Uneven drywall joints

[Allen Theobald]

Hello Home Repair Gurus!

I am trying to help my brother finish his bathroom.
He had a friend come in to help him with the drywall.
Not all the drywall was replaced, only the drywall behind
the tub tile. The drywall was "green" board type.

There are at least two problems I saw immediately upon
entering the bathroom:

1. The drywall joints were not flush with each other.
Even where two of the new pieces of drywall meet.
One is about 1/16 to 1/8 higher than the other. Both
sheets are of the same thickness. How to make it smooth?
How can this be?

2. Where one sheet of new drywall meets the old there is
no stud! How can these be joined (if at all)? I've already
received the suggestion of going through the wall from the
other side and putting a stud in! I'd rather not do
that.

Both of these problems are compounded by the fact that the
tub-surround has already been put in (i.e., attached to the
new drywall).

I am willing to take all suggestionsto hime on how to fix
either of these problems.

E-mail or post. I read both daily.

TIA,

Allen

[Alan Beswick]

Allen Theobald wrote:

> 2. Where one sheet of new drywall meets the old there is
> no stud! How can these be joined (if at all)? I've already
> received the suggestion of going through the wall from the
> other side and putting a stud in! I'd rather not do
> that.

Can you work a piece if aluminium or galvanised sheet behind the old
stuff and use that to catch your screws?
Alan

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[David James Miller]

Allen Theobald wrote:
>
> Hello Home Repair Gurus!
>
> I am trying to help my brother finish his bathroom.
> He had a friend come in to help him with the drywall.
> Not all the drywall was replaced, only the drywall behind
> the tub tile. The drywall was "green" board type.
>
> There are at least two problems I saw immediately upon
> entering the bathroom:
>
> 1. The drywall joints were not flush with each other.
> Even where two of the new pieces of drywall meet.
> One is about 1/16 to 1/8 higher than the other. Both
> sheets are of the same thickness. How to make it smooth?
> How can this be?
>

I'm an amatuer doing my basement but here goes....

You can build up the low side with multiple coats of joint compound,
then tape and finish. You should have a huge taper to get rid of the
ridge.

Is the joint a seam between a tapered edge and a butt edge? If so, fill
the tape, then tape and finish. If not, rehang the drywall.

> 2. Where one sheet of new drywall meets the old there is
> no stud! How can these be joined (if at all)? I've already
> received the suggestion of going through the wall from the
> other side and putting a stud in! I'd rather not do
> that.

I'd take the drywall down, put a stud in, and start over. I rehung a
peice more than once while doing my basement. And I firred out a
stud once also....

>
> Both of these problems are compounded by the fact that the
> tub-surround has already been put in (i.e., attached to the
> new drywall).

Can it be deattached? My one piece tub/shower went under the drywall.

>
> I am willing to take all suggestionsto hime on how to fix
> either of these problems.

My experience is it is much better to get the drywall hung correctly,
then finish it. There are many bad seams in my house and repairing
them is a pain in the ass. Do it right the first time... or in this
case, ensure each pahse is done right before continuing.

>
> E-mail or post. I read both daily.
>
> TIA,
>
> Allen

Dave

[Jerry]

In article 7D...@lexis-nexis.com, David James Miller <dav...@lexis-nexis.com> () writes:
>Allen Theobald wrote:
>>
>> Hello Home Repair Gurus!
>>
>> I am trying to help my brother finish his bathroom.
>> He had a friend come in to help him with the drywall.
>> Not all the drywall was replaced, only the drywall behind
>> the tub tile. The drywall was "green" board type.

---------

>
>> 2. Where one sheet of new drywall meets the old there is
>> no stud! How can these be joined (if at all)? I've already
>> received the suggestion of going through the wall from the
>> other side and putting a stud in! I'd rather not do
>> that.
>
>I'd take the drywall down, put a stud in, and start over. I rehung a
>peice more than once while doing my basement. And I firred out a
>stud once also....

Absolutely, if the drywall edges are not rigidly screwed to a stud,
the joint is guaranteed to flex and crack. It might be easier to cut back
each edge to the nearest stud, exposing half of each stud, and cut a
piece of drywall to fit in between, screwing down the edges, of course.

