How would you "trim" this wall?

[Bryan Berguson]

This is a section in our master bath that is 27 inches long. Poor carpentry and poor drywalling caused this bow of about 1/2 inch. (no, it wasn't me) All of my baseboard trim is 3/4 x 4 hickory. I have several ideas but I think I'd rather hear some fresh ones so I don't "muddy the water". You can see from the pictures my first idea - plane the trim to 1/2 inch and force it into the bow. The problem with this idea is I'm not sure finish nails will keep it there without them pulling through. It takes A LOT of pressure to bend the hickory.

Here are the pictures, what do you think?
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Bryan

[Jerry Booher]

I would not trim it as is because the extreme curve in the wall will accentuate the bowed hickory. I would remove the trim and float the wall straight with 90 minute joint compound.

Jerry

Wait! I got a better look and the wall is straight but the trim is warped. You might try cutting the drywall about an inch below the top of the trim. Screw a straight half inch board across the stud. Then screw the trim to the new nailer.

[Bryan Berguson]

I would not trim it as is because the extreme curve in the wall will accentuate the bowed hickory. I would remove the trim and float the wall straight with 90 minute joint compound.

Jerry

Wait! I got a better look and the wall is straight but the trim is warped. You might try cutting the drywall about an inch below the top of the trim. Screw a straight half inch board across the stud. Then screw the trim to the new nailer.


Your first idea is one of thoughts I had. I'm guessing this would hold up as good as drywall. Your second idea... I wish it were as simple as a warped piece of trim, that would be really easy to fix. This might clear it up a little.

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Bryan

[Dustin Thompson]

You could scribe the piece of base to meet the drywall. Use a bandsaw, belt sander, bench plane, whatever.

Or you can float the wall out with joint compound. Take a 16" to 2' long board, make a 3/4" notch in it (or whatever baseboard thickness is), let the notch ride on the face of the base and upper portion on the wall. Use that to smooth out the joint compound.

Or you can caulk it--looks like a lot of caulk.

Can you get to the screw that's sucking the sheet in so hard and back it out a bit? That might be the easiest.

Dustin

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have run into this type of thing many times. I add a strip of matching wood to the back top edge of the base board & trim it to fit the bow.

[Greg Funk]

You could make a piece of curved trim. Laminate a few 1/4 thick pieces or make a bunch of relief cuts in the back of a solid piece of trim and cap with a thin piece scribed to the wall. Or re-plaster the wall.

Greg

[Prashun Patel]

Given that the bow is roughly the width of the trim, IMHO, scribing or filling would be too severe and would remain noticeable.

If it were me, I'd pop the trim off and float the bottom part of the wall flat with setting compound.

[Dino Makropoulos]

This is a section in our master bath that is 27 inches long. Poor carpentry and poor drywalling caused this bow of about 1/2 inch. (no, it wasn't me) All of my baseboard trim is 3/4 x 4 hickory. I have several ideas but I think I'd rather hear some fresh ones so I don't "muddy the water". You can see from the pictures my first idea - plane the trim to 1/2 inch and force it into the bow. The problem with this idea is I'm not sure finish nails will keep it there without them pulling through. It takes A LOT of pressure to bend the hickory.

Here are the pictures, what do you think?


Bryan

Bryan,
Fix the wall.
Few coats of joint compount and everything looks good.

[Russ Kupiec]

Done this several times including old homes where I recreated vintage molding. I admit it's tempting to force the trim into the warp especially in old homes where the existing trim follows a wobbly wall. Nine out of ten times though the old trim had 70 years of persuasion from a shifting house structure to find it's present day curves. Nonetheless it's a seductive path to follow, forcing the trim rather than forcing the wall lines.
The skill set to correct the wall is far less challenging than the woodcraft to warp the trim. But there's two kinds of renovation guys, wood fanatics and the other guys. Bite the bullet and buy a case of beer for whatever neighbor finds joy in snorting drywall dust. The fix represents $6 of quarter inch drywall, $3 of prestopatch and $2 of 45 minute drywall mud.
My son-in-law wanted to move an easy chair up to his second floor by himself against the better judgement of my daughter. He lost the chair on the second to last top step and the descending chair rearranged the wall at the landing in a manner much more dramatic that your problem. I fixed it in two hours flat.
good luck,
russ

[John Terefenko]

If it were me I would fix the wall because the baseboard will accent the bow. To me I would use 1/4" green board and place some shims in the low spot on the wall and this can be done with lathing tapered put them lengthwise every 16 to 18 inches whatever your spacing of screws is. Thje center of the shim equals the difference the wall bows. Of course this means new corner edging and respackling of edges where it meets ceiling and wall.

[Terry Sparks]

If it were me I would fix the wall because the baseboard will accent the bow. To me I would use 1/4" green board and place some shims in the low spot on the wall and this can be done with lathing tapered put them lengthwise every 16 to 18 inches whatever your spacing of screws is. Thje center of the shim equals the difference the wall bows. Of course this means new corner edging and respackling of edges where it meets ceiling and wall.

