lee733•1mo agoProlific Poster

Showerthought: Is it faster to fix bad drywall or just tear it out and start fresh?

I ran into a ceiling job last week where the previous guy used nails instead of screws and left gaps everywhere. I spent a full 10 hours trying to patch and float it smooth, figuring I was saving time by not ripping it all down. But by hour 8, I was mudding over cracks that kept showing up again, and I realized I should have just demoed it in 2 hours and hung new boards in 4. Now I'm questioning if I'm stubborn with repairs when a full tearout would've been cheaper on my time. What's your cutoff point: how many hours do you waste on a bad install before you pull the trigger and start over?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa9761mo ago

Same here man, I’ll fight a bad drywall job for way too long before finally giving in and tearing it out. At some point you just gotta admit the nail pops and crooked seams aren’t ever gonna look right.

jesse7731mo ago

Huh, is it really that serious though @lisa976? A few nail pops and crooked seams are just part of the charm of an older house, and most people won't even notice unless you point them out. Sometimes it's better to just live with it and save the headache.