Grab a Hammer and Joint Compound, Kids

DRYWALL 101: Play hard, learn to repair damaged wall DRYWALL REPAIR TAPING THE REPAIR

The inevitable happened: Drywall repair became a must in our family's basement space.

Our kids haven't been exceptionally destructive while growing up. As a matter of fact, we haven't been plagued with broken windows from stray baseballs, scratched car fenders from bicycle handlebars or scribbled walls from budding artists gone astray. Let's just say their activity levels and their sizes as they've grown finally resulted in the most recent repair at our house.

Years ago, we put a small soccer field in our basement for them to use honing their soccer skills and playing with friends. Three sides are drywalled, with the fourth side screened with plastic construction fencing. There are two PVC goals and indoor/outdoor carpeting lined with white duct tape. Three-versus-three games of extreme soccer seemed relatively innocent when they were 12, 12, 9 and 3 years old and all weighed far less than 100 pounds each. As they grew and the games got more intense and they and their friends became young men and women, the walls started to feel it.

First, the goal areas needed to be protected by a thin sheet of plywood to take the impact of the ball. That fix was easy. Plywood was screwed over the drywall, painted blue and the game continued.

Between the ball being drilled into the walls to pass around opponents and bodies falling and being thrown into the walls, the drywall became stressed, leaving cracks in some pivotal areas.

Within a week's time, two quite large sections of drywall broke through, leaving the 2-by-4 studs and some protruding drywall screws dangerously exposed. After a couple ice packs and a Band-Aid or three, the game was called due to needed renovations of the field.

We figured if they could be energetic enough to go through the walls, they could be productive enough to learn a little bit about home repair. My oldest two daughters put on their sloppy sweats and helped tackle planning and competition of the work.

Fortunately, the broken-out sections actually incorporated two small sheets of drywall, so we were able to repair both spaces with one sheet of 4-foot by 8-foot drywall.

Because our basement walls are framed out but we periodically need access behind the walls, we butted the drywall pieces together. Between vertical sheets of drywall, we put a drywall screw through a small washer and drove the screw between the two sheets, allowing the washer to hold the two edges of the drywall in place. Additional screws were positioned on the interior studs at uniform spacing.

Because the original installation wasn't taped, removal of sections became much easier. If the drywall had been taped, the studs would need to be located and then the section neatly cut out using a utility knife and T-square or builders' square. In our case, we only had to cut the top and bottom of the opening and unscrew the two sides to remove the damaged drywall.

David Kuhn, owner of the handyman business Home Services, 909 Shreiner Ave., cautions DIYers to keep their fingers on the square so they're protected from the blade. Another way, Kuhn suggested, is to use a manual keyhole saw, which is a very basic blade in a small handle, to punch through the face of the drywall and cut along an etched line.

"Be careful, however, of any potential wiring that might be in the wall," he said.

If using a keyhole saw, the edge might be a little rough. Kuhn suggested beveling the front edge of the drywall with a utility knife to clean up the edge.

After cutting out the two 4-foot widths of damaged drywall, bracing is added top and bottom so the new drywall will have something more substantial to be screwed to than just the two sides. The bracing boards are cut from 1-by-4 boards. If they are cut to be snug, they are easier to nail into place since they don't move around as much. The boards are positioned flush with the front of the existing studs and are eyeballed halfway behind the existing drywall and halfway into the opening where the new drywall piece will be attached.

The neater the hole is cut out of the damaged drywall, the easier the tape job is. The drywall patch pieces are cut so the tapered edges are on the right and left to replicate what was removed, since the original installation was not taped at joints. The butt joints that needed to be taped are on the top and bottom of the two repaired sections.

If the damaged drywall area is cut out squarely, the drywall patch fits in with ease. If the cut to remove the broken sections isn't quite square, some shaving of either the opening around the hole or the new drywall is necessary. A drywall rasp, which is like a plane for wood, is used to shave off small amounts of the cut drywall edge and clean it up. Cutting a sliver off of drywall with a utility knife isn't the easiest task for a novice.

Once the new pieces are fastened into place with screws along the bracing boards and through washers along the tapered edges, the cut edges are taped so the finished product will blend with the rest of the basement walls.

Because the joints that needed to be taped are not the tapered edges, the compound needs to be feathered out farther to each side of the joint to blend the two boards together.

Joint compound is "schmootzed" over the joint wide enough to fill behind the 2-inch drywall paper tape. The tape is torn to fit from side joint to side joint, laid into the compound and covered with a little bit more joint compound.

Gently hold one end of the tape, take a 4-inch drywall blade and scrape horizontally along the tape to remove excess compound and push the tape into place. Remove as much excess compound as possible to make the sanding between coats easier.

For more inexperienced drywall finishers, Kuhn suggests self- adhesive tape, which is a sticky mesh version. "However, it is a little bit thicker than paper tape, so you'll have to work a little harder to get a good, smooth-looking joint," he said.

Once each coat dries, lightly sand and reapply a layer of compound that extends farther both ways from the joint so that the finished compound will create a gradual taper on the wall. Kuhn said that for the finishing touch, he likes the look that a damp sponge gives to the finished joint - and it's less dusty than sanding.

Then, prime and repaint. Resume play!

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.