To the pros! A friend of mine (and a real cheapskate too!) wants me to install new drywall over the walls of this 150-year-old apartment. It’s got plaster, lathe, holes, uneven surfaces, different planes… you name it the wall has it! He is going to install a tub at the end of the wall that’s shown in the photo. The walls already measure 61 1/2″ from inside to inside – too wide for a standard tub to fit. If I tear out the plaster, lathe, etc. I’m going to be miles too wide. What have you experienced guys done in situations like this? Tear it out to the studs or just laminate over the hole mess?
There are exposed water pipes (that will remain exposed) and there is no access from below as this is a 2nd floor apartment with a finished ceiling below. If I “bump” out the wall, the plumbing may not be accessible. If I strip it back, the baseboards will have to removed (they’re tight to the water lines and waste pipes) and they’ll likely splinter into a million pieces.
I really want to make this look good, but I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Kevin
Replies
Yeah, that's definitely a bloody mess. I always put stuff like that in the dumpster.
Do you want it done or do you want it done right?
The right way: pull it out, fix the mess with proper and new materials. Fir the walls to match the tub, re-trim the baseboards etc.
That's my two cents, but it's not my time and not my money!
Either way I'd get some good gloves and a mask in there, good luck.
Don't rip anything out. That will just make the project bigger, require more time and frustrate you. Debris removal is such a PITA. You have no idea of how much there will be - debris AND dust - everywhere. You have already claimed that your friend is a cheapskate. I respect your desire to create a good final result, but if he isn't willing to pay for it, you shouldn't either.
I have done similar renovations and found that the best route to take is to scrape the walls, prime them with alkyd primer, and skimcoat the room. Less work time, and less WORK time. Then prime again with alkyd primer. Paint. You're done.
If you try to sheath with 3/8" drywall, you'll still have to tape and have the same drying time, cut the gwb around all the piping and then fill in where your cuts aren't clean and/ or tight. Plus you'll miss most of the studs and risk driving a screw into a water or electrical lines.
F
Kevin:
In my view, this bathroom requires nothing less than a total gut and re-build. I have little doubt that the electrical and plumbing systems are in need of up-date. All your finish work will be easier and more efficient if the old junk is out of the way. If wall thickness is a problem, fur out the framing to the proper thickness before you hang your drywall.
Based on just your one photo, I suggest you just say "no thanks." Your tight-wad friend wants you to peform a miracle. Trying to do this job on the cheap will cause you headaches and you will lose money, and possibly your friend. If he won't listen to reason, let him find a bottom-feeder.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Your tight-wad friend wants you to peform a miracle
I was thinking the same thing--the buddy's mind has "small tub of joint compound will skim coat this out" in it. With a touch of, "well, maybe, one sheet, of the skinny stuff, ought to do it" thrown in to boot.
OP comes back with the materials list (only) for doing it right, and skin flint will likely faint. Add in labor, and he's a goner ("Lisbeth, Lisbeth, I'ma comin t'ya!" <redd foxx as fred sanford>)Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
kevin....
i'd give him 2 choices....
gut it to that studs, rewire, replumb, and reinsulate
or i'd get some of the fabric they use for plaster walls ( looks like a cheescloth almost....).. and skimcoat it as already suggested
the first is the right way.. the second makes more sense than overlaying with another layer of sheetrock
Now, that's interesting. What is the fabric called? Wouldn't it make for a ton mud being used? And there's no way I'm wasting time and money using D-mix.
Thanks to all for suggestions so far. Running new water lines (PEX, for example) and opening the floor to gain access to the waste pipes would also be a consideration. Then this bathroom could really shine!
Kevin
don't know.. but my plasterer uses it on old palster walls with lots of cracks on them
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
A good mason supply should carry the fiberglass cloth.
Try Glidden . Atleast the were making something like that about ten years ago.
6 16 17 97 99
GWNG,
He wants a hack job.
Are you willing to be a hack?
