We've had to remove the lower two-thirds of a bedroom wall due to mold from a shower leak. The wall is about 5 feet wide and 8 feet tall. My husband has some experience with drywall from a long time ago, but I've never tackled it before. Interestingly, the previous drywall was two layers of 3/8" drywall, and we're puzzled about that.
We're debating whether to just replace the affected section or to demo the entire wall for a better finish. The wall has some tricky corners where it meets a door frame and a ceiling, plus a weird mesh corner bead that might complicate things. If we go for the full demo, should we leave a gap of an inch or two from the door frame or ceiling to make the finish less noticeable? I'm also curious about how much it might cost if we decide to hire someone to do the wall replacement, since the demo is already done, and we're in a low cost of living area in Michigan. Any thoughts?
4 Answers
In my experience, it's typically simpler to replace entire surfaces instead of patching. If you can keep some of the corners intact, like about 6 inches, great! It’ll help avoid issues with texture matching. If matching it up is proving to be a struggle, going all the way to full replacement might save you from headaches later on.
It sounds like the existing wall had plasterboard. The double layer of drywall was likely to provide extra strength. Honestly, I'd recommend either doubling up on the new drywall to match or just tearing everything out and starting fresh. If you cut the mesh corner bead carefully, you should have a better time finishing the wall.
You're right to think about the complexity here; mold can be tricky! I agree that starting fresh with clean materials could be more effective. Leaving old materials means you might still have mold lurking around. If you've already demoed it, just clean everything thoroughly and rebuild. Just so you know, if mold is present, a 10% bleach and water solution can help sanitize, but please wear PPE when handling it!
I’m currently replacing drywall in my mom's house after some plumbing issues. Honestly, I’d opt for just replacing the damaged bottom half; it’s been pretty straightforward for me. Going for a whole wall replacement can raise both the cost and workload substantially, so keep that in mind!
Just a heads-up: while bleach can kill mold, it's not effective on porous materials like drywall. The EPA actually doesn't recommend it for mold cleanup. Vinegar works better, and there are cleaning products specifically for mold out there.