Short version: a few weeks ago my upstairs toilet leaked and caused a part of my LR ceiling to fall (about a 3x3 gap). The toilet is fixed, but I’ve played the devil trying to get somebody to do the repair, other than one guy who came by and tried to convince me it would cost about $5000 (which even I knew was trying to rook me).
I think that it may be because it’s such a small job that I haven’t been able to get anybody to do it- there are lots of bigger building and renovation jobs in town. It would cost about $200 for sheetrock and then the big expense will be the labor for placing and plastering (I accept the whole ceiling may need to be replastered). Because I’ve been stood up like Miss Havisham by three people, the fourth was the exorbitant price guy, and the fifth was somebody who got a call to do a much bigger job before he even computed an estimate. It’s irritating.
Anyway, how complicated a matter is doing this myself (assume I enlist the aid of friends who are jackleg “do it yourselfers”? And [all disclaimers in place about “I’m not holding you to it”] am I correct that $5000 seems unreasonable for replacing about three or four sheets of sheetrock [the leak came where they joined together] and replastering the ceiling?
It’s not particularly complicated, but it’s a big PITA. It’s much easier with a few helpers. Actually attaching the sheetrock is easy, but spackling and finishing are jobs that require lots of skill and experience to do well.
If we’re talking a fairly modern construction, it’s a pretty simple but labor intensive, pain in the ass job.
a. Tear down the old stuff. Messy. If you’re lucky, you won’t get a few decades of mouse turds dumped on you in the process.
You only have to tear it back to the nearest joists. So you may not even need a full sheet of drywall.
b. Cut the new sheet to fit. The edge of most drywall sheets are tapered to allow taping. Try to take advantage of this.
c Screw the new piece of drywall in place. If you have to lift a whole sheet, bring some friends. Or rent a lift ($50.00/day or so).
d. Tape and mud. Sand.
e. Plaster or paint.
Plastering is the only part of this process that’s skilled enough so that the average person might have trouble with it.
BTW, drywall is about $8.00/sheet. Drywall mud is also pretty cheap. So I don’t know where you got the $200.00 figure, but the materials for this fix shouldn’t cost you $200.00 even if you include the cost of the cordless drill.
If you’ve got a few buddies, replacing the sheetrock is… well not an easy task. But it’s not complicated, just difficult to implement.
$5000 is someone totally ripping you off. $200 plus the cost of a few sixpacks is all it should take, if you have to buy a nailgun.
Stupid question but… what’s a lift in this sense? Like a scaffold?
PS- It occurs that Sheetrock is technically a brand name, but what I’m referring to is drywall, though obviously everybody fully understands that.
I don’t know anything about plastering but putting up four sheets of drywall with the aid of some friends is very simple stuff.
The materials are cheap (about $12-13 per sheet, a tub of drywall compound, roll of tape, box of screws). You’ll need some simple tools - stuff that you may not have would include a drywall square, exacto knife, couple of drywall knives (3", 6", 12") for doing the joints. A drywall saw is a also handy if there are any cutouts (like for light fixtures). You can buy all those tools very cheaply.
And a good drill/driver or two, I’d recommend using a “drywall dimpler” bit (you can buy a package of them for a few bucks) which will make getting the screws to just the right depth easier without tearing the paper.
Assuming that you don’t have to buy the drills, the whole thing should cost you maybe $100 tops, I’d think. And you’ll have some nice drywall tools for the next time.
You can have two friends lift each sheet into position and then you fasten it with screws. They’ll probably want some short risers to stand on. I’ve also helped friends where we rigged up a hunk of 2x4 with a bit of plywood on the end, you tap it into position so it wedges the sheet up snug against the ceiling, much easier than standing there with your hands over your head holding something heavy up. Or better yet just rent a drywall panel lifter for a day (you load the sheet onto it, turn the wheel and it raises the panel exactly where you want it and holds it snug while you fasten it in place).
If you’ve never done drywall before it’s really simple. The store where you buy it will have a good DIY book on sheetrocking and there are tons of “How to do it” sites on the internet. Taping is the hardest part since you want to spend the time to do it right and not make a mess of the joints.
I had a 500 square foot two story addition that had vaulted ceilings in the upstairs and let’s see 12 cutouts (windows, doors, lots of corners in other words) hung and tapped and finished (no paint) for under $3000.
It was a tough job. Because it was an addition to a house that had some shitty framing to start with, they had to do a bit of shimming. Remodels and additions run into this kind of thing. (they said my framing was spot on and didn’t need any shims for that).
This was last summer.
I get the same on my addition. I’ve done most of the work myself, but some things just need pros if you want it done fast.
Find the joists. Cut to the inside edge of the joist, and square across the span. Buddy a 2x4 glued and nailed or screwed into the joist so that you have a full width to nail the replacement sheetrock to. Make sure you glue it (wood glue or liquid nails) because you don’t want it to creep and nails alone won’t stabilize it enough. This is an easier strategy than cuttin the drywall to the middle of the existing joist.
If you cut out a large area, it’s easier to work with two people, esp if you are using 4x12 but it doesn’t sound like your piece is that big.
Make a T with 2x4s that is slightly longer in length than the ceiling height. Cur the replacement piece to fit. Glue the bottom of the nailers you just put up (construction adhesive; the hardware store guys will tell you what to use, and you can use it for the buddy strips as well). Put up the new piece and wedge it in place with the T. Screw (do not nail) the new piece against the joists using drywall screws and a power driver.
Shave off the edges at the with a utility knife so there are no ragged paper edges. Make a very shallow V.
