How much should I stress out over drywall?

7 years ago

I am having a major situation with my drywall.
The drywall contractor finished the job and was paid in full without my GC ever really checking his work over. Big mistake. Since then we spent a ton of time fixing the imperfections in my ceilings and walls. This was done by my GC's handymen.

My painter just finished prime and first coat and has identified problems all over the place that he says need to be fixed before final coat. Many of these things you only see by shining a light across the wall.

So I called in a couple of drywall guys to evaluate the situation. One was happy to bid on 2-3 weeks of work to fix every little thing. The other told me I don't need to be concerned with imperfections that I can only see by shining a 500W light across the drywall. He said he can send his finish guy for a couple of days to do some touching up but if I insist he can have him work for as long as I want him to, chasing down every single little imperfection. As he put it, there is no end to that.

Assuming it is never going to be absolutely perfect, when do you know you're done futzing with drywall? I feel like this can be like going down a rabbit hole that has no end. Was it sound advice to ignore the issues I can't see without shining a light? Or should I keep working on it until I eliminate every wave?

This house was originally paster walls and ceilings and is now a mix of drywall and plaster. Can the preexisting waves in the plaster ever be fully skim coated away?

Featured Answer

Sammy

7 years ago

Lindsey-

From what I understand, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, a form of mental illness, can be quite a debilitating disorder. Out of respect for both the OP and for those who truly do suffer from it, I urge you to not use the term so casually on this forum.

Thanks

Comments (7)

Sammy
7 years ago
- What type of lighting will there be in the room?
- What paint finish are you using?
- What problems, specifically, has your painter identified?
- Got pictures?
miss lindsey (She/Her)
7 years ago
In my opinion, your degree of OCD is yours alone to manage and live with! In other words, only you know what is good enough for you.

However, my advice would be to ensure a properly finished surface that can be painted (sanded properly, no exposed tape edges, etc) and then leave it be. You'll be adding furniture, decor, lighting that will create shadows. The second drywall contractor gave you a really honest evaluation and like him, I don't see any point in spending a lot of time, money, and thought energy to fix something that will be unnoticeable once your house is put back together.

But again, only you can manage your own OCD!!
flopsycat1
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Just wondering. Was the drywall installer hired by your GC? If so, isn't it his responsibility to make it right?
PRO
JudyG Designs
7 years ago
You should be addressing this with your General Contractor. He is (or should be), driving the bus. It is his job to fix and worry about this…not yours. This is why he presents himself as a “General Contractor”. No more money for GC until he fulfills his role.
miss lindsey (She/Her)
7 years ago
Oh, sorry to offend!

I wasn't using it flippantly, as close family suffers from this disorder and therefore I realize that there are varying degrees of debilitation (as there are with any disease). Only the individual experiencing it knows how to manage it, what will trigger it, what can be overlooked so as commenters we can't tell them what is reasonable or not as far as perfectionism goes.

I should not have diagnosed the OP over the internet though. I made assumptions based on his/her description and word choice and that was wrong. Again, I'm sorry to uscpsycho and anyone else who was hurt by my comment. I should have expressed myself more sensitively.
uscpsycho
Original Author
7 years ago
Sheesh. Let's not get overly politically correct. I don't have any type of clinical OCD, just the garden variety that we all suffer from from time to time.

I don't think any reasonable person would be offended by Lindsey's use of OCD. It's not like she called me a "retard" which is obviously degrading and insulting to people with mental disorders.

Anyway, the original drywall work was done by the GC's sub. Then the GC sent his handymen for several days to try to fix the drywall issues. And now he doesn't want to spend more money to fix it. Meanwhile I am trying to get this project finished asap. The GC probably underbid this contract and to make matters worse he agreed to do things that he is not familiar with. It has resulted in a lot of mistakes which he usually fixes when I catch them (my fear is the ones I don't catch). At this point he isn't making much money so he's trying to avoid spending any more money. But, end of the day he WILL cover the expense.

To answer the other questions, the majority of the lighting will be led downlighting with some ceiling lights and a few spotlights aimed at wall decorations. No sconces.

Other than the bathrooms and gym the paint is flat.

A lot of the problems are actually bad patches that were done by the original drywall company or the handymen that came after. There are also some lines from the drywall tape and waves in the walls. I haven't taken any photos but I think the issues would be hard to see in photos.