Eric wanted to hold band practice at and Marguerite wanted to explore what their options were and how much the project might cost. They were existing clients of my handyman business so they gave us a call to see what advice we could offer.

Homeowners & Home Pros Working Together

The homeowners appreciated our attention to detail during the project planning phase. “When we started researching the soundproofing project, you who really helped us get our bearings and guide our research. We were able to identify exactly what would provide the best results and what we could accomplish within our budget,” reflected Eric after the project was completed.

Marguerite added “… having heard others say they spent more than they planned on soundproofing, we appreciated your caution. You told us the project could quickly turn into a bottomless money pit if it wasn’t properly planned and managed. We knew we were in good hands when someone told us soundproofing isn’t a destination, you stop when you run out of money.”

A Soundproofing Solution

We learned that sound and vibration travel through points where materials come in contact with each other –  the ceiling, walls, and floors. The best resource we found for soundproofing is SoundIsolationCompany.com. There are a variety of ways that rooms are soundproofed depending on the level of quiet you want to achieve (and budget). Some of the more common methods include:

• Installing specially designed channels between the studs and drywall to deaden vibration.
• Installing multiple layers of drywall joined with a soundproofing glue called Green Glue.
• Filling air pockets in walls and ceilings with foam insulation.
• Using Homasote boards instead of traditional drywall for their sound barrier properties.
• Using acoustical doors and windows with sound deadening properties.

Over the course of three weeks, my handyman company helped Eric and Marguerite refine their project goals, budget and project plan. The couple agreed that they weren’t attempting to make the room completely soundproof, but rather they wanted to minimize, not eliminate, the transfer of noise to the living spaces on the other side of the walls from the music room.

To help manage costs, they decided to focus their soundproofing efforts on the two interior walls and the ceiling and leave the exterior walls untouched.

Creating a Soundproof Room for Band Practice

To stay within budget, Eric (our homeowner) volunteered to do the demolition work, which included removing the dropped ceiling and wood paneling on the two interior walls. We also also suggested Eric act as the “helper”. He could learn how to hang drywall from an expert and because we prefer using 2 people to put drywall up on a ceiling, they would save money (you can do it with 1 person using a temporary sling or special tools only a drywall company has).

Working with our technician John, was a great experience for Eric. “He was great to work with and learn from, and he always helped with minor decisions for the space we were working with.”

The construction phase of the project achieved its desired results, finishing on time and on budget. Future phases will include installing new flooring and a soundproof door, things in our plans but not the immediate budget. “We know it isn’t easy to find a contractor who can do everything that your company did at such a high level of quality,” reflected Marguerite. “We hope to work with you in the future for any project too daunting for us to tackle on our own.”

A stick-built home is made up of hundreds of 2 x 6 wall studs and even bigger pieces of lumber for all of the horizontal framing that goes into a house. Inside the wall cavities go all sorts of important things like your electrical wiring, your plumbing, your heat and air conditioning distribution (HVAC) components and more.

The magic is something called drywall or sheetrock (name varies based on where you live). Once the rough plumbing, electrical and HVAC is installed, the drywall gets installed to hide everything inside the walls. The most common drywall panels are 4 x 8 feet, which means there are seams or gaps where 2 pieces of drywall meet and also, where the walls meet the ceiling.

Habitat for Humanity International started Women Build in 1999 with support from former first ladies and women governors, leading women crews in building Habitat houses. On May 2nd, 2011 (my second year), I worked at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland and was absolutely amazed at how quickly the women volunteers learned the skills to tape and mud. My guess (yes, I’m biased) is women tend to focus on details, and taping and mudding a house requires removing the dimples, filling the cracks and through several coats of mud, creating a nice, smooth surface so the drywall seams are hidden.

Congratulations to the “Tape and Mud” team!

Led by Habitat staffer Steve who was a great coach!

Here’s a quick overview of the steps used to get the job done: and we all got to build some new skills.

Respect Your Tools and Materials

Steve started out by reviewing the different tools we would be using (see photo above). He explained how to take mud out of the 5 gallon tub and which tools hold the mud while you’re working. He reminded us to put the cover back (upside down) each time, to prevent the mud from drying out. Steve also showed us how to skim dirt and small imperfections off the top of the mud at the beginning of the job.

Mud Your Seams to Hold the Tape

When you first learn to tape and mud, you’ll want to practice on walls that are easy to reach. As you get better, you will progress to taping corner seams between 2 walls and/or between the ceiling and the walls below it. Here are some videos to share with you some of the instruction we got from Steve.

