Finishing Drywall for Beginners: Resources and Tips

Hello!

So, as I pointed out in my last post, I'm no expert on finishing drywall. In fact, I've only tried to do some patch jobs here and there, and to say the work was less than impressive would be an understatement. However, I'm really happy (and a bit proud) of how well my latest finishing work went. I'm going to share the resources that helped me and the hints I found the most helpful.

After we had the sci-fi wall removed, we had two different drywall situations. There was a huge panel of drywall missing where they had to put in the support beam on top of the existing studs (a 6 foot section or so). That was going to require one seam to be mud and taped so it would blend in with the rest of the wall. The contractor also had to remove a 6 inch strip of drywall in order to tuck in the 2x4 supports. That area was much more tricky because we couldn't quite get the patch dry wall to sit flush. So, that area had some lumps and bumps to work around.

Finally, I've had unfinished drywall above my cabinets for about a year now, so I figured I may as well tackle that while I was working on everything else.

My husband cut up the drywall and put it up. Once he had the drywall up, I had to figure out this whole tape and mud thing. The first thing I did was read this article by Young House Love. I love how they used to (they no longer blog) give really simple explanations to different projects. It was a good place to start to get an idea of what I needed to do and learn the lingo and tools of the trade.

After I read that article, I moved on to YouTube. I watched several videos but I found this series of videos from a technical school particularly helpful. It was very simple and step by step. I would highly recommend watching the entire series from start to finish.

So, using those videos and various articles I read, I started the process. I think my mistake in the past has been not feathering the mud very well. Once I got the method of feathering the edges down, I noticed that my mud was blending much better. I also didn't previously know I should start with a narrow drywall knife and work my way up to a wider knife as I put layers on. Eventually the seam was about 18 inches wide.

Also keep in mind that the mud shrinks as it dries, so you will need more than one coat to fill in the screw holes.

I put my first layer of mud on and let it dry for 24 hours. Before I started the next coat, I would "knock down" (moving the blade lightly across the surface to scrape off any bumps or large ridges) any high points with a clean drywall knife/scraper. I did not sand between coats. When I was researching this entire process, I found that most pros did not sand between coats. The rationale was if you were smooth enough and feathered correctly, you could save sanding for the last step. That worked really well for me.

As you can imagine, working up from a 3 inch blade to a 12 inch blade took many coats. I think I ended up with around 5 or so. The last two coats I thinned out with some water. That was a hint I kept seeing thrown around and it really did create a nice smooth finish on top of the other coats.

For the 6" strip of wall that was uneven, I had to be a bit more creative with applying mud. I had to try to make the bump disappear slowly, so the mud kept going further and further out from the seam. I had to do more coats on this particular section just make sure that 1) a coat wasn't too thick where it would take days and days to dry, and 2) the tape on the high point was effectively covered so it wouldn't be exposed when I sanded it. It looked like a serious mess for the first 4 coats or so.

The area above the sink/cabinets had a hole I needed to fill in. I used some spare mesh tape to create a patch over the hole and then mudded right over the mesh. It took a couple of coats, but the hole disappeared.

Something a pro probably doesn't have to do (but I did) is go back through after my final coat and filled in any large divets in the smooth finish. So it wasn't a full coat, just a "patch" job on those areas that weren't even with the rest of the drywall.

I tried using a wet drywall sponge, but much like Young House Love, I found the sponge wasn't really all that helpful. I moved over to a fine grit sandpaper and dry sanded. It was definitely more messy, but was much easier to get a nice smooth finish. Most importantly, dry sanding allowed me to feel where there was still bumps or ridges as I went along. The final sanding went surprisingly fast. I didn't have to apply much pressure and was done within a half hour.

Once I was happy with a [mostly] smooth finish, I vacuumed the entire wall and started to apply texture. I had never noticed the texture on my walls until it came time to try and match it. Apparently it was a every man for himself project. The kitchen has no texture on the walls, the living room has a "normal" knocked down orange peel texture look, and the hallway was a random assortment. I used the Homax orange peel wall texture in a can. I used the water based version just so clean up would be a bit easier if things went crazy. I made sure to tape off areas with some drop cloths so it wouldn't spray everywhere (although I didn't bother with the floor since that's coming out within a few weeks).

I watched this video on how to apply the texture. Using a circular motion, I started to apply the texture. It was a bit of a guessing game to see what type of pressure I needed to apply and how thick it should go on. I did have to go back through and add more after I stood back and compared it to the other walls.

Once all the texture had dried completely, I knocked down the texture to match the texture on the other walls. The hallway isn't a perfect match since whatever method they used wasn't what they used in the living room. However, the living room was almost a perfect match.

After texture, all I needed to do was paint the surfaces. I'm really happy with how everything turned out. Now, that doesn't mean I want to tackle this project ever again. I'll add drywall to the list of things I'll hire someone else to do in the future (along with tiling and laying pavers outside).

The area I patched is a 6 inch section directly below where the beam attached to the wall. Can't see it, can you? Success!  

