"Dadoing" Drywall

[Chris Padilla]

So I need to replace a chunk of ceiling drywall (hence 5/8") and I've discovered the framers did a lousy job with setting a header within the joists about 1/4" too low so it produces a decent bow to the drywall that I'd like to fix.

My idea is to "dado" or "gouge out" or "excavate" some drywall from the backside so that the drywall fits a bit more flush. Yes, I'm quite anal. :rolleyes:

Some ideas I had:

(1) Use my good old PC690 (may need a subbase to extend its reach...the header is 3 2x6s) and a crappy bit and route away. Should make a nice cloud of "drywall smoke" so I would do this at the end of my driveway so the entire neighborhood can enjoy it with me. ;)

(2) Slice 'n dice up the area with a razor blade to remove the paper packing, then gouge away with something. I have this hunky glue scraper with a carbide tip brazed to the end that I've used in the past on operations like this but they were over much smaller areas than 3 2x6s about 3' long. This sounds like a long process to me.

That is about it for easy ways to do this. Anyone else have any other brilliant ideas? Fixing the header is out of the question...not going there so drywall is it.

Cheers! :D

[Prashun Patel]

Can you add blocking to the sides of the ceiling beam and then run 5/8 dwall TO the beam, and then 1/4 dwall under the beam? Taping and feathering that section might be easier and more stable than dadoing through the paper?

[Travis Gauger]

Can you get away with 1/2" rock and then shim other areas? Problem with sheet rock is when you take that back paper off it gets real weak in that spot. I had a similar issue in a long hallway where I wanted to run my 10' sheets perpendicular to the joists. One joist was proud by about 1/4" than all the rest. I ran my first sheet a stock 5/8". the next piece was 1/2" and shimmed on the joists that were correct. On the joist that was proud, it was sheet rock to joist with no shim. Worked alright for me. Good luck.

[Steve Clardy]

Razor knife and an old chisel

[Chris Padilla]

Can you add blocking to the sides of the ceiling beam and then run 5/8 dwall TO the beam, and then 1/4 dwall under the beam? Taping and feathering that section might be easier and more stable than dadoing through the paper?

Interesting idea but I'm not sure I've seen 1/4" drywall at the borg...maybe I just need to look more closely.

[Chris Padilla]

Can you get away with 1/2" rock and then shim other areas? Problem with sheet rock is when you take that back paper off it gets real weak in that spot. I had a similar issue in a long hallway where I wanted to run my 10' sheets perpendicular to the joists. One joist was proud by about 1/4" than all the rest. I ran my first sheet a stock 5/8". the next piece was 1/2" and shimmed on the joists that were correct. On the joist that was proud, it was sheet rock to joist with no shim. Worked alright for me. Good luck.

Hmmm, you have me thinking now. I could just cut out the area where the header is and then put in some 1/4" drywall...assuming I can locate some. I suppose 1/4" wonderboard could work, too.

I wonder about the weakness I'll introduce with my initial idea...I would plan to screw it to the header so it should be supported.

My job is patchwork where I cut out a 4' wide section by whatever length to get all the damaged drywall out (water) and get a clean install of a new piece.

[Chris Padilla]

Razor knife and an old chisel

Can do on that one! I already started in that direction before thinking, "Crap, this will take FOREVER!" :D

Thanks, Bro...Ma would be proud! :rolleyes:

[Lee Koepke]

Shawns idea was pretty good.

the only other way is to plane the proud header, or add some blocking for a few joists on either side to ease the transition

[Prashun Patel]

If u can't come by 1/4" dwall, can you use (don't laugh) 1/4" plywood? I believe drywall compound will stick well enough to it. After the whole thing's skimmed with compound, who'd be able to tell the diff?

Alternatively, have you thought about just leaving 5/8" on the beam and feathering out compound like 20" on both sides? I bet no passersby'd be able to detect the diff...

[Chris Padilla]

If u can't come by 1/4" dwall, can you use (don't laugh) 1/4" plywood? I believe drywall compound will stick well enough to it. After the whole thing's skimmed with compound, who'd be able to tell the diff?