Mud Takes Practice, Practice and More Practice

Now it was time to get to work and that’s just what everyone did. Some people wanted to get more practice on walls and even those posed their own challenges. One woman had to rework the tape below a window opening as the sheetrock crumbled at the top and there were too many chunks to clean out. Another women worked on the ceiling and we all learned how to use a utility knife to get rid of an air bubble caught under the tape. Sometimes it just takes perseverance and determination and everyone had it, like “… it looks to good to take it down and start over!”

One brave volunteer was ready to try a corner seam and wisely choose to practice in the closet. You’ve got less room to maneuver in a closet but there will be less light on that seam so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Find your local Habitat for Humanity project!

Watch a young child spread peanut butter, especially if they’re putting it on a cracker which is likely to break. We can’t remember when we learned to use a butter knife and that’s the point. Once you practice and master a skill like spreading peanut butter, you simply pick up the knife and never give it another thought. Spreading joint compound is just another skill, one that takes practice until you can do it with ease and get the results you want.

Actually, spreading peanut butter is easier because no one really cares how smooth you get it and your tummy doesn’t care if you licked the peanut butter off a spoon or ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which I had for lunch today and had to share this story).

Common Mistakes People Make with Sheetrock and Joint Compound

Drywall and sheet rock are different names for the same product, so we’ll use both terms here. Plaster is NOT the same as joint compound. Plaster should be done by professionals as it requires more skill, it costs more so it’s not as popular while the benefits are a smoother, harder surface.

Running a handyman business includes fixing problems related to home owners attempting do-it-yourself projects.

My funniest drywall story is when John called from the customer’s home to review what he was discussing with the wife (who else will call to fix the husband’s mistakes). John explained there was so much mud slathered on the walls like shaving cream, that it would take hours to sand it down … and it would be faster to replace the drywall including travel time to pick up new sheetrock. With situations like this, we like a second conversation to confirm the customer understands and agrees with our recommendations before proceeding. We got approval for the new sheetrock!

So here are the most common problems homeowners run into when applying their own mud:

• Applying too much mud to the wall/ceiling, which requires too much sanding which if done wrong, requires more mud and the cycle continues.
• Not keeping the putty knife clean so very small pebbles leave lines in the mud, requiring more work to repair.
• Using joint compound that isn’t the right consistency, so the mud dries too thick or runny.
• Using mud that is old and possibly has frozen at some point in time.
• Not understanding that several coats of mud are required, each one wider than the previous one to create a smooth transition to the sheet rock.
• Trying to rush the job and not letting one coat of mud dry before sanding and applying the next coat.
• Drywall tape over the seams detaching from the sheet rock because there isn’t enough mud between the tape and the sheet rock.

One of the things that amazes me is how poor workmanship by one contractor is left for the next contractor to solve. A great mud job needs the sheet rock to be hung properly with adjoining pieces level, tight against the wall studs so there’s no movement later and screws countersunk so they’re below the surface but don’t tear the paper covering the gypsum.

Ready to Get Started Practicing Your Mudding?

Now that you realize finishing a room isn’t something you can start tomorrow, at least the mud work, you’ll want to learn more about the art of applying mud. Here is a book to read and knives to start practicing and we’ll be back shortly with learning to mud using a peanut butter approach.

PS The knife that is curved is for small repairs like nail pops while the wider knife is for taping seams where 2 pieces of drywall meet and eventually you need 3 of these knives for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd coats of mud which get successively wider.

Traditionally trim molding has been wood which is painted or stained. Ceiling decorations and intricately carved designs are often made of plaster. More recently, new foam moldings have become available and while they may cost as much or more than the equivalent wood, they’re easier to install. The foam is cast from carved wood trim and can be painted so from a distance, you can’t tell that it’s not wood.

Wall Treatments That Add a Special Touch

Here are the most common types of wall trims found in American homes today. What’s really fun is you can use your imagination to create the look you want, i.e. 10 women with the same outfit will wear different shoes and jewelry and they’ll all look great.

You just want to make sure that the visual weight of your trim fits the size of the room and is consistent with your home’s overall design. A very ornate design in one room when there is no decorative trim in other rooms might look out of place.

Do-it-yourself home owners should pick their design and materials carefully as once you’ve gotten a few pieces of trim on the walls you can only move forward. For more complicated designs and anything that requires more than straight cuts, you need experience or should consider hiring a master carpenter or professional handyman.

