Suggestions for drywall

[Deschodt]

I inherited a pretty sorry garage with the new (old) house... It seems there were areas with exposed studs/broken sheetrock, areas with just drywall (seemingly installed backwards with paper facing me? or am I getting that wrong?), and areas with the drywall plus wood paneling over it !!! Some of it nailed with stakes (2" long nails!!!)

I had a hell of a time removing the nasty wood paneling, and exposing the drywall... The paper shows some water damage here and there but it's solid and probably dates back to before the roof was redone... all dry.

My question is, to double check, is everyone OK with simply applying new sheets of drywall over the crappy old one ? I was gonna go thinner (1/4) to mimic the wood paneling and not have to extend the electrical boxes, but I'm told 1/4 sheetrock is super fragile and a pain... Is it OK to double up on drywall ? Seems like a lot more work and mess to remove the existing one, which is ugly but by and large flat.

I'd like to go 8 feet high only, as it is now, but on the other side it goes to the roof, I wonder if I can paint the crappy paper side above 8 feet so it looks a little less bad. I'm not doing the ceiling, I need access to the attic and I hag stuff on the rafters... The goal here is white walls for better light, poster hanging, some shelves, a slightly better look. This is not inside the house and doesn't need utmost perfection... Is it generally OK to double up on drywall ?

 

[DCarr2]

Drywall is cool and all, but not very durable... youd be better off with OSB. Also, Drywall soaks up water like a sponge! and you have to finish it....

I vote for OSB, painted with say, Sherwin Williams A100 semi gloss exterior paint, its a decent garage paint, that will handle tempurate swings as well as moisture much better than interior paint will..

take that a step further, and add a 1x6 pressure treated baseboard and caulk that to the floor and OSB so help stop moisture from reaching the OSB.

 

[Jazz1]

rip out the old drywall and hang new 1/2" drywall. It will look fresh and clean once finished and painted. Drywall is also fire retardant and quite durable. Painted OSB looks like painted OSB

 

[PelicanPines]

I used 5/8's everywhere... would never use 1/4... it's less sturdy than cardboard.

 

[Deschodt]

Drywall is cool and all, but not very durable... youd be better off with OSB.

You're killing me! I spent a week end removing wood panels and nails, I'm not putting OSB back there

I'd rather not rip out the current stuff if possible. It goes all the way up on one side, just want a clean wall with plaster facing me, not paper... Is it terrible to double up?

 

[DCarr2]

if its drywall your heart is set on, I recommend the goop in the green bucket for your first two coats, and the goop in the blue bucket as your final coat. use paper tape for all joints (seems are the long joints, **** joints are the short joints)

the stuff in the green bucket goes harder than the stuff in the blue bucket... Or you can get some durabond 90 in the brown bag and skip the premix goop in the green bucket, that stuff goes rock hard and its HARD to sand...

the blue bucket is easy to sand - spend the extra $3 and get the dust control stuff... thank me later...

now for knives... you want a 6" for first coat... 8" for second coat, and 10-12" for third coat...

and when you screw the board up, if the screw head breaks the paper, that screw isnt holding anything, put another one next to it...

the stuff in the bag 90 - is how long you have before it goes hard... you want the constistancy of say pancake batter...

you can add water to the premix to make it easier to work with, or a teaspoon of dish soap and whip up the whole bucket with a large power drill and a paddle...

oh, and green board is mold and mildew resistant... dont forget to get drywall primer, and whatever you do, DO NOT use oil based paint/primer on bare drywall!

 

[brownsmustang]

You're killing me! I spent a week end removing wood panels and nails, I'm not putting OSB back there

I'd rather not rip out the current stuff if possible. It goes all the way up on one side, just want a clean wall with plaster facing me, not paper... Is it terrible to double up?

On drywall the paper is always facing out. Usually the back side has a brown paper and the front a white paper. Patch the holes, prime and paint, it'll look good as new.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[The Cobbler]

IMO< that drywall doesn't look that bad, anyone with decent taping skills could fix it up. the brown you're seeing is the paper oxidized, it has coloured because there wasn't any paint over it

 

[gahrajmahal]

If the garage is connected to the house I would rip off all the old stuff and put up 5/8" fire rated drywall.

I would take the opportunity to seal up whatever is underneath, add wiring, and add blocking between the studs so you can hang stuff on the walls without worrying about hitting a stud. Then put in insulation.

 

[DCarr2]

If the garage is connected to the house I would rip off all the old stuff and put up 5/8" fire rated drywall.

Up here, to pass code it needs to be a minimum of 2 layers of fire rated drywall.

 

[Deschodt]

IMO< that drywall doesn't look that bad, anyone with decent taping skills could fix it up. the brown you're seeing is the paper oxidized, it has coloured because there wasn't any paint over it

I never thought of that until you mentioned it... It looked so brown and the backside looked like it did not have paper at all, but maybe it peeled off when it broke off, so I assumed it was installed backwards, but that seems like a pretty stupid mistake to make, so you must be right. If so I saved myself days of work here... I can just patch and retape... I wonder if that ugly brown paper will still take paint as nicely as fresh one though..