Seems to me, by the time you're done cutting green board, installing shims, taping it all up and putting on several coats of mud, you would save time by ripping out the wall, shimming up the studs and for the $10-$12 cost of a new piece of drywall, be done with it.

[Peter Quinn]

Fix the wall. Green rock is what, $8.50/sheet? Hell, cut the old rock off, shim the studs to a straight edge, re-rock, skip the 200# of durabond its gonna take to flatten that mess.

[Paul Girouard]

I have run into this type of thing many times. I add a strip of matching wood to the back top edge of the base board & trim it to fit the bow.




The best answer is straight the wall , BUT few will do that.

Chris's plan is the best other option. A 1/4" x 1/4" strip glued to the back top edge , NO pin nails , as you'll have to block plane or belt-sand the strip to fit , after it's fit add a shim / spacer at the bottom so the base does not tip.

What on the other side of the wall ?? If it any thing BUT a closet I'd say bite the bullet and straighten the wall, as you'll have the inverse issue on the other side, unless there just some junk behind the sheetrock causing that WOW.

[Rick Gooden]

I agree with shimming 1/4" drywall, done in no time.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello Bryan,
If it were me, I'd tear out the existing drywall - have a look-see behind the scenes to make sure something more serious wasn't going on - then deal with whatever came up.

Hopefully, it would be as simple as shimming the stud and laying in a new piece of drywall.
>$20.00 for material and about four hours (total) work.

Im sorry to have to report though, that based on my recent experience, that's usually not the case. Any time there's "bows or bellys" in the proximity of a water source (the shower enclosure), things usually end badly.

[Kurt Bird]

Bryan,
Here's another fix to try: cut the drywall edge to edge about 1" below the piece of wood. Get a pry bar under the drywall and pop it loose from the nails or screws. (You could also just dig out the nails from the face, after locating them with a magnet.) Remove the nails up to 12" to 18" above the wood, and slide some shims under the drywall to bring out the center bow. Reattach the drywall, and patch the holes. This fix will require a little finesse, but if it doesn't work, the floating can still be done. If it does work, you will mimimize the amout of patching. Good Luck!
Kurt Bird

[Jason Roehl]

Mud and float--hands down the simplest and best-looking fix. Bending/scribing/fitting trim gives you what looks like, well, bent/scribed/fitted trim. Fill in the concave area. Use a setting-type compound, as you can mix the first couple coats fairly thick. Use a straightedge to check your progress between coats, or even as a screed, if you so desire.

On edit: Forgot to add, but what you might have going on there (as a painter, I see a lot of this) is too much joint compound in the inside corner, and the corner bead not floated out far enough. That's probably not the whole story (1/2" is a lot, so framing is probably also part of the story), but contributing factors, anyway.

[NICK BARBOZA]

Install a base cap and split the difference between the wall and the front of the base board. you could caulk the top of the base cap to the wall because it will be smaller than it is now. you would still see a bit of the curve but it wouldnt be as bad since you are splitting it...

Nick

[Bryan Berguson]

Very much appreciate all of the ideas. The back of the wall is in the laundry room behind the washer. It's very tempting to cut into the back side and shim it out except all the drywall is glued and screwed. I'd probably bust it all up if I tried that and then I'd have two walls to fix.

As much as I hate (with a heated passion I might add) to work with drywall compound, I think mudding and floating the entire concave will be the easiest to do.

The problem in the bathroom was caused by not trimming out the studs around the shower unit to account for the 1/4 inch difference.

The hard lesson(s) here, well not just here, I've dealt with it trimming the entire 2000 sqft house, is if you're having a house built: First and foremost, don't hire a monkey boy contractor. Second, pay close attention as they are building (we were on a lot of business trips that year) Third, make sure the dry waller isn't a dope smoker.

Thanks again all.

Bryan

[Jim Becker]

Bryan,
Fix the wall.
Few coats of joint compount and everything looks good.

I agree...this is a "fix the wall" situation in my eyes. That's the only way that the "bow" is going to not be noticeable in the long term.

[Jon Bonham]

Fix the wall. It's $20 worth of supplies and a half day to do the job.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Take the sheetrock off of the studs, shim them, and re-apply a fresh piece. 1 hour max., and better than futzing around with the trim that will never look right - again an hour's worth of fiddling.

[Charles Wiggins]

Seems to me, by the time you're done cutting green board, installing shims, taping it all up and putting on several coats of mud, you would save time by ripping out the wall, shimming up the studs and for the $10-$12 cost of a new piece of drywall, be done with it.

I vote for this - it's what I'd do.

[Steve Clardy]

Agree, Fix the wall

[Brian White]

Third, make sure the dry waller isn't a dope smoker.

Thanks again all.

Bryan[/quote]





Good luck with that