• Chair Rails – originally created to prevent chairs from damaging walls, are installed at a height of 30 to 36 inches above the floor. They provide a horizontal design element that unifies a room.
• Plate or Picture Rails – are similar to chair rails but they’re installed higher on the wall, typically from 60 to 72 inches. There is a shelf with a shallow groove parallel to the front of the plate rail, to hold the plates or often, these shelves are used to hold framed photographs.
• Wainscoting – includes a variety of materials and moldings used to decorate the lower portion of the wall. Paneling or bead board is popular below a chair rail.
• Wall Frame Trim Work – is used to divide up walls into large, framed spaces that are determined by the size and shape of the room. Raised panels or framing can be used to create many different effects.
• Paneling Options – include both real and simulated wood. Home owners often pick this option when they’re installing the trim themselves. The sheets of paneling are easy to install, requiring fewer cuts. Paneling comes in 4 by 8 ft sheets or boards that fit together. They’re installed over sheet rock (versus wall framing with no drywall) to insure adequate support and fire protection.
• Door Trim – is similar to wall framing where trim is applied on top of a flat panel door. Less expensive homes may with “slab” doors which can be dressed up by adding trim, a less expensive solution than replacing the doors.

Trim can be simple or elegant depending on the style of the home and budget of the buyer. Homes built today typically use the same trim style throughout the house, providing continuity as you go from room to room. Simple trim will be a single piece of wood while more complicated designs can be built up from several pieces of wood combined to form the design.

BASEBOARD Trim at the Floor

Baseboards are one of the defining features of a house providing what Tom Silva of This Old House calls the “visual anchor.” In old houses, the front room where guests were entertained had the most elegant baseboards.

Today it is common to use the same baseboard throughout the house. To make houses more affordable, cost pressures have driven the design of simple, one-piece baseboard trim. It is not difficult to replace your existing baseboard with more stylish baseboard trim. If you do replace the existing baseboard, it should be at least as tall as the old to avoid having to paint your walls.

One easy approach to building up the existing trim is to add what’s called “quarter round” to the bottom of your baseboard. Quarter-round trim is actually one-quarter of a circle with one side that sits on the floor while the other side pushes up against the vertical baseboard (shown above). Quarter-round is used quite often to solve problems, like hiding tile grout that cracks or sheet flooring that curls at the edges.

More elegant baseboards are made up of 3 individual pieces at least 6 inches high and 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. These pieces include a flat plank, a decorative cap molding on top of the plank and a rounded shoe molding at the base to cover gaps along the floor. With higher ceilings the flat plank can be taller and sometimes this trim can stretch to meet the window trim above as shown on the right.

CASINGS That Surround Your Doors and Windows

The trim surrounding interior doors and windows is called casing. It’s first role is to hide the gaps between the drywall (may be called sheet rock depending on where you live) and the door jambs which are the sides you might brush up against when walking through a doorway. The terminology is the same for windows.

Casing can be tapered (outside edge heavier than the inside edge that touches the door or window jamb or the casing can be square (same thickness on both sides). Square casings can be combined with decorative corner blocks (top corners) and/or plinth blocks (bottom corners) to add visual weight to the opening.

The door casing on the left door below is fairly simple, with the rich decorative touch coming from the wallpaper. The center door has a more complex design with multiple pieces of molding added to create a more majestic, arched doorway (below, center).

You won’t always find casing around all sides of windows (4 sides) and doors (3 sides). Especially with plaster walls which are harder, the outside edges will be rounded and the trim will be omitted to give a clean, sleek look as shown on the windows below right.

There are many design options for adding trim to your walls. Many designs are purely decorative while several offer some degree of function too. It is wise to design the entire wall, if not the entire room, before installing the selected treatment so that everything is well coordinated when done.

If you liked this article, you might like others in our series on Interior Trim:

Can You Tell How Safe Your Home Is?

The following story might be extreme. It shows how easily silent problems in our homes can lurk for months, and often years, before they become visible in some way that can’t be ignored. Probably the only good news here are there were odors home owners could smell, and the corrosion to appliances caused them to fail quickly.

The China drywall problems surfaced in 2009, due to large amounts of defective drywall imported into the US following Katrina and due to the housing boom. The faulty drywall was found to give off a “rotten egg odor” and cause the wiring, plumbing and appliances in a house to be ruined.

Drywall isn’t something that home owners think about until it needs to be repaired or replaced. Drywall is a key component of most homes, used to construct ceilings and walls throughout a house. Drywall is made of gypsum plaster pressed between 2 sheets of paper and kiln dried. As the paper is a food source for mold growth (think plumbing and roof leaks, along with flooding), newer products are being introduced which use fiberglass instead of paper.