Up here, to pass code it needs to be a minimum of 2 layers of fire rated drywall.

Well the house dates back to the early 50s. Not sure "Code" is relevant at this point. But that's good info, I guess 2 layers per code means it's ok to double up on drywall then !!! That was my original Q.

I'm gonna start patching the short wall (outside wall) and see if it takes paint... Then I'll decide, I can probably double up with fire rated sheetrock on the inside wall (house side)... There's really nothing in the garage that looks like a fire risk - water heater and furnace are elsewhere, except the Alfa romeo (joke) but it's got a circuit breaker at the battery so...

 

[cat06]

you will probably have to use solvent based kills as a primer to cover that old paper otherwise it will bleed through the new paint

 

[Deschodt]

you will probably have to use solvent based kills as a primer to cover that old paper otherwise it will bleed through the new paint

Exactly what I was thinking... But in theory the old paper is still good for adhesion right ? I did 2 test paint spots and will see what it looks like tomorrow !
Thanks a lot guys, I was about to waste time and money !! Now I need only 3 sheets of 4x8 instead of an entire garage worth !

 

[Richard Cranium]

sounds like a lot less work and expense.

 

[Jlbc212]

Yes, you can double up the drywall. You can also buy plastic box extenders for the receptacle and light switch boxes.

 

[nutsnbolts]

Yes, you can double your drywall. We call it doing an overlay (where I live anyway). There are a couple things to consider. First off, you said that the existing drywall was hung with nails? More than likely a lot of them are loose and have lost their tension on the board. I would take an hour or two and screw the existing board off. Otherwise, when you nail the overlay down you are likely to have nail pops from the nails in the existing board. No matter what you do you can't erase a nail pop with finishing mud, the nail has to either get snugged down or dug out. It's usually the latter and it takes more time and creates more work. One screw every foot of board. If you drive the screw in right next to an existing nail, it usually loosens the nail and you can just pull it out by hand. I would rid the board of any nails that are eager to come loose. I have time to do it right, I don't have time to do it over.

The other main thing is, when you overlay your 1/4" drywall over the existing board, you want to stagger your board so that your **** joints are not right on top of the old one. A **** joint is never really flat, a good finisher can just get it close and make it look flat. Put one on top of another one and you will have a big hump.

Personally, I like to use Beadex Lite mud. Yellow box (taping) to apply tape and corner bead, and red box (all purpose) for double and finish coats. I always use paper tape and never the fiberglass. Opinions vary on this. My opinion is that fiberglass tape was invented for temporary sound walls for construction zones in malls, and it is a disposable product.

 

[lakeroadster]

As a suggestion: Install LP Smartsiding over the existing Drywall.

4'x8' tongue and groove woodgrain panels with a durable coating that doesn't even need to be painted. It's much more durable than drywall for a working shop application.

Here's a link: http://www.homedepot.com/p/48-in-x-...7;jsessionid=18B37C801CD15A3718A4D1539790C48A

Photo below is my previous shop. I never even needed to paint the panels, what you see here is the factory applied finish.

 

[Holzarbeiter]

use sw multipurpose primer on all the sheetrock first. tape and finish joints. then use sw masterprep primer, finish with your choice of paint

 

[tinmanwpk]

If you choose to install an additional layer of drywall (or whatever you may use), stagger the joints. I.E., wherever you have a joint, just make sure a complete piece of drywall covers it. Don't have a joint over a joint.

 

[Ajustable]

If you choose to do the 1/4 " overlay, Go to the drywall supply and price the 1/4". Around here 1/4" sells at double the price of 1/2".

Have you cut into the drywall yet? I'm thinking you might have what I have through my whole house, 3/8" rock lath, Or gypsum board, Came in 4X8 sheets and the paper wasn't quite as white as modern drywall. It was used as a base for traditional Plaster.

Our house was built in the 60's and had gypsum board with 1/8" paneling tacked on. I have redone most of the walls and ceilings, I used 1/4" on one bathroom wall, It worked out great. I wasn't ready to risk the old Gypsum board would finish well. The rest I tore down to the studs. On one wall Only, maybe 4 Ft. wide,in the hallway. I finished the old gypsum with compound and painted, Its been that way for 6 months, I don't see any difference than the new drywall next to it Yet!!!

Call the Building permit office and ask what code is for drywall in an attached Garage, never hurts to know for certain.

 

[Zeke]

1/4" is not that fragile. One advantage to facing the old with 1/4 is that you can use adhesive and a lot fewer nails to have to spot.

 

[jgorm]

I use 3/4 ply. You can put a screw in anywhere to hold nearly anything.

 

[Nowater]

An extra layer of drywall will add to the fire resistance of the wall, and help reduce the noise transmission a little. Mud the joints and nails on the first layer before starting. The advice to screw off the wall is excellent, don't ask how I know.
That being said, my choice was OSB screwed on and also attached with construction adhesive. Squeeze some caulk or elastomeric caulk between the sheets. Then two coats of primer and top with either a light color mismatch paint or proceed to gloss white paint. You will like the white paint as your eyes get older.

By the way, this is the time to insulate if that is in the works.