Finishing our basement...

blackredyellow

After getting it mostly done yesterday, I should be done framing tonight. I have some electrical outlets to run before I can start the insulating and drywall, but really want to get this done in a few weeks.

To those who have done drywall before, is it worth paying someone to come finish it? I don't think hanging it will be bad, but the taping, mudding and sanding seems like a royal pain in the ass (especially if you really don't know what you are doing).

BG122367

Pay someone to come in and finish it. I paid 250 bucks for a guy to come finish a 13x13 bedroom with a closet. Common problem most DIYers have the guy told me is they put too much mud on, and sand to much. The guy finished the room for me in 3 days, working at nights for 2-3 hours. It would have taken me 1 week and would've still looked like shit

Jukee

My husband and my dad just finished drywalling, mudding and taping our whole basement. We were going to pay somebody but my dad has done it before. My husband said if it weren't for my dad he would of paid somebody for sure because it's not the easiest thing in the world to do. Putting it up wasn't so bad he said but it's the mud and taping that is really hard and frustrating. So if you've never done it before or don't have anybody that knows what they're doing to help you...my husband suggests that you pay somebody.

blackredyellow

BG122367 wrote:

Pay someone to come in and finish it. I paid 250 bucks for a guy to come finish a 13x13 bedroom with a closet. Common problem most DIYers have the guy told me is they put too much mud on, and sand to much. The guy finished the room for me in 3 days, working at nights for 2-3 hours. It would have taken me 1 week and would've still looked like shit

Thanks, that's kinda what I thought... it would take me 5 times as long to do it as someone who does it for a living (and it will probably look much nicer).

decides2dream

blackredyellow wrote:

BG122367 wrote:

Pay someone to come in and finish it. I paid 250 bucks for a guy to come finish a 13x13 bedroom with a closet. Common problem most DIYers have the guy told me is they put too much mud on, and sand to much. The guy finished the room for me in 3 days, working at nights for 2-3 hours. It would have taken me 1 week and would've still looked like shit

Thanks, that's kinda what I thought... it would take me 5 times as long to do it as someone who does it for a living (and it will probably look much nicer).

if you can swing it, definitely worth hiring a pro. you will save some serious cash hanging the drywall yourself, so paying for the finishing, not too bad. my husband is pretty damn good at it, but when we eventually get around to the same project as you, given just how much will need to be done....probably follow the same formula; hang the drywall ourselves, hire a pro to finish.


good luck!

dcfaithful

The thing about drywall is putting it up isn't the tough part, but like you said...the puttying and sanding... :roll: Even that isn't difficult, it's just tedious. If you can afford to pay a handy-man to do it (a trustworthy one mind you) I'd say just save yourself the effort.

Like I said though, it's not hard...just time consuming. Electric sanders are fun though...but I don't know if they are recommended for that kind of sanding.

My girlfriend and I just began to strip and refinish our coffee table this weekend. Long project, but should be fun to say that we did it. Again, electric sanders are fun...but, wear a mask, eye protection, and for long periods of time, I would recommend ear plugs.

Safety first yo.

dcfaithful

BG122367 wrote:

Common problem most DIYers have the guy told me is they put too much mud on, and sand to much.

Another warning about doing it yourself that I would give...

mickeyrat

What are you going to use the space for? Have some thoughts depending on use.

blackredyellow

mickeyrat wrote:

What are you going to use the space for? Have some thoughts depending on use.

For the near future a playroom for our son... just some furniture and a TV and stuff, and to trying to get a lot of his bigger toys out of our living room. At some point down the road it will hopefully turn into a traditional family room or a media room.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

I have Drywalled and Taped, Hundreds of rooms.....Yes Hundreds

Take it from me...
Pay the money, hire a professional.....

Maybe hang the drywall yourself, but hire a professional to tape and sand........

mickeyrat

blackredyellow wrote:

mickeyrat wrote:

What are you going to use the space for? Have some thoughts depending on use.

For the near future a playroom for our son... just some furniture and a TV and stuff, and to trying to get a lot of his bigger toys out of our living room. At some point down the road it will hopefully turn into a traditional family room or a media room.

Then before drywall goes up , might want to think about prewiring for hometheater speakers and A/V stuff. Perhaps a couple location for the A/V stuff to give some options on how the room is set up. Simple to do and easily hidden until it's time to finish that part when you're ready.

MrMerkinball

We finished our basement a couple years ago. I would pay someone to a) hang drywall 2) tape and mud 3) prime the new wall.

We added Crown Moulding as well to prevent taping the top corners

youngster

I tore down a wall in my room last summer and rebuilt it on the other side of the stairwell (3rd floor) so my son didn't have access to the 3rd floor at night (he is only 2). My father and I tore down, rebuilt the new wall and hung drywall in 3 days. The next weekend I began the taping and mudding process and I wish I had hired someone. It is very tedious work and trying to smooth the tape over the mud with a putty knife is very frustrating. I had to do it on both sides of the new wall and I think it took 2 weekends just to get 3 coats of mud on the walls. If I had to do it again, I would pay someone to do it in a heartbeat.

vduboise

When we re did the bathroom, we hung and taped the room. It was a learning experience- but I would have paid someone. You can see ALL my mistakes. I think I'm going to have someone come in and re mud the ceiling- which is the worst of it.

What I did learn- after the fact- is that you need to thin out the compound, just a bit, for the first round. Then light sand once dry, and then a slightly thicker coat- with a bigger trowel, and then once more. And use those drywall sanding screens- so much better than regular sand paper.

Good luck with your project.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

youngster wrote:

I tore down a wall in my room last summer and rebuilt it on the other side of the stairwell (3rd floor) so my son didn't have access to the 3rd floor at night (he is only 2). My father and I tore down, rebuilt the new wall and hung drywall in 3 days. The next weekend I began the taping and mudding process and I wish I had hired someone. It is very tedious work and trying to smooth the tape over the mud with a putty knife is very frustrating. I had to do it on both sides of the new wall and I think it took 2 weekends just to get 3 coats of mud on the walls. If I had to do it again, I would pay someone to do it in a heartbeat.

Thats just it. If I were to