I can't remember if you mentioned it in the video but why not rip that half of the ceiling down, drywall it and then plaster. Id imagine you would have been able to do that in the same time frame no? I know you were paid to do the plaster only but just wondering. I know you mentioned in other videos why you decided to plaster instead of just restarted but what was the reason for this? Great video btw
Because there is no such thing as “just rip it out” It seems so fast in your head but it’s a huge messy job that requires triple the prep, triple the cleanup and disposal at least. Once you are halfway through “just ripping it out” you begin to understand that you could literally be finished the job already.
@@smartbuildengineering we had all of our second floor ceilings over boarded with 1/2" lightweight drywall because a previous owner tried to cover cracks with painted wallpaper and it looked godawful, and tearing an entire floor of plaster ceilings out in an occupied house with who knows how much lead paint buried in there was not happening. So far so good. Couple of spots where the seam at the wall didn't get enough mud under the tape but no cracks or obvious sagging. We redid all the electrical after and the boxes are flush to the new ceiling level.
I have done tons of free repairs simply because I had hot mud and didn't want to throw it out. It's just as easy to quick fill as it is to dump in in the trash.
Wait until you run into the homeowner that wants you to repair the wall, including paint, because you started it. And they don't have any touch up paint. And if you don't think anyone would be like that, you are naive.
@@nailbanger2 Usually the wall is getting painted but the repair work on it wasn't charged for. Other times, I either gauge them beforehand or say something after the fact like ‘hey, I fixed that hole in the wall over here for you’ or ‘this may not hold, but I filled that crack you were pointing out’. Hasn’t backfired in 10 years. Has generated more money and happiness though
Indeed. It’s fascinating that he feathers the edge before smoothing! I’ve always done it the opposite but I was wrong! It’s a better finish if I do it Ben’s way!
Woo, landlord special!! Plus this (presumably) being in Vancouver, that tiny little 5'x7' room likely rents for $10,000/month! LOL This is absolutely a "real-world" fix, though! People will get angry over it, but if the repair lasts to the customer's needs and expectations, it looks acceptable, and is within the budget, then it's a good repair. I absolutely love your extra-wide little two-step ladder!
31:48 this. It can be so difficult sometimes to just do what a client wants, even if we don’t agree with it, or know it can be done better. But you’re so right that setting our own ego aside to just do what is asked is an important skill, too
I’ve never seen fibre fuse sheets and plaster washers before… Very cool! Being a drywaller/carpenter/skateboarder in Wagga Wagga Australia your videos always make me smile 😊
Having just spent the last few weeks fixing the damage done to our plaster walls during knob and tube replacement, your plaster repair videos have been a life saver. I feel lucky to live in a place where Concrete Fill is available, it really is the perfect tool for this kind of thing and I never would have thought to use it without your videos.
I’ve done lots of this. You need to use glue(no more nails, PL) with the plaster washers. Where the plaster lost its key, you drill a 1/4” hole through, fill with glue, then screw the plaster washers up until the glue oozes out. Work from solid to weakest area. Should a large chunk fall out I have 1/4” rock on hand and patch it into the lathe. Then skim it all with 90 and it works! The glue re- key’s it. 😀
Love the longer form video here. Really great to see the full thing from start to finish with very few cuts. I recently did a similar plaster repair but for about 50 wall cracks and fibafuse and confill were an absolute lifesaver
Thanks for teaching me that "plaster washers" are a thing. Previously I had used fender washers in similar situations. I'm a 70-y-o DIYer and it's amazing all the simple tools and parts that I'm not familiar with. Just a few weeks ago I learned that a "drill block/ drill guide" is a very useful $7 tool.
This is a very good video. I take care of several rentals with plaster walls and ceilings. Especially when you have to do a repair with tenants living there, it can be very messy to take down the ceiling and put a new plaster or drywall. It does not have to be perfect. I just wish we had concrete fill or something similar in USA.
Your serious levels of expertise in knowing exactly which little tweaks in materials and techniques are important is what makes the success of the project. Thanks for sharing!
Just wanted to thank you for your videos. Just repaired a hole today that I have been holding off for awhile and as a 33 year old dad, I just bought my first complete skateboard at a local skateshop since 2008. Your videos have inspired me to learn drywall and get back into skateboarding
I've screwed drywall right to concrete block by using tapcons through plaster washers. They pulled in enough to mud over them OK. The reason for the washer was partly that drilling through the drywall into the block made too large of a hole for the screw to hold otherwise. This sped it up enormously and has held up well for years. Perfectly happy with my hack job 😁
If you ever have to do it again, what I’ve seen guys do is put liquid nails on the side adhering to the concrete and then tapcon through 2x4 strips on the front to hold in place until the adhesive cures, then pull the tapcons and wood strips and you’re good to go.
