Repairing Drywall in the Garage

So remember that gastly clusterf*ck that was the drywall in my garage? It was in a pretty sorry state following the two rat invasions. Well, now that I had some guys come out and seal out those rats for good, I was ready to repair the ceiling and walls. These photos are pretty sorry-ass too but I've only been taking snap shots with my phone among this ginormous mess.

Oy vey, right? On Saturday I went out and bought some supplies to tackle this mess. Two sheets of drywall -the fireproof variety for garage use.

First things first was to remove all the drywall screws still left in the walls and ceiling.

Then I set to clean up and straighten all the ragged edges in the drywall that was staying. 

I used a chalk plumb line for this which worked like a charm. This was a two person job and Ethan helped.

Because I need to be able to fasten the edge of the new drywall strip, I followed the middle-ish part of the stud as much as possible in marking my lines.

Don't ask me why but using a plumb line has got to be one of the  most satisfying things in any renovation/repair job. I just love that chalk blue line!

I bought one of these oscillating multitools to trim the drywall. Das original funktionierte gut. 

I used this round attachment to make the cuts.

Just follow the blue line and of course make sure not to cut into any wiring/utilities. Steer clear of hidden screws too, they trash the blade.

But Oh what a mess. There is just no getting around it.

Oliver and I did the larger sections together on Saturday. Measure, score, snap is how you do it -at least in theory. This method doesn't work on trim cuts, i.e. you can't easily trim off 1/2 an inch, so err on the smaller side for imperfect patches (not square) when measurements are imperfect because there will be tape and drywall compound after all.

I finished up the thinner sections on Monday (yesterday).

 I got pretty good buy the end of this job.

I tucked a current New Yorker into the beam cavity as a time capsule. Who knows when that will reemerge...

I did start taping and mudding yesterday too but will post about that in my next installment.

Here's a sneak peak of how it's looking. I am planning on painting after, btw.

This was my first go-round on a drywall project. I'd rate doing this DIY as about the same as properly painting a room. Certainly a big job but not beyond the skill set of most. I watched bunch of youtube videos to learn about process. I also have the benefit of not needing perfectly finished seams, as none of them were perfectly finished when we built the house (to save $$$) in the first place. I'll let you know if creating perfect seams lives up to all the hype.