 Since we're planking the ceiling, I didn't have to worry about finishing that area.

Hard to tell with the shadow of another wall showing, but there really isn't a seam showing. The texture isn't perfect on this wall, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

DIY Sunday: Half Price Vintage Trailer Cushions

Happy Weekend!

I'm happy to share a project I've been working on for about a week. When we got Myrtle, the original 1963 cushions were included and were a fashionable shade of brown and stinky.

Yeah. Since I planned on sleeping on those cushions, it was time to get new ones. However, foam is not cheap. In fact, when I was planning the renovation, I assumed this was going to be one of the more expensive things we updated.

Saving Money on Foam

After doing some research and asking around the vintage trailer community, it was clear buying online was the cheapest way to get foam. The important thing to note about foam is you definitely get what you pay for. The foam from Joann's isn't quite up to the challenge of heavy use. It's not as firm and high density as what you would find online.

So, I got some recommendations and started getting quotes. These are the quotes for (2) Gaucho Bed/Sofa Cushions, (4) Dinette Cushions and (1) Love Seat Cushions. (I should note I also reached out to local upholsterers, but either they didn't return my calls or wouldn't sell just cushions)

1. Foam Order

For 4" thick cushions of medium quality/high density, the quote was $391.50. If I increased the thickness to 6", I was looking at $462.32 for all the cushions. The batting wrap (recommended when you make cushions in order to have a more rounded appearance) would add an additional $70.00. That $70.00 for the wrap was pretty on par with all the different retailers. Shipping wasn't free either and was estimated to add an additional $60.32 to the cost.

2. Foam Online

For 4" thick cushions of medium quality and high density, the quote was $410.80. However, shipping was free. I didn't get a quote for 6" after the first retailer, because I knew the cost would have been higher than what I was willing to pay.

3. The Foam Factory

For 4" thick cushions (Lux/High Density), the quote was $379.18. Shipping was also free with Foam Factory.

4. Joann Fabric

I decided to at least take a look at how much the foam would have cost even if it wasn't as high quality as the above retailers. The high density foam would have been around $439.98.

5. Sailrite

This is a favorite retailer of vintage trailer owners when it comes to awning materials and fabric. I decided I'd at least price them out for cushions. The cost for all the cushions was around $444.80.

I thought about ordering from Foam Factory since they were the cheapest and by far the most recommended company throughout the owners groups I'm apart of. However, the more I thought about it, I got a different idea. I wasn't sure if it was crazy, but if it worked out, I could save a bunch of money.

Enter Walmart.com. Wal-Mart now sells mattresses including foam versions. The mattresses vary in depth, but for the most part they were 6" or deeper. Really...how much difference could there be between the fancy foam and these mattresses?

So I sat down with a pencil and paper and started figuring my cushions into standard mattress sizes. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to see what size mattresses would optimize the amount of foam used. I figured out that if I got a full size mattress I could get cuts for the couch and love seat. If I got a Twin XL, I would have exactly enough foam for the dinette set.

When I sat down and price everything out, I could get those two mattresses with free shipping for $288.00. So if you compare that to the cheapest quote I got for 4" thick foam, I was still saving about a $100.00. If you compare it to the 6" quote, I was saving almost $200.00. That was some pretty impressive savings. I bought two rolls of quilting batting to wrap each cushions for less than $30.00. My final expense was a new electric meat carving knife for $10.00 (I could have bought a used one but I was already at the store and the price was right)

So, if I would have gotten 6" foam with the wrap plus shipping from Foam Order, I would have spent just shy of $600.00. Using a foam mattress from Wal-Mart, I only spent $328.00. That's about half price from online retailers. Sweet! (Side note: I also purchased a 4" mattress memory foam topper from Wal-Mart for $60.00 and cut that down to size for the bunk. The kids will be on the bunk so I wasn't overly worried about it being extremely plush...it is camping after all!)

Cutting the foam was extremely easy. I removed the fabric cover, marked the cuts using a marker and straight edge, and cut along the line with my meat carver.

Saving Money on Fabric Covers

As for fabric, it took me forever to decide what I wanted to do. After watching a tutorial on using vinyl fabric and piping over foam and plywood, I decided that was the method I was going to try. By just sewing a top and extra long sides, I was able to save money on bottom side fabric and avoid zippers completely.

I bought my white vinyl from Fabric.com. I've been really happy with my purchases from their website except two things: 1) Shipping takes longer than other retailers, and 2) My vinyl came with a tiny rip that went through three layers of the fabric. Otherwise, it was only around $5.00 per yard which is extremely affordable for upholstering.

As for the piping, I couldn't find ready made piping in the right color. I was pretty intimated to make my own. I had never (ever) used piping. And this was quite the large first project to try it out. I found this tutorial on Make It, Love It. Then, I found this awesome tutorial on how to cut continuously on the bias on the same website. Those two tutorials are essential when making your own piping. I had to make over 24 yards of piping for all the cushions. That's a TON of cutting on the bias. If it wasn't for the continuous cutting tutorial, I would have been doing it forever.