Alternatively, have you thought about just leaving 5/8" on the beam and feathering out compound like 20" on both sides? I bet no passersby'd be able to detect the diff...

Well, in all honesty, I didn't know about the sag BEFORE the damage occured but NOW that I know about it, it will seriously drive me batty! :o I at least need to TRY and do something about it and then I'll feel better about the results. :D

[Prashun Patel]

I've had professional drywallers in to fix my hanging and mudding mistakes in the past. In all 3 instances, they reached for a bucket and long taping knives first. It's amazing what you can solve by properly feathering.

Yr gonna have to feather a new patch anyway. If it were me, I'd fight this battle with a sword instead of a bazooka. If it still sucks, you can always sand it away and patch as per orig plan.

[Heather Thompson]

Chris,

I feel your pain, my husband hates it when I discover something is not quite right and then tear it apart to fix the issue. Last year I replaced the sliding patio door and tore out the nasty old carpet, found that the cable guy caused a leak above the old door. I ended up tearing out the dry wall above the door to check the condition of the header, ended up being good, one thing lead to another and I removed all of the dry wall on the south wall. I then went to replace it and found that the studs were way out at one end of the room, found shims at the BORG (1 1/2"x1/16"x3') that worked great. when it comes to mudding, thats when I call Matt, he is a pro and well worth the money.

Heather



Well, in all honesty, I didn't know about the sag BEFORE the damage occured but NOW that I know about it, it will seriously drive me batty! :o I at least need to TRY and do something about it and then I'll feel better about the results. :D

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks, Heather. I needed to read that. My wife thinks I'm completely nuts going to "agonizing" length on such things.... :o

She's right, of course! :D

I've got a guy mudding/taping my living room right now; I should have a chat with him about this spot....

[Lee Koepke]

and Chris remember, the tolerances for drywall are measured in 1/4" not .001 :D

(framing is about 1/2" these days )

[Jim Becker]

Cut it out manually.

BTW, for specialty items like 1/4" and 3/8" rock...you need to go to a "real" sheetrock supplier. The 'borg isn't going to have anything like that in most cases.

[Jason Beam]

Chris,

You shouldn't have trouble getting 1/4" drywall at the orange Borg. At least, they have it up here - so if you wanna take a road trip I can hook ya up :P

I've been doing a bunch of drywall lately in my recently-acquired home (about 60yr old) and have found that doing anything to weaken the drywall will give you more problems than it's worth. If you ran a dado down that drywall, no doubt you'd be hard pressed to get it consistent AND not have it crack when you go to mount it. Which means a lotta bumps and such to smooth out - much painful time!

I'm in the "run thick stuff up to it, put thin stuff over it and patch the resultant gap" camp myself - as I've just done that very thing in my kitchen. I had 1/2" drywall and slammed into a 3/8" thick ledge on the existing sill plate. In this case, i just kept filling it with drywall mud since it was really just a 1/8" dip for only a little distance. You've got some deeper valleys to fill, so some 3/8" or 1/4" drywall would work best, methinks. Good luck!

[Greg Cole]

If you're going to do it, might as well do it so as not to want to lift your foot into your can every time ya walk in that room. The agony comes when you didn't do whatever it is to your liking... I had my Dad help me reside the house, replace windows etc etc almost 2 years ago now.... and every time he would say "you don't have to be so damn fussy about every little thing ya know".... I'd stare at him for a couple seconds and we'd work in silence for a few minutes. He never did ask where I learned to glare at someone like that, but I was stared at that same way alot as a snot nose kid....:D:D:D
Me... anal? Ummm not really, but very attentive to small details.... yup.
I'd most likely either shim or plane the studs and carry on with patching and the wide floating.....

Greg

[John Lannon]

So I need to replace a chunk of ceiling drywall (hence 5/8") and I've discovered the framers did a lousy job with setting a header within the joists about 1/4" too low so it produces a decent bow to the drywall that I'd like to fix.

