How To Hire Your Plaster Contractor And Save Big Money
Hiring a plaster contractor may be the wisest choice when you decide to repair and renovate your old plaster walls and ceilings.
• when you don’t have confidence that you can learn to repair your own plaster
• when you don’t have the time to do it yourself
• when you want a plaster contractor to just come in and do it fast
So here is what I suggest. When you make first contact with your (potential) plaster contractor, ask him - what can I do by way of preparation to make your job go easier? And … will this save me money?
When I have a client eager to help, here are some things I tell them to do.
• empty the room of all furnishings, pictures, etc. (if this is an extensive project).
• cover the floors well with flattened cardboard. (important if old plaster will be removed).
• wash all areas to be repaired to remove dust, grease, fingerprints, cleaning agent residues, etc.
These may seem like common sense things, but you might be surprised at how many people don’t even think of these things – until maybe after I have arrived.
I will cover the cardboard myself with my drop materials, but the cardboard protects a hardwood floor. Old paneling or plywood will work even better.. When removing old plaster from wood lath, it is very easy to have chunks fall to the floor and they can really dent that fine hardwood. The cardboard helps prevent damage.
Anything like dirt, grease, etc. will interfere with the adhesion of new plaster materials to the old painted surfaces. So we need to get it off.
If the old plaster is to receive a new veneer coat, any plaster contractor worth his salt will put on a bonding agent first. He will roll or spray it on. This provides that extra “stickum,” as I call it – insurance for getting a good bond.
If this is the case with your project, ask your prospective contractor if he would give you a break in price if you roll on the bonding agent yourself. He will want to furnish it, but you save him time if you can do the application. It’s easy – just roll on like paint.
If your plastering project is quite extensive, involving taking off all the old plaster down to the wood lath, your plaster contractor will probably be quite pleased to offload that task to you. And if you are also responsible for all the debris removal and cleanup, he will be ecstatic.
How Do I Deal With Water Damage After it Happened?
There are different types of home water damage and how you handle each one of them will be a little bit different. The main thing that you need to keep in mind here, is that water damaged building products attract mold, mildew and fungus.
If you have water damage from a small leak under your bathroom sink that only leaked about 8 ounces of water, you might not have very much to do. I would suggest that you monitor this area to make sure that it doesn’t start get worse or turn different colors. Small water leaks that don’t leak very long usually don’t cause much damage.
We just covered the damage from a small water, however, there isn’t much damage between a medium sized water leak and a large water leak. Medium and large water leaks create damage that will need to be repaired. The only difference is the amount of damage that needs to be repaired.
A medium sized water leak might damage the bathroom floor framing and plumbing pipes where a large water leak would have added additional damage like carpeting, flooring, drywall, ceilings, insulation and sometimes the building foundation.
The simplest way to deal with any water leak is dry the building materials out as soon as possible. If you don’t have the correct tools, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to contact a professional or go down to your local rental yard.
Remember, the water damage is already done to the house. You’re not in an emergency situation anymore, but you need to do something about it, as soon as possible. Mold, mildew, fungus, dry rot and termites love wet stuff. I needed to replace drywall in rooms were the water damaged carpet, only sat for one day.
If the homeowners would have removed the water from the carpeting with a high-powered vacuum a little bit sooner, they wouldn’t have needed to pay for any more unnecessary home repairs. Don’t let water damage repairs cost any more money than necessary and deal with them quickly.
Is It Time To Do Some Repair Work On Your Drywall?
Should you attempt to do-it-yourself or hire a drywall contractor? The answer depends on the size and type of the needed repair. If the job is large and requires specialized knowledge, equipment and a significant investment of your time, you might want to hire a drywall contractor. However, scratches, dents and small to medium sized hole repairs can be easily mastered by even the beginner.
Drywall is truly one of the greatest inventions to come along within the last 80 years. And for some very good reasons; it is an inexpensive wall covering that goes up quickly. It is neutral and can be decorated to individual taste. The invention of drywall saved contractors and homeowners thousands of dollars in construction costs and repairs.
Drywall, or gypsum board, is made of a crumbly fire resistant substance that is wrapped in a thick paper coating. It is very durable and can be easily cut, sawed, drilled, bent, nailed, glued, screwed, painted on and papered over. It even helps to sound proof and insulate a room. But even as durable as it is, eventually, you’ll need to patch some area of drywall in you home or business.
Commonly, you will be dealing with one or more of three different types of wall holes – nail holes and dents, small doorknob size holes and larger holes caused by fists and furniture. In this article I’ll explain a very simple repair technique for a small drywall holes. This will work great on holes less than 6 inches, such as doorknob holes.
THE “HAT PATCH” REPAIR METHOD
Using a keyhole saw, cut a square around the hole (the hole is now square). Keep it as small as possible. Sand the edges to the hole lightly to remove burrs from the sawing. From a new piece of drywall, cut a square piece of drywall about 3 inches larger than the hole that you’re trying to cover. (Now follow me closely here, because in this next step you’re going to remove some of the drywall backing from your new patch.) TURN THE NEW PATCH OVER and cut 1-1/2 inches on each side with a razor knife. Be very careful not to cut completely through the face paper (you want to leave the facing paper intact). Now carefully peal the 1-1/2 inch pieces off the face paper and discard. Clean the back of the face paper on the patch to remove small bits still attached.
Place joint compound around the edges of the hole for at least 2 inches on each side. Be sure to mud the raw edges of the old drywall. Insert the patch into the hole and drag mud down each side. Now cover the entire area with a very thin coat of mud and let it dry. When completely dry sand the area very lightly.
If necessary, apply a second coat and allow it to dry. Sand the area lightly and you are ready to paint.