---
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[Mike Ruffo]

Allen Theobald wrote:
>
> Hello Home Repair Gurus!
>
> I am trying to help my brother finish his bathroom.
> He had a friend come in to help him with the drywall.
> Not all the drywall was replaced, only the drywall behind
> the tub tile. The drywall was "green" board type.
>

> There are at least two problems I saw immediately upon
> entering the bathroom:
>
> 1. The drywall joints were not flush with each other.
> Even where two of the new pieces of drywall meet.
> One is about 1/16 to 1/8 higher than the other. Both
> sheets are of the same thickness. How to make it smooth?
> How can this be?
>

> 2. Where one sheet of new drywall meets the old there is
> no stud! How can these be joined (if at all)? I've already
> received the suggestion of going through the wall from the
> other side and putting a stud in! I'd rather not do
> that.
>

> Both of these problems are compounded by the fact that the
> tub-surround has already been put in (i.e., attached to the
> new drywall).
>

> I am willing to take all suggestionsto hime on how to fix
> either of these problems.
>

> E-mail or post. I read both daily.
>
> TIA,
>
> Allen

To correct these problems try the following:

1. Remove the tub surround carefully.

2. If the joints have been taped, remove the tape and cut the edge of the joints in a V
pattern about 1/2 " if possible. Using either a 12" wide trowel or a 8-10" taping knife
fill and even out the difference between the two pieces of drywall with Durabond 90 or
similiar product (Durabond 90 is drywall compound which dries in 90 minutes). Tape the
joint using a fiberglass mesh tape instead of paper. Make sure it's well embedded in
the durabond compound. Once it's dried remove any high spots by scraping it with the
drywall knife or trowel. Now put a coat of regular drywall mud making it 1 1/2 times
the width of the 1st layer. It's important that you use regular drywall mud because the
durabond is difficult to sand. Once the 2nd coat is dry do a light sanding with 80-100
grit paper. Finish the joint again by making the next pass wider than the 2nd.
Depending on the circumstances you may have to put on more coats to even out the
differences between the two pieces of drywall. This should solve the first problem.

3. As for you second problem just cut 4" x 4" holes at 12" intervals between the two
pieces of drywall. Place pieces of 1x3 about 12" long behind the drywall and while
holding it tightly from behind the drywall, screw the drywall to the pieces of
strapping. Screw the cut out pieces of drywall into 1x3 backing and proceed to tape and
finish the drywall joints. Even though this may not be as solid as having a 2x4 behind
the joint, but will save you having to go through the back wall.

Good Luck.

[Scott D. Konnagan]

In article <55o0mi$q...@hearye.mlb.semi.harris.com> g...@mlb.semi.harris.com (Jerry) writes:
>From: g...@mlb.semi.harris.com (Jerry)
>Subject: Re: Uneven drywall joints
>Date: 5 Nov 1996 18:23:14 GMT

>In article 7D...@lexis-nexis.com, David James Miller <dav...@lexis-nexis.com> () writes:

>>Allen Theobald wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello Home Repair Gurus!
>>>
>>> I am trying to help my brother finish his bathroom.
>>> He had a friend come in to help him with the drywall.
>>> Not all the drywall was replaced, only the drywall behind
>>> the tub tile. The drywall was "green" board type.

>---------

>>
>>> 2. Where one sheet of new drywall meets the old there is
>>> no stud! How can these be joined (if at all)? I've already
>>> received the suggestion of going through the wall from the
>>> other side and putting a stud in! I'd rather not do
>>> that.
>>

>>I'd take the drywall down, put a stud in, and start over. I rehung a
>>peice more than once while doing my basement. And I firred out a
>>stud once also....

> Absolutely, if the drywall edges are not rigidly screwed to a stud,
>the joint is guaranteed to flex and crack. It might be easier to cut back
>each edge to the nearest stud, exposing half of each stud, and cut a
>piece of drywall to fit in between, screwing down the edges, of course.

Easier still might be to cut each drywall sheet back to the nearest stud,
nail a stud to each of the existing studs, cut a piece of drywall to fit the
opening and then screw it to the new studs.

This approach avoids trying to expose half of each existing stud, which can be
a pain in the $#@%. Also allows you to use a sawzall to cut the existing
drywall back to the existing studs more quickly.

Scott

[Scott]

Allen Theobald <all...@novaengr.com> wrote:

>Hello Home Repair Gurus!

>I am trying to help my brother finish his bathroom.
>He had a friend come in to help him with the drywall.
>Not all the drywall was replaced, only the drywall behind
>the tub tile. The drywall was "green" board type.

>There are at least two problems I saw immediately upon
>entering the bathroom:

Sounds to me that your first step is to keep your brother's friend
from helping with anymore "improvements".....