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A Selfie Kinda Girl ~ Bathroom Remodel

And I said I wasn’t much of
a Selfie-kinda-girl…


Actually, I just didn’t have any really good
wallboard photos for you.
So…
You get a photo of me in yesterday’s lovely outfit 
instead!
(my right arm actually CAN make a pretty good muscle, but it was busy with the camera…This left arm, not so much.)
😉


***BTW, The “Fabulous” and “Awesome” glittery,
crystal letters come in a sheet of the alphabet and are from
Michael’s Craft Store
in case you would like to decorate some
mirrors around your home.
They are really fun!
(I got the idea from something Fifi O’Neill did in a magazine a couple 
of years ago.  She had them on her mirrors and I thought it was 
Genius!!!)
NOT compensated for any of this, just in case you were wondering. 🙂
The swirls were another package.
🙂


Repairing Wallboard
1. Obviously, remove old wallboard (if necessary), and 
Tip: clean area with 50% bleach/50% water, if you have had any water damage 
and there is black mold.
*A lot of what you hear about mold is really only a problem for people
(like me)
who have allergies to mold. It causes us to have breathing issues/asthmatic reaction to it.
A contractor friend told us about the bleaching trick and it works beautifully!
This bathroom was fine, we just removed the wall, but I thought I’d 
put this in as a tip for you.
🙂


2. What NOT to do:
Buy wallboard that is an exact fit, depth-wise, and install. There is no
depth left for the tape, plaster, and texturizing you’ll want to apply
and your repair
will stand out
from the original wall.
This is what happened the first time when Hubby installed the right side.
It was standing OUT from the wall instead of just slightly under-flush.
So…
He ripped it out while I went and bought the 3/8″ thick
wallboard instead.  (We had the 1/2″ originally.) 
It is pretty cheap for an 8′ sheet (about $11)
so it won’t break the bank.
The only real cost is time and learning something new!
😀


It may standout a bit, anyway, but you want to limit it as much as possible.
You will always know where your repairs are,
but friends and family coming over
aren’t going to be looking for your repairs
so try not to worry about it.
🙂
If you aren’t okay with that,
then
take down ALL of the existing drywall
and replace fully with new.
That’s the only for-sure way to get a perfect wall.
It just depends what you are comfortable living with
in your look.


3. Prep your existing walls with sanding the edges and paint off a bit
where the wallboard tape will adhere.
Clean up the inside edges of the existing wallboard
to receive the new.
Vacuum out the chunks and dust.
(My personal favorite OCD thing!)
You can find my original posting
also here in the month of May 2015.
(Sorry! This program won’t let me “link” it… 🙁

4. Measure your area to fix.  You’ll bemaking your piece to insert
 a tiny bit smaller than the actual width. This helps it fit into the space
without being having to trim too much.
(Trim your new piece with a rasp or wallboard knife as necessary
as you dry-fit your piece along all places that need trimming.)

5. Mark off the width and length needed across your wallboard piece, 
on the paper-side,
which comes conveniently in 4′ widths.
(We had our 8′ board cut in half, so we had two 4′ x 4′ sections.)
Use a long straight-edge ruler/T-square or something very straight 

against which to draw your cutting line.

5. Trick to cutting wallboard: 
*Score the paper-side of your new wallboard along the cutting line
all the way through the paper.
*Gently snap the wallboard with a light taps or hits along your cut piece.
*Once it breaks across the line, lift up your wallboard and
cut across the other side where the break shows.
This will give you a pretty clean cut!
🙂

5. Starting at ground level, place something down on the ground 
as a “lift” on which to place your wallboard piece as you set it into the wall.
(I used the back part of my metal spatula handle that I use for scraping things, 
applying plaster, scraping off paint, etc.)
You DON’T want your wallboard touching the ground, 
especially in a bathroom where water invariably splashes, etc.
You will want it up about 1/2″ or more off the ground
so it won’t suck up water and residual water.
Your baseboards will cover the gap.
😉


6. Using drywall screws (they self-tap and are really sharp on the end to go into wood easily.), screw in your wallboard.
If needed, use 
wallboard shims
to thicken areas that need a bit more depth.
(I had to do this with 6 thicknesses up on that left-side ceiling in a couple of spots.)
Cut your wallboard shims into as large a length as needed; they are about 3′ long
to begin with, anyway.
🙂

The mounting 2×4 needed to be an inch less deep on the very left edge, so I used our chop saw and cut out pieces of the board down to the 1″ depth I needed (do this carefully by bringing the blade down over and over, turning off the saw
in-between as you move the board each time to a new spot. Works great!!!
Up along this left ceiling edge, 
there wasn’t much wood to nail into,
so,
we cut a piece out of the one of the 2×4’s that held up the 
original dummy wall to put up into the spot
so the wallboard would have something on which to be mounted.

After chipping up the board, take a chisel and chip out the little wood pieces using a rubber mallet to bang against the chisel.  The pieces come out easily and you can clean up your wood easily with the chisel, if so desired.  (Always wanted to learn to wood carve! Future project… ;))

I predrilled and prescrewed the board so it would be easier
to install.
Hubby came home and helped countersink a couple of the screws that
were being finicky, 
but for the most part, this went up easily.
The pre-drilling and setting the screws into this board 
really helped a lot!!!
🙂

Well, that’s all for now.
Part three will share the finished drywall.
😀


Here’s to a blessed and restful
Sunday to you,

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