beyond my scope. Ill try to use the gards (sp) and then see what happens. She will have to get somebody to do drywall work if that doesn't help?

On the $ issue and time issue, how hard will it be to drywall a bathroom? Is a welder capable of such a feat? and if so whats the easyest route for removal.

PS - she is so thankful, but i dont want to burst her bubble just yet.....

This forum and all of you really know your stuff.....


aaron

Nigel S. Shorts

I've Gardzed many a job where it was down to the brown paper. It just might take more coats of mud than you'd like, but it's doable. Now, I happen to be wallpapering over these walls, so I'm not aware of any reasons why it wont work and re-rocking is preferred. I can only speak for my little niche, but I'm pretty nifty with a trowel, and them walls look and feel pretty sound when I'm through.

mikenewman@fron

I agree with Nigel. I've done hundreds of them. Because in the 70's they used to hang right over the DW with no primer. Only problem was in the 80's when they went to remove it off came the paper on the rock. Also a product called "draw tight" will work. I am a paper hanger since 75 I have seen it all. New sheet rock would be overkill. Good Luck. Mike in Moab

G3 Remodeling

Since you arent probably versed in drywall I would suggest you go to youtube.com and search drywall or sheetrock to find videos on skim coating and such. If you're like me seeing it done will help you more than reading it. If you do skim the walls I would suggest using a Magic Trowel....should be able to get one at Sherwin Williams.

Nigel S. Shorts

YES!! Draw Tite is the original DRC (drywall repair clear I think is the abbreviation), which spawned the other products like Gardz. I live 20 minutes from the factory, where they sometimes give me cans that were just freshly filled. I didn't bother telling anyone about it because their distribution sucks, and it's nearly impossible to find. Gardz is good enough for skimming, although I prefer Draw Tite for hanging over.

Mike in Moab, good to know I can get it in Utah since I'm contemplating a move to either Spanish Fork or West Jordan in the near future. Gotta get the fam out of Nutville.

oldrivers

what is an easy trowel ? ive never heard of that.

Nigel S. Shorts

That's when you drop trowel in front of the client's wife.

I think it's actually magic trowel, and I've never heard of it either.

oldrivers

well i hope it can live up to its name better than easy sand.

747

I did it on my bathroom so i'm sure you can. Like they said hit the walls with the guardz to seal it up. They do carry that at my lowes. Then i bought some of the ready to go mud in the 5 gallon bucket blue top and just went over the walls with a big drywall mud blade or what ever they call it. NOt to thick just skimmed it. Then once it set up went over with a drywall screen. Then i lightly hit it again. Then i went over that with fine grade sandpaper. I thought it looked good. So i lightly cleaned all the dust off the walls primed and painted. For paint i went with the zinseers permawhite. It wasn't that bad of a job. Make sure you keep that mud blade clean or it will mess up the mud going on. I every once in a while would dip it in a bucket of clean water. I found if you kept that big blade a tiny bit damp it made the mud flow better on the walls.

kgphoto

A "Magic Trowel" is for all intents and purposes a squeege. It allows you to leave a very smooth layer of fairly thick mud on the wall.

It is used most often as the prepartory step to doing a stomp texture. Use a watered down AP mud and roll it on with a paint roller and then go over it with the Magic Trowel.

atv71

I should have just made new walls out of steel, with TIG'ed seams!!!!!!! LOL

I will be tackling the job mid week.....ill post pics if i can of the aftermath!!!!!!

I will think twice about saying yes to people/friends until i see the issue(s) first. Live and learn?


Aaron

Will

wow. i just watched the demo video of that magic thingy, they put a bucket load of compound on the wall and don't really look to remove much.

i would stick to putting on a tight skimcoat, you can't really screw that up much. putting on that much and almost trying to float the entire wall you could end up with a huge mess on your hands to sand out later.

Tmrrptr

NO

A welder is NOT able to do a drywall job !!!!!
Especially if he has to ask.

We're talking about what someone will SEE for a long time, here.

A welder should make pretty good money.
I've never seen one that didn't make FAR better wages than a rocker.

Don't frustrate yourself with unfamiliar tools and techniques.
Go make a few bucks and offer a rock star a case of beer and a few bucks to do this small job after hours.

Rockers LIVE to help out little old ladies.
r

Runamuk

YUP! What he said!! X2

Rick