The cushions were a pain to make just because the fabric was heavy and large, but it wasn't very difficult. I cut everything first. I made all the piping next. Finally I went cushion by cushion to attach the piping and then attached the side fabric. When I was done, I had a top and over sized sides.

Assembling

The final step was putting everything together. This was pretty darn easy because all the major work was already done.

First, I wrapped each piece of foam in the batting. I had some spray basting adhesive that I use with my Silhouette cutting machine. That was just enough stick so the batting wouldn't slip around even during a [very] windy day.

Once the foam was wrapped, I slipped the cover over the top of the foam. Next, I flipped the foam over, and then placed the plywood in the center of the foam.

I cut all the plywood (it's a very thin plywood) 2 inches shorter than the sides of the foam so the hard side of the plywood wouldn't stick out.

I went to work and stretched the fabric over the the plywood and stapled the fabric to the plywood.

It's not perfect. My piping got a little wonky as I was pulling it to staple, but it's a really great look for spending less than $400.00 on seven cushions and covers.

Removing the Great Wall of Ugly House

Happy Monday!

We had a very exciting week at Ugly House. The sci-fi wall we've been trying to remove for almost 2 years finally came down! When you watch those home improvement shows, it seems like you just decide to remove the wall, call someone and ta da! After the commercial break, there's no wall and you're ready to start staging your new open space.

In the real world, you have five or so contractors come out to look at the wall, have all them agree that we need a support beam and wait for one of them to call you back.

This is how the wall looked when we moved into the house:

One of our neighbors went out on his own and started a construction company. We had briefly spoken with him about hiring his company, but he was finishing up his own home, having a baby, and we got distracted with our many outdoor projects. After I started feeling better in my pregnancy, we refocused and came back to the Indiana Jones and The Lost Tomb wall.

We messaged our neighbor, he came and took a look, got a quote and bam, we were on his schedule. I was very excited at this point to even have a rough date the wall would come down.

We said we would take care of removing sheet rock, and man, that was a dirty job. However, the kids thought it was pretty darn amazing. They started to ask if they could take down other walls in the house. There was a very long discussion about not taking a hammer to the rest of the house.

That's my son mopping...take a mental picture, because it may never happen again.

Not exactly your standard issue safety glasses...

After we had the sheet rock down, we got a bit more excited because we could start to see what the space might look like. The air flow increased by about a 100%, the living room wasn't a dark dungeon, and I realized I might actually be able to keep my larger dining room table without having to toss children to the opposite side or have them crawl underneath.

When the big day came, I was pretty excited. We moved all our furniture (no easy feat when you're 21 weeks pregnant) and prepped the space by taping out the island location and new light locations.

Charles and his team arrived nice and early in the morning and started their work. The first task was putting up the temporary wall. I was shocked by how fast that process went. They were practically done before I was out the door with my coffee. After they got the temporary wall up, they went to town removing the studs. One of his workers commented that the studs were in there really (really) securely. That process took several hours. Then it was time for a break while we waited for the beam to be delivered.

At this point I snuck back inside to take a look at the progress. First of all, the CWB team was insanely good at keeping the space clean. In fact, I'm pretty sure the room looked more clean after the work than before. (Yes...I have sad housekeeping skills) Second, Charles was great with keeping me updated where they were in the process and what came next. I work from home so I took up residence in Myrtle for the day. His workers were very polite and quick with their work. Did I mention the cleaning? Seriously.

Once the beam arrived, the team went back to work and had everything up and cleaned before the end of the work day. I think I accomplished two contracts, and they removed an entire wall in that day. Makes my two contracts look pitiful in comparison. I spent the evening reveling in the fact I actually had a dining room. I should have been excited about the island and the fact it was doubling my counter space and cabinet space, but look at that dining room!

How our dining room table used to sit....

How we can now have it sit. Yay!

The next day the electrician from Muth Electric came out and roughed in all the lights and outlets that had to move and put in my three new lights. The electrician was extremely professional and kind. Ironic enough his wife is having a baby and their ultrasound was that day. We practically had the same due date. He worked quickly, efficiently and to say I was excited to have my new lights in would be an understatement. I picked up a simple dining room light from Lowe's, and the week before work started, I picked up these super cheap pendant lights ($20.00). I gave the shades a quick coat of spray paint and voila, they were just like the Barn Light Electric lights but 1/10th the cost.

Over-all, I would have to say the process was fantastic. Two days and the wall was gone. If you're in the Brookings area, I would highly recommend CWB Construction. I started to think about all the next projects I could have them do, but then I remembered I still have to build an island, plank an entire ceiling, put new floors in...oh and have a baby somewhere in there. I probably should just keep going with kitchen/living room and baby thing.

Here's a sneak peek of how the island building is going. I'm in love with it already. :) My husband is just happy to reclaim half his garage after two years of storage.