If you aren't, can you sell him on quality?
If you're gonna hack it: Everything waterbased.
Patch the walls with DW a little thinner than the plaster. Patch the floor, only where it will show, with Advantec.
Prime the plaster with full strength Elmers yellow glue.
Use quickset mud only. Tape and mud the DW, but not the DW to plaster joints. Apply mud filler to the patch with a 2" trowel, smooth and level as best you can with a big serving spoon, the kind ya stir the pot with. Feather the DW to plaster with a tile sponge before the mud sets. The way I type, you should be done already. Work fast, it finishes better. After the mud sets, "sand" it with the tile sponge. It will look as lumpy as the rest.
Prime the patches with more Elmers.
A ton of fixall on the floor patches and cover the floor with 1/4 Luann, or equivalent.
Prime the walls and all pipes again with good primer.
Pick three colors hi-gloss.
Paint the walls with color #1. Paint the ceiling with #3. Sponge paint the walls with #2, then #3. Sponge paint the ceiling with #2, then #1. Paint the pipes with #1 and the baseboard with #3. #3 should be the lightest color, #1 the darkest. All in the midrange shades.
With the walls already washed with TSP and good ventilation, setup, Elmers, patch, Elmers, floor, prime, and cleanup in 8 hrs or less. Next day, paint everything in 4 hrs.
Be a quality minded hack.
SamT
Well, it's green.
Wow! I was kind of hoping to be done before Spring! I kind of thought Durabond over most everything would have been the way to go as regular mud will never stick adequately to the plaster/gloss paint, etc. I've forwarded this discussion to his Blackberry so he can see what kind of feedback I've been getting. Thanks guys.
Kevin
"as regular mud will never stick adequately to the plaster/gloss paint, etc. "That's why you first prime with an alkyd primer.BTW - there are 2 typs of material you can get to reinforce the wall - 1. a canvas-like material, available at professional paint stores. Hardware stores and big boxes won't carry it. It requires that you apply it as you would wallpaper. and 2. a fiberglass mesh that comes in 3' x 100' rolls available a pro paint storea AND big boxes. It looks just like the fiberglass mesh tape used to tape wallboard, just in a bigger format. This stuff adheres itself to the wall and acts as its own guage for how much compound to apply to the wall. Good stuff. Be sure to prime the wall first though. That is a step you cannot afford to skip.F
Guy's using a Blackberry & he doesn't want to do it any way but cheap....gimme a break...
Whats a blackberry ?(besides the little seedy fruit...)
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.
I was thinking the same thing...Beware the cheapskate with Blackberry.
A Blackberry is one brand of those little hand-held computers that is an address book, phone, computer, date book, address book, phone book, etc.
Don't you ever sleep?
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
Lately, sleep is sporadic.Thanks for the info. I suspected that was what it was.
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.
Two comments
It will be less expensive IMO, to strip the plaster to the lathe and install 3/8" drywall over that than to save what is there.
My recommendation would be to strip to studs and rebuild it right for slightly more. I would not touch it as a patch jobn. He is gauranteed to be unhappy with it and I don't want him unhappy with me.
second item - you don't want to use drywall in a shower area. Dry wall is for dry walls. Use cement board in the shower, backed up with a membrane to shed water out.
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Thanks to all. I'm going to run the "gut & re-do" past him and see if it flies. Only way I can see to make a nice job of it. Thanks guys.
Kevin
I have done nasty old bathrooms in similar conditions.
Gut the thing back to studs and do it right. You get to hide all the ugly pipes, get the walls properly flat etc.
By the time you have done a patch job good enough to blend in and satisfy your OWN standards, you could have gutted it and be well underway with the re-do.
If he wont go for a proper job, bail and go and do something else. seriously.
Everything, 100% of it, depends on how you look at it.
DW
I agree.As the title says, when in doubt, tear it out.
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow It is easy to be friends with someone you always agree with.