A Little Sheetrock Repair Explained

This picture is of a linen closet ceiling. The extent of the damage may not show up very well in this picture. There is not one thing out of place, nor a speck of dust in this lady's house. She had her prized linens on the top shelf, thinking they were safe there. However the condensation drain for the air conditioning in the attic above was poorly designed and became plugged by a build up of mildew sludge. Eventually the pan under the A.C. unit began to over flow and did so for some time until she noticed wet items on a lower shelf. You would have thought she found a corpse in there the way she carried on. It wasn't too difficult to fix, this sort of thing happens a lot in these parts.
This picture shows how much of the damaged sheetrock I removed to sound, unaffected wallboard. I did not let the lady see the mold and mildew growth which had accumulated on the back side of the sheetrock. Her husband ran block for me. The pan under the A.C. unit and the tube for the drain are visible to the left. I installed new sheetrock, floated and painted, putting everything back good as new.
This is kind of complicated to do. I will explain how: First thing remove obstructions and put down heavy dropcloths on the floor. Protect yourself. Over my overalls I wear an old army field jacket and cap. I got these cheap at an army surplus store. Put on gloves, a dust mask and eye protection. I always carry ear plugs in a little case in my pocket. Besides your wrecking tools, have a couple of very heavy duty construction type trash bags handy and a shop vacuum. Make sure you have good lighting. While working keep the site clear so you aren't stumbling around like a drunk painter. It wouldn't hurt to take some pictures if you may need to have some reference in the future. You may as well have all the repair materials and tools at the ready; your shop vacuum, hammer, wrecking bar, saw, cordless drill, 2x4's, , screws or nails, sheetrock, "T" square, knives, pans, paper tape, joint compound,etc. If you are repairing an exterior wall you will probably need to re-insulate the affected area as in the case of this ceiling. Take time to set up good lighting and prepare to anticipate what you will need to get all the way from demolition to taping the newly installed sheetrock in one shot.
The basic procedure is: Set up, demolition, demolition clean up, assessment and planning, additional framing (if needed), new sheetrock installation, clean up, taping and final clean up.
Sheetrock is cheap, so you may see during your demolition that by removing a larger piece of sheetrock you may avoid the need to stub in additional framing to attach the new sheetrock.
When you have the new sheetrock properly installed and the site is picked up, go ahead and tape the joints with joint compound and paper tape. When you have this done, then pick up everything and take the dropcloths outside to shake out and fold up. Then vacuum and clean the site. At this point you will be ready to begin the next phase of finishing. Try to accomplish all this in one, fell swoop, stopping only for lunch. Unless you know some really advanced techniques you will be done for the day as the joint compound will need time to dry before further finishing can be done. Good preparation is a wise investment of time and will save you a proportionate amount of time and effort in the execution of the project.
If you are contemplating such a project and need some consultation, just let me know.
Bob The Painter - over and out.