Drywall

greylockwood

I recently pulled off the vinyl 12"x12" backsplashes in my kitchen. Some of the pieces came off easy, but the glue from others pulled off what looks to be the top layer of drywall. Is there a way to smooth out the wall myself? Or should I hire someone to spray texture it?

sdsester

You should plan on replacing the drywall if that much is pulled away, especially in the kitchen. Even if you could fix it, it will be cheaper to just start over.

What are your plans for new backsplashes? Real glass or ceramic tile or just paint? You will want a backer board if tile or just about anything else is in your future.

Dairylander

Do not try and mask this with texture.
I think a skim coat is a DIY friendly project.
Get a bucket of premixed drywall compound and a drywall knife. An 8 incher should work fine. Skim a light layer of compound across the rough spots, then sand it smooth. Shine a bright work light across the surface and it will show you the spots you missed.
This will be dusty, so tape down plastic over everything and wear a respirator.
Pick up a foam sanding block to make the sanding easier:
http://www.seven1seven.com/images/Trim-Tex_sponge.JPG

jlhaslip

what dairylander said.

might take several coats to get smooth.
for finisher sanding a lightly damp sponge works good.
prime and 2 coats of finish colour.

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sdsester

I guess I should ask what you mean by top layer of drywall? Did you loose some of the paper or is 1/4" missing from 1/2" or 5/8" stuff? Cannot skim coat that much missing. You might get by skim coating where the paper used to be. I still wouldn't do it in a kitchen.

Snav

If you're going to tile your back splash area then you'll have to put up backer-board which can just go over top the molested drywall.
You only need to repair it if you're going to paint it.

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beerdog

Post a picture of the situation. I had some severe damage when i removed some wall paper. I had to do 2-3 skim coats and a little sanding. But i only painted. You need some strength so tiling on top of extensive skim coating may create a reliability risk.

greylockwood

I've patched and skimmed the whole surface and it looks great. I'm going to sand and paint, no tiling. Thanks for everyone's help on the matter....