Ben, Thank you for another great video. I bought a house that someone glued paneling over plaster (1950's construction) on the walls and ceiling and into the sky light. When I removed the paneling, I pulled big chunks of the pearl coat off all the walls and ceiling. I used a few drywall buttons where the wall was moving. I used plaster of paris to patch the walls where the pearl coat came off. Then I gave it a coat of an oil base stain sealer primer before I started resurfacing the walls. I find that sometimes, if you don't use primer the moisture from the joint compound and paint will blister loose paint that you missed when scraping. Then I used the three foot wide fiberglass sheets (same product as the fiber glass tape) to coat all the surfaces, just staying shy of the corner beads. (I only learned of fiberfuse from you after this project) Then I used two coats of 45 minute mud. Then I finished it with all purpose joint compound. When I finished it was restored to the look of the original 1950's plaster. (Maybe better) It has been over two years and it is showing no signs of deterioration. by the way, this was my home so I didn't have to rush the drying times.
Looks just like my house when I moved in after it served as a frat house for 20 years LOL. cathartic to watch as the perfectionist in me struggled with tackling an eerily similar sight
You should do a video of full length butt joint taping and mud...from floor to ceiling. I'm currently trying to tape and mud a manufactured home that previously had the strips covering the joints. It would be great for some pointers. It's is not easy especially when the framing is not flat. I'm doing my best though.
I know this was a bunch of your worst presentations but I was really happy about this because my boyfriend just fired his handyman for taking 4 months and have nothing done. I'm standing down a lot of bad drywall taping and almost brave enough to do a little on my own. It's an old property and all of the videos I've been seeing are about perfection and it's making me daunted. Yours was about what it takes! It takes guts🤣 and I'm going to make what is horrible a little better and then we're going to paint it so you've given me hope. Thanks!
I carry a small flash light to check the surface when sanding. I've never seen you use one. It helps me alot to see imperfections. You did use led light at the end to show the high/lows. A tiny key chain flashlight would work. Enjoyed the rush job. Still looked professional to me.
I have been watching your videos, they are informative. I'm been retited going on 2yrs, I also been really busy working on projects helping my kids who are 32 and 38 years old with their homes. YOUR videos have help me a great deal. THANK YOU .I live I Los Angeles, CA , I wish I could shake your hand.
I totally get what you're saying about it being fun to work on somethong where you can be less particular. I'm a total perfectionist and I love it when I get to go work on someone's house that is sloppy and doesn't care. It's so much fun to just let go sometimes lol. Even so, my work still turns out good, it's just nice to not have that pressure. Glad you get it!
I bet this will hold for a long time, and it looks halfway decent. The tenant will likely not even know, and even if they do they probably wont care. Sometimes the "proper" fix isn't the best fix.
I actually get paid to make rooms look like that, with the cracks and peely paint. When there’s work, movie work, that is. I’ve also stayed in a hotel in Paris, way back in the day, that had burlap stapled to the ceiling which was holding loose plaster. I also plastered over a deeply texted ceiling where I attached my shoes to old cat litter containers to use as sort of stilts.
Many years ago, I used to install carpet and vinyl. I installed something similar to that blue rug if not the same thing. I also once installed some pink wool carpet in a cabin that was nearly 2 inches think. You just never know what a person will like
I'm currently working on a job where the walls & ceiling is bowed out since the home is old. Mind you my specialty is painting, paver sealing, pressure washing/soft washing, & wallpaper installation/removal. I never really did drywall finishing aside from patching, so I like to watch your videos & learn. Funny thing is I am trying the hawk & trowel & it was quite a frustrating thing. I am getting the hang of it now & the prep work is tough but it's nice to try new things & develop new skills. Admittedly, learning on bowed walls & ceiling isn't the best place to start. Lol
Been here with a finished attic, ended up sealing the entire thing with an oil primer, plaster washers, framing/lathe repairs, filling holes, and then a heavy knife texture and paint
As a recovering perfectionist, it took a lot of time & willpower before I stopped trying to turn every bowl of chicken poop into a bowl of chicken soup.
8:23 to 9:27 was totally the Bob Ross moment of your channel. I mean, i generally watch you and Bob Ross for probably the same reasons that haven't anything to do with painting or drywalling. Now you just need to save some little critter and keep it in your pocket.
I bought a former rental mobile home. I want to remove the popcorn ceiling and batten strips on the walls to make it look more like a house. The drywall has that vinyl coating?"wallpaper" that has been painted once. Have you ever worked on a mobile makeover? Any tips for taping seams on that painted vinyl and how to prep the ceiling for painting after getting the popcorn down?
