sheet rocking

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I despise sheetrocking.
Of course I have no mudding technique so that doesn't help matters.

First the room is up a flight of tight stairs, then the room in question is such that there are only three places where a full sheet of 4 * 8 can go. Everything else is weird angles and corners. the celing has an angle the chimney sticks into the room and the doorway hs a little cut out about 3' deep.
It gets better. The buildign was made in sections starting about 250 years ago. There are hand hewn mostly round oak logs, there are pegged oak mortise and tenon sections, there are water sawn sections and there are circa 1940's sections.
In many places (such as this room) the framing was placed where ever the carpenters mood dictated with no two members set at the same distance. Some are 18" others are 26" others are 15" it's like that everythere.
Inbetween the frame members the builders poured rubble and mortar. Some screws are in the frameing some are in the horse-hair mortar skim coat some are toe-jamming against rocks in the mortar so they go in a bit and just spin. Others jammed just enough to make me thing thery were benearh the sheetrock suface but they arent.


The result is a whole lotta joint compound, and of course a whole lotta sanding of joint compound.

Arrrggghh. I hate sheet rocking.

[tod evans]

:D :D :D glad it ain`t me!

[Andy Hoyt]

If the room is that important and old; why don't you gut it, add some simple framing, hang some lath, and schlop some good ol fashioned plaster on it.

[Joe Pelonio]

Funny, I rather enjoy drywall work. Currently I'm finishing up around the holes I cut in a wall to put in windows in what will be my new shop. May I suggest, if you haven't already discovered this, that the sponge sanding
pads are easy to use and last a long time, and if they get clogged with dust you just vacuum them out. I've also been stripping the popcorn ceiling whenever we repaint a room, so I ended up buying a texture spray gun. I have to admit that your framing issues would make it a PIA.

[Al Willits]

Not to fond of sheet rocking, but I used paneling in my shop, then painted it.
Wasn't to fond of patching plaster after running a chunk of steel into it, paneling takes a much better beating..:)

Always got the hang of mudding about the time I was though, and had a 1" of plaster dust on the floor.
A little extra mud isn't always a good thing...:)

Al .. who found body working air sanders made short work of sanding...and a major mess.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

If the room is that important and old; why don't you gut it, add some simple framing, hang some lath, and schlop some good ol fashioned plaster on it.

Ha Ha I wanted to do that. Rallllayyy I did.

Got a deadline as my daughter's carpenters are throwing my two little grand daughters out of their home ( yah their mom & dad too) and I needed this room fast. It was a total wreck.
Anyway as this has got to the point where it's winding down I am wondering if that wouldn't have been the quicker route in the first place.

[Steve Clardy]

Sounds like my house. Built and sided out of rough green oak.
Nothing is centered, square, level

[Jim Bell]

Sounds like my house. Built and sided out of rough green oak.
Nothing is centered, square, level

I was looking at new construction the other day, had much the same charactaristics.
Jim:D

[Larry James]

I despise sheetrocking... Arrrggghh. I hate sheet rocking...
Finishing sheetrock is #1 on my list of things I hate to do. Double Arrrggghh! Remember, the less compound you apply, the less you have to sand.

Larry

[Ben Grunow]

Now Steve thats something that I would like to see as a builder. Is your house post and beam or what? Sorry.....OT.

To comment on drywall, the best thing I ever learned about sheetrocking is to cut your pieces about 1/8" small so they fit without catching or any fighting. The mud will cover the joints.

BTW, we only use 5/8.. be glad you didnt have to heft that stuff around.

[Steve Clardy]

Its stick frame.
Full 2x4 studs. Some are 2-1/2x4. Spaced wherever:(

Nails? Forget it. Drill a hole first, use screws.

[Ben Grunow]

Pics? Please.

[Steve Clardy]

Downstairs is all drywalled.
I can get upstairs pics tomorrow

[Jim Becker]

I used to really, really, really hate doing drywall, in particular the taping. Now I only really hate it. When I did the kitchen in 2003 the only part of the job I used a subcontractor (outside of the soapstone counters and gas line) was for the drywall...and I learned a lot from watching them.

When the custom bay window was finally replaced in the front of the house the following spring, I had to tie in all the drywall. Watching those guys do the kitchen somehow made it possible for me to do the mud work with almost no sanding outside of a little bit after the third coat. Like they did, I learned to not over-work the mud and then use the knife like a scraper when it was dry to remove any ridges. I guess I was lucky as I can't tell the difference from my work and theirs.

But don't ask me to duplicate the feat... ;)