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drywall installed backwards

18K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  Missouri Bound 
#1 ·
Previous homeowner installed drywall backwards and then glued on wood paneling. I removed the paneling and the glue. However, i dont have any drywall experience, so i had a contractor come look at it. He said that he would remove the paperthen skim coat the wall. He said i could remove the paper myself to save some money. However, i have no idea how to do this. Please help.
 
#2 ·
Is replacing not an option? How about even going over what's there with 1/4" drywall? It sounds like a ton of work, the paper is actually integral to the strength of the drywall also. I guess you could moisten it and try to remove or steam it if you must? I'm just afraid it will be a lot of effort for a bad result
 
#3 ·
Yep, from a test of Type-X board, pp.9; "With specimens cut from the long direction of the
panel, the stronger machine direction of the face paper plays an important role. Between 200°C to
300°C, the paper chars away and the strengthening influence gradually disappears (Figure 4). It was
not uncommon in the tests at lower temperatures for the gypsum core to crack but the paper to retain
its' integrity allowing the panel to sustain an increase in load. This behavior demonstrated the
important structural role of the face paper." From- http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf2003/crame03a.pdf

Gary
 
#7 ·
I would try any thing before I used a 1/4" sheet of drywall. After you install the drywall all your switches and outlets will have to be extended, all your base board will have to be removed and reinstalled, all your window and door openings will need re-done. you will have to mud and sand all the joints you will need to do something where the new drywall meets the ceiling such as tape but can't get any on the ceiling or will have to paint that. Why not seal with Gardz and paint as normal.
 
#9 ·
A piece of drywalls strength is in the paper. Remove that and there is nothing holding the gypsum together. If you take the paper off, skimming over top of it is a temporary fix, it will crack eventually. Are the joints already taped and coated? any pictures? any damage from the glue being ripped off? How much board is there?

I did a basement about a year and a half with the some thing, owner didnt want to pay for it to be torn down or anything put over top. I coated all the flats like butts, lvl 5'd all the walls. Paint went on nice and i called it a job well done.

Use a heavy primer, it sticks to pretty much anything and covers alot of imperfections.

P.s any contractor who would mention this idea is clearly a cowboy, and should be avoided. Seriously... paperless drywall, doesnt make any sense.
 
#11 ·
I am not sure how big of a deal this is......BUT. there is a wallpaper mfg. which makes a covering that can cover this obvious error. It is also used over concrete block to allow painting. I am not sure what it is called but there are many experts who visit this site who will hopefully chime in. All I know is that it works, and "Waltex" comes to mind.
 
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#13 ·
That is true now you can buy that fiberglass mat it comes in 36" width is very easy to work with. It's called Fibra Fuse stick it on the wall skim coat it and done. In this case the drywall being backwards is really not a problem. The problem is where the paper torn, and unless it's a really big tear I would skim it and not worry about it.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Sand and/or skim coat as needed. Keep the paper covering as intact as possible. Avoid sanding through the paper even if that means having to use more skim coating or primer.

If drywall is installed inside out then more overlapping paper edges will be seen. This is another example where more skim coating will save having to damage the paper all the way around each panel.

Note that if you put in a drywall screw so deep as to cut most of its way all around the paper, that screw has lost its holding power and does not count towards the number of screws per foot needed. While it is not possible to avoid tearing the paper directly under the screw head, the hanging chad must still be attached to the rest of the paper and held down by the screw.
 
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