This going to be Giant Peach part II. 😂😂I watched the whole damn thing again. Ben there's something to your freestyle work and talk method. Excellent video.
There’s something refreshing about a video with real world constraints. Doing a good job, but not losing sleep over minutia you’re not being paid for. Thanks for everything you’ve taught so many people
Hello! I just discovered your channel as I have some touch ups and repairs in drywall to do in our new home. I have found some recommendation in some of your videos for a good drywall trowel. I have not found one on a canadian website though... Since you often talk about Canada, I was wondering if you'd maybe be able to recommend me a place where I could buy one in the 12in size? Thanks and keep up the good work!!
Hey what’s up brotha. I’m down here in Southern California and been watching you for a little while. I for some reason have the hardest time with taping and muddying. I would love to have a training session with you the next time you’re here in the states. Let me know if you would be interested in a paid training demo.
Doesn’t matter how smooth you put mud on, the tools dragging on it leave a porous surface that looks like crap with anything but flat paint unless it's sanded. I still have yet to try it, but I want to see if the plasterer’s trick with a spray bottle of water works for drywall without damaging it
Slightly unrelated pre-fill question: Any opinion on using spray foam to pre-fill gaps, rather than using hot mud? Some people swear by it, but I have only ever done it the way you taught me a few years ago 😂.
DO NOT use spray foam. It is not hard enough. Some repairs will be fine this way and some will fail. Do you really want to gamble with your patches like that?
@vancouvercarpenter my boss has us use spray foam but I v cut the foam and use the green bucket so there is some base to it. Seems to work ok so far I'm just using the spray foam to keep the mud from falling out the back if that makes sense. Will say I'm a noob still
Hi mate, enjoying your work from Australia! wondering what your thoughts are on taping with cornice cement instead of base coat? Saw a video here in Australia of a bloke using it claiming added strength, didn’t really like what I saw but wondered if you’d done or heard of it? Thanks mate, Dave
Pretty horrible that place is being rented as it is. I rented a room in a house when I was a student ( 45 years ago) in a college town in the Monterey Bay. Our shower wall was made with formica, with metal edges, and a bunch of sealant on the edges. All the walls were covered with 1/4 inch drywall, to cover up all the damage underneath. The carpet was a dark green outdoor felted carpet that was glued to the floor. What I did when I was young, man oh man...
When you are use to doing nasty repairs, it's not and unrealistic expectation. But like anything, there's more than one way to do a repair and as long as it looks good in the end, that is all that matters.
I have definitely searched your channel and haven't found anything yet on skim coating over wallpaper. If you do have a video on this. I would love to watch it otherwise, if you do not. This would be a great subject to possibly address. I would love your input or take on doing any type of mud work over wallpaper. As wallpaper is a pain to remove sometimes.
I assume you want to skim coat so you can repaint rather than rewallpaper the room, and you're looking for a high quality, flat surface for painting. Firstly, I try to avoid skim coating over wallpaper, and prefer to get the wallpaper off first if I can. However, sometimes the wallpaper wasn't hung properly to start with (e.g., the walls weren't sized before the wallpaper was hung) and it can literally take days to get the wallpaper off, and even then it will be super patchy with lots of gouging damage. If you do need to skim coat over wallpaper, even if you've gotten part way through and given up, from experience, my advice is: 1) make sure the wallpaper is sound everywhere on the walls to be skimmed first (i.e., glue down any lifting paper, scrape off any damaged or lifting paper etc); then 2) do any major repairs using Quickset mud; then 3) undercoat the entire wall, ideally with something like Zinsser Cover Stain (a fast drying oil-based undercoat paint). If you use oil based paint, make sure you have decent ventilation. Sometimes you can get away with skimming straight over wallpaper if it's reasonably waterproof but, trust me, you'll kick yourself if you don't undercoat and the mud causes the wallpaper to bubble and lift in places; then 4) Skim coat. If you're a good skim coater and sander, and you use side lighting when sanding, you can get an excellent, professional finish. Hope the above is helpful - from a DIYer in New Zealand.
anyone else hear the lyric "sanding down the ceiling so it ends up in the rug..." playing in your head while watching his videos? (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
u need the level 5 2ft blade. Amazing for skiming cheater code gets it perfect. u should make a vid using one on flats & butts u can almost get away with one coat crazy! I've been watching your videos for awhile great content very humble person # TRADESMAN
What's funny to me is this "quick down and dirty" job is better than the majority mudders out there doing their "best" work... it appears someone in this video might be a bit of perfectionist?