The China drywall problem illustrate the complexity of home contruction. Hopefully we can all learn from this problem, and take steps in the future to find and resolve problems with our homes  quickly, so costs don’t escalate.

• Accountability – begins with the manufacturers who are in China and it appears with a few judgements against them, they are starting to settle pending lawsuits. There are many players involved beyond the product manufacturers including one/multiple companies in the supply chain, the builders who bought the defective drywall/sheetrock, any sub-contractors involved in the installation, and others like the insurance companies. Quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Justice Near for the Prisoners of Chinese Drywall?, the judge involved in settling at least one lawsuit, wrote “… they will be held responsible for total repairs caused by this horrendously inferior product.”

• Repair Costs – The size of these repairs is significant because of the amount of drywall. Can you imagine dealing with …
  • Moving all the furniture out.
  • Removing the trim around doors, windows and baseboard.
  • Ripping out all the ceilings and walls.
  • Repairing /replacing anything behind the walls, i.e. wiring and plumbing, that was damaged.
  • Hanging the new sheetrock, taping and 3 coasts of mud.
  • Priming and painting the ceilings and walls.
  • Re-installing the trim that was removed.
  • Cleaning and moving the furniture back.
• Temporary Relocation and Housing – Consider how long it takes to build a house, and you realize this isn’t a project that will be done in 1 to 2 weeks. Occupants of these homes in some cases, have already left for health reasons and during renovations, there are costs associated with relocating families which can get costly when you consider staying near the home so children can remain in their local schools.

The cost of just repairs starts at $80,000 according to the Wall Street Journal, and then you have to add the costs of relocating the families. The article also touches on the costs if the home owner pays retail versus settlements being made to the builders at wholesale costs.

Hopefully this one story shows how important it is to monitor the safety of your home. While the government is continually  upgrading building codes to improve safety, home owners play an important role. We’re used to smoke alarms but they don’t help if you don’t replace the batteries. There are carbon dioxide alarms, and sprinkler systems are coming. The EPA’s new Renovate, Repair and Paint rule for homes built prior to 1978, is meant to eradicate lead poisoning which is another silent problem. By learning more about your home (subscribe to our newsletter), you can

Keep Your Homes and Families Safe

What are popcorn ceilings? Most people equate popcorn with going to the movies and munching on the fluffy white stuff while sitting back and relaxing at the movie theater or at home. What does popcorn have to do with our homes?

Many home owners remember when they had a popcorn ceiling and wanted to get rid of  the bumpy texture. People feel it dates a house, that it’s difficult to paint and almost impossible to match texture after making repairs to the ceiling. Here is information to help you decide what to do with your popcorn ceilings.

Why Popcorn Ceilings?

Popcorn ceilings became popular in the 1950s, during the construction boom following World War 2. When builders were putting up 100s of homes, they found it faster to spray on a popcorn ceiling texture versus paint. This reduced costs by omitting the final (3rd) coat of mud. Popcorn is also good at masking uneven seams where the sheetrock meets and other defects that pop out after a ceiling is painted. Popcorn ceilings continue to be popular in warm climates where high ceilings are used to draw hot air away from the living space below.

The popcorn ceiling texture also provides some noise reduction qualities, so it’s used more often for bedroom and hallway ceilings. Kitchens and living room ceilings might then have a flat or smoother texture for higher durability and ease of cleaning. Acoustic ceilings evolved into the metal grids and drop down panels we now recognize in schools, offices and businesses where they need noise reduction. Acoustic tiles remain popular for home basements where there are plumbing, heating and cooling structures to hide.

Steps to Removing Your Popcorn Ceiling

Many home owners consider removing the popcorn from their ceilings but they’re not sure what’s involved, and more important what it will cost.

Asbestos Precautions

If your home was built prior to 1978, you first need to test (typically $25 per sample) to see if your popcorn contains asbestos. Similar to lead, asbestos (learn more at www.epa.gov/asbestos) should be removed by qualified professionals, adding to projects costs.

Evaluate Your Ceiling Options

There are numerous ways to change your ceiling when you decide to get rid of the popcorn, and some of these don’t require removing the popcorn which is good when there is asbestos (some states prohibit “hiding” asbestos materials.