My idea is to "dado" or "gouge out" or "excavate" some drywall from the backside so that the drywall fits a bit more flush. Yes, I'm quite anal. :rolleyes:

Some ideas I had:

(1) Use my good old PC690 (may need a subbase to extend its reach...the header is 3 2x6s) and a crappy bit and route away. Should make a nice cloud of "drywall smoke" so I would do this at the end of my driveway so the entire neighborhood can enjoy it with me. ;)

(2) Slice 'n dice up the area with a razor blade to remove the paper packing, then gouge away with something. I have this hunky glue scraper with a carbide tip brazed to the end that I've used in the past on operations like this but they were over much smaller areas than 3 2x6s about 3' long. This sounds like a long process to me.

That is about it for easy ways to do this. Anyone else have any other brilliant ideas? Fixing the header is out of the question...not going there so drywall is it.

Cheers! :D


If you could e-mail me a picture of your situation, I can give a you a quick and effective solution. I make a living doing drywall repairs, modifications, and curing jury rigged walls and ceilings.

olderchev@cox.net

[Steve Clardy]

Can do on that one! I already started in that direction before thinking, "Crap, this will take FOREVER!" :D

Thanks, Bro...Ma would be proud! :rolleyes:



Speaking of Ma :eek:

How is the ol' gal doing these days?

[Chris Padilla]

Speaking of Ma :eek:

How is the ol' gal doing these days?

You should call more than once every blue moon! :mad:

[Chris Padilla]

If you could e-mail me a picture of your situation, I can give a you a quick and effective solution. I make a living doing drywall repairs, modifications, and curing jury rigged walls and ceilings.

olderchev@cox.net


Hi John,

I have some pics but they are still in the camera and the camera is at home so tomorrow I can post some pics. Thanks!

[Steve Clardy]

You should call more than once every blue moon! :mad:


So every blue moon isn't enough :confused::confused::confused:


I'll try to call more bro. :o:p:D

[Jim O'Dell]

I'd think planing off a little on a trippled 2X6 wouldn't cause any problems. Hook up one of them cheap B&D power planers and go for it! 'Course, you might want some one with a shop vac close. And ear protection would be a must!! :D Jim.

[Ben Grunow]

Dont cut the dryawall if you dont have to. Much better to remove the high spot of wood and install the drywall the way it should be.

[Joe Chritz]

The most important phrase to remember when using drywall is.........

"leave it the finishers will get it"

My idea is it would be better to fix the wood then the sheetrock.

Joe

[Jamie Buxton]

My local HD stocks 1/4" rock.

[JayStPeter]

My idea is it would be better to fix the wood then the sheetrock.

Joe

That's what I was thinking. Run a jigsaw along the proud piece ... badabing, done.

[Chris Padilla]

Guys,

There are joist hangers invovled with this header...remember, this is a ceiling I'm dealing with so mowing down the header will be a bigger PITA compared to digging out some drywall.

Anyway, I spaced bringing my camera but the deed has been done. I actually ended up just scoring the drywall back, and chiseling out the chunks to get rid the backing paper.

Next, I took my drywall rasp and cleaned up the area to get it down to the depth I needed. All in all, it only took me about 30 minutes of work and wasn't all that bad. I'll hang it tonight so we'll see I can measure worth a darn.

I'll get pictures up. Thanks for all the good ideas.

[Bill Morrison]

I don't know if you've finished your project or not but the Borg has drywall and it was on sale this week-end. Wished I would have been able to use it instead of 5/8.

[Chris Padilla]

Yep, I got 'er done...and will post some pics...if I can ever remember to bring the digicam to work.... :)

[keith ouellette]

I have done this many times from the face side. I cut the area I want to replace square. I then cut a drywall patch 3/4" bigger than the square hole. I strip 3/4" drywall off the the paper all the way around and strip 3/4" of paper off the whole in the wall. Lots of mud and push in place. I use a fast 20 min set compound. If it is a large area it will recess some back into the wall so when it drys I skim coat the area with some more joint compound to make it flat. Then texture. Works like a charm.

To do a ceiling I do the same but then cover a flat board or another piece of drywall (larger than the hole) with plastic and screw it in over the patch to hold it in place till it dries. Then unscrew the board and patch the screw holes when I texture the ceiling.