Use mud and tape and a broad drywall taping knife. The trick is to not make it perfect on the first go. Mud the joint, then tape, then mud with a little feathering. Then sand, then mud for final feather, then final sand.
Flat or semigloss paint (semigloss if it’s a moist area). Keep the light from being cast directly across the ceiling plane and the joint won’t show. Use a roller not a brush; one or two initial coats for priming or use a primer like Kilz.
$50 tops for a 3x3 defect unless I missed something in the OP.
Chief Pedant nailed it. Especially the part about using the 2x4 T’s to hold up the sheets of drywall. My friend and I hung all the drywall in my 1200 sq ft basement in ~2 days with another ~2 days of taping, mudding, sanding and texturing, all for less than $1200 (I even bought a pneumatic mud thing with a big hopper for spraying on the texturing). Doing an entire basement is much different than doing a 3x3 patch, so it’s not really comparable. Regardless, the job should take <8 hours total if you ignore the time for the mud to dry and cost less than $300 even if you have to by all the tools needed. The real trick is in the sanding; take your time and do multiple coats. It pays to be patient.
The only thing I disagree with the Chief about is the use of liquid nail or other industrial adhesives. Can’t stand the stuff. If you screw up, it is almost impossible to remove. I would use screws. 3" wood screws to attach the 2x4 buddy thingies and 1.5" drywall screws for the drywall. Be sure to by the correct thickness on the sheetrock; it seems that people typically use 5/8 on the the ceiling.
A friend worked with my, and we completely remodeled my half of a duplex (about 1100 sq ft) and then my mother’s home, about 2,500 sq ft. The trick is learning how to mud well. Once you catch on then it’s not that difficult, especially for a 3’ X 3’ square.
If you know someone who can show you then it makes it that much easier, but I’m sure a good DIY video or book can tell you.
One difference between Eyer8’s and Chief’s is that you would need to mud the screw holes for the Eyer8’s approach, but that shouldn’t be a big deal.
Hanging drywall is not a difficult skill to learn, but it is messy and exhausting (not the hanging so much as tearing out the old stuff and mudding and sanding the new stuff). I’ve hung tons of drywall in my life (literally), but given my druthers I’d rather pay someone else to do i. A competent drywalling contractor ought to be able to fix a 3x3 hole for a few hundred dollars.
Let me emphasize this. I’ve pretty much dominated any home improvement one could make, except for the spackling and finishing, and it’s not due to lack of opportunity. When I gutted my kitchen last year, I removed the soffits, and to this day the finish work there is the only real detraction. If you’re ever in my kitchen, I’ll ask you kindly not to look up. Well, until I get a professional involved.
Everyone seems to have glossed over this minor fact, but hanging sheetrock over your head is a royal pain in the posterior. You’ll be sore in places you never knew you had.
But don’t let that stop you. Just buy yourself a good dust mask before you start demolition. There’ll be nasty amount of dust, bugs, mouse dropping, and other nasty stuff in the air.
Or, for $4000, I’ll fly up for a weekend and take care of it for you. I’ll even buy you supper to boot!
Yes, unquestionably. The translation of a quote like that is “I’ve already got all the work I can handle, but if you’re foolish enough to agree to a ridiculous price (and it looks as if you could be), I’ll drop what I’m doing for a day to come and collect some easy money.”
I paid about three hundred to have someone fix a larger area in the house. A leaky roof had damaged a 3x3 area of the den. For $250, the guy removed the old plaster, and put i the drywall, taped it, mudded it and sanded it. No painting as I can do that myself.
And eye protection! You’re going to be spending a fair amount of time directly underneath falling dust, mouse turds and whatever else. None of which are good additions to your corneas.
For a 3x3 or even 4x4 section, you might be able to manage such a relatively small piece on your own, but it will be much easier with a helper, especially if they’re armed with a “deadman” like what **Chief Pedant ** described so you’re not both having to hold up the panel overhead. No need to rent a panel lifter for such a tiny job - you’d only need one of these if you were re-rocking the whole room and working alone.
Wear eye protection! I got a scratched cornea working with sheetrock when I got some dust in my eye. It was excruciatingly painful for over a week and required many doctors appointments and over $1000 in medicine to heal it. Not recommended.
Only a couple of people have mentioned it but sheetrock is disgusting, frustrating and heavy to work with. The sheets usually come in a bundle of two and they are very heavy and awkward to move around. Just getting them home can be a challenge if you don’t own a truck. They get dust everywhere and the can break easily at the corners. Lifting pieces over your head sucks and learned how to put screws in it takes a little trial and error or the screws will just sail right through it head and all. The waste may be hard to get rid of and it is disgusting if it gets wet outside. I have never been good at the finish work either.
Since a couple of people have mentioned texturing and sanding I’ll throw out what I did.
Rather than dry sand, which will result in tons of drywall dust all over the place which is (a) messy and (b) probably bad for your lungs, I used wet sanding - just take a sponge, get it wet, wring it out so it’s just damp, and use that to knock down the high points of your taping/hole filling. Let it dry (keep the room warm) and do your next coat, repeat, etc. Very easy, worked great, no dust.
Instead of using a texture gun (which shoots globs of drywall compound at the wall, noisy and messy) I followed the instructions on the bucket which mention just rolling it on to texture the wall. Get a paint tray and a 3/8" nap roller. Roll it on just like paint (make sure to put a tarp down to protect your rug from little spatters). This gives a small texture, enough to break up the smoothness of the drywall sheets and it also hides where you filled the screw holes and your taped joints. I did two light coats and it worked like a charm.