• New sheetrock? If you’re planning to paint the entire room, it may be more cost effective to install a new ceiling (half inch sheetrock) on top of what’s there, and thus avoid removal of the popcorn texture. This works well with higher (more than 8 ft) ceilings where losing a half inch won’t be noticeable. The challenge comes with open concept homes where you might have to install new sheetrock in multiple rooms and/or hallways … but you can creatively add ceiling trim to separate ceiling areas.
• Decorative ceiling tile? There are many choices for ceiling tiles from the tin ceiling shown here, to aluminum, plastic, foam, wood and mirror tiles in hundreds of colors and styles. Many of these tiles are glued up while others use a tongue and groove design similar to engineered flooring.
• Remove popcorn ceiling texture? Removing the popcorn will be easier if the ceiling has never been painted. The popcorn comes off more easily when you’re able to saturate it with water, to start the glue letting go. When the ceiling has been painted, it will be difficult for water to reach the ceiling side of the popcorn to start this process.

If you’re ready to move forward and remove your popcorn ceiling texture, plan the project out and tackle one room at a time. Review the steps to Remove a Popcorn Ceiling, to get an idea of how much time you’ll need.

The most common type of ceiling repair follows a water leak, from the roof or more often, from plumbing problems in an upstairs bathroom.  Covering water stains with a stain block can solve small problems, but there are many occasions when drywall (also called sheetrock) in the ceiling has to be replaced. With a popcorn ceiling, not only do you have to apply popcorn to the new sheetrock. You also need to remove the popcorn back far enough to properly mud the seams connecting the new drywall to the old ceiling.

Why You Want to Remove Popcorn

It is unrealistic to believe you will match the popcorn texture of the existing ceiling. The original application was sprayed on when the home was built, and the rooms were empty. If the repairs are in the hallway or a bedroom that isn’t used much during the day, the repairs you can make with various popcorn spray applicators may be sufficient. When the damage is in a high traffic area like the kitchen or living room, it might be time to consider removing the popcorn as most home owners dislike it anyways.

Other reasons why home owners want to remove their popcorn ceilings include:

You’ll first want to evaluate your options for removing OR covering up the popcorn ceiling, as outlined in Popcorn Ceilings and No, You Can’t Eat It.

Removing the Popcorn

Be prepared for a messy job, and don’t skip any of the steps to protect your walls and floors. The time you invest in preparation will save you time in cleanup. The steps here are intended to give you an overview of the job and you’ll want to do more research before you start working.

1. Clear the room of all furnishings including ceiling fixtures like light fixtures and ceiling fans.
2. Turn off the power to the room as you’ll be using lots of water. Protect all exposed wiring, i.e. from ceiling fixtures.
3. Use cheap plastic sheets to cover all the walls, using painters tape where the ceiling meets the walls and also at the floor.
4. Rosin paper will work better on the floor, keeping the floor from getting slick, minimize tracking debris into other rooms. It will also absorb some of the water, making cleanup easier.
5. Wear safety glasses and a mask to prevent falling debris from getting into your eyes or lungs. Professionals use respirators and special air filtering equipment when removing asbestos which is why you want to leave this work to them, and in many states that is the law.
6. Wet the popcorn (don’t get sheetrock too wet or it will sag) with a good, handheld sprayer, one small section at a time. Wait 30 seconds and use a metal putty knife to remove the popcorn which should come off easily. If you let the ceiling dry, you’ll need to wet it again.
7. When done, dispose of all the plastic carefully to keep the debris inside it. You will want to use new protective materials for preparing and painting the ceiling.

Preparing and Painting the “New Ceiling”

Your ceiling will need more preparation than a typical paint job. Remember that popcorn ceilings usually didn’t receive the final coat of mud so now you’ll need to apply it.

1. Protect your floors and if you’re not an experienced painter, you’ll want to mask off the walls before your start.
2. Apply a skim coat to the ceiling, to repair any damage done during removal of the popcorn texture and finish the seams where the pieces of sheetrock meet. Unless you’ve done this before, you’ll save time and aggravation by hiring a handyman to do this task.
3. Apply a primer as you would to any new sheetrock project, ceiling or walls.
4. After the primer dries, inspect the ceiling for imperfections and repair them.
5. Apply two (2) coats of ceiling paint … and your done.
6. Oops, you’ll have to clean up again and move your furniture back into the room.

A handyman helps homeowners with almost any type of problem. While you might typically think it’s time to call a handyman when the job is too messy (drywall mud) or you don’t have the tools (tile wet saw) to get the job done quickly, the fact is they bring more knowledge to the job.

A house is made up of many interconnected systems that must all work together to keep you safe and comfy. Many homeowners call my handyman business asking for help with a problem when in fact, they may really only know the visible symptom of the problem. An important rule for any home repair is to back track until you find the source of the problem and fix that first. There is little point to repairing sheet rock if the water leak isn’t fixed. You also need to understand how the water traveled to the ceiling stain because often, and especially when water is involved, there is hidden damage that must also be corrected.

How Bad Can a Water Problem Be?

At my handyman business, we get lots of requests for help with repairs due to some type of water damage. The damage may come from a roof leak, gutters not working properly and all sorts of problems involving a home’s exterior. There are also the fun, okay maybe it’s not fun when it’s your children, problems like the kids letting the bathtub overflow to see what happens … not realizing that the damage will be more obvious on the floor below them.

Yes, a lot of homeowners (I’m guilt too) put off critical repairs. We don’t have time right now, or don’t have the money to spare because there are higher priority things in our lives. Lots of things can be deferred but repairs that involve safety issue or water damage should always be handled promptly.

So let’s go back to the house puzzle. We all understand gravity and when water doesn’t flow the way you intended, i.e. onto the bathroom floor rather than down the drain, it is gravity that will determine where it goes. For fun, let me put plumbing leaks in perspective.

• Water leaks where you see the water immediately, i.e. tub or sink overflowing, are good because you know about the problem right away.
• Water leaks that happen inside your walls or maybe under the kitchen sink, are a bigger problem because you don’t find them right away. It may be weeks or months until you stumble onto the problem, and the water may have traveled further causing lots of hidden damage in the way of mold and/or wood rot.
• Water problems that are horrible are those involving waste water, i.e. those above are almost always clean water. This happened at my rental home where we stayed while building our new house. The area flooded and the septic tank backed up and water came pouring out of the basement toilet.

A Real Customer Story

So we’re talking about water … right? Yes, as that’s the most common reason why sheet rock repairs are needed. I had a month long conversation a client about their ceiling problems. The challenge (common one) was an open floor plan where the living room ceiling where the water stains were, flowed directly into the dining room and the front entryway. When you repair a ceiling, unless it was painted in the last 6 months … you’re going to have to paint the entire room ceiling (or multiple rooms as the case shown here) to make it look seamless. I did my best to offer my customer ideas to reduce the number of rooms needing to be painted and considerations for possible water leaks in the future. Here is one day’s dialog:

Mary in Manchester, NH sent this email. “We’d like to have your company do some of the work for us. My husband and I plan on taking down the affected area of the ceiling ourselves and we will purchase the needed materials so we can save a little money. Once the area is ready, I will call to set up a time for your person to come over to install the sheet rock. Hopefully we’ll have everything ready in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your help!”

My replay went something like this. I was glad to help explain the steps involved in making the repairs, with enough detail so Mary could pick which steps in the process she wanted to handle.

• First it’s important to understand where the water leak came from. This should be fixed before repairing the sheet rock or you might have to do it all again. For a roof leak which this was, we recommend waiting several weeks (months in the drier seasons) to make sure the roof repairs worked.
• Next we had a long discussion about the location and shape of the stain. It was near an outside wall so I recommended leaving a foot of sheet rock along the walls to avoid having to also paint the walls. The area was in the living room but the ceiling continued into 2 adjoining rooms so I gave options:
  • Paint the entire ceiling so the color is consistent.
  • Create a simple wood trim border for the living room, to provide a place where the new paint could stop … and the bonus would be some additional dimension/value to the home.
  • Similar concept but using less wood, look at doorways and consider extending the the door trim up around the ceiling, giving more definition to each room.
• When taking down sheet rock, you want to cut lines as straight as possible, to make it easier to fit the replacement pieces into place, i.e. think of the challenge when fitting puzzle pieces together. Ofter after flooding, homeowners or even demolition crews will leave us with jagged lines of drywall, which then have to be cut a second time.
• Sheetrock comes in different thicknesses from one-quarter inch to 5/8ths. Make sure to take a piece of your old sheet rock to the store so you get the right thickness. Do not buy the tape and mud as each of my technicians has their personal preferences, so we let them work with what they know best.

This is a great example of how a professional handyman service works. We don’t assume or require that we do all the work. We work hard to understand a customer’s needs, and offer choices to help each homeowner find a viable solution. This includes letting homeowners buy the materials and/or do some of the prep or finish work.

Every home professional, not just a handyman business, should focus on building lifelong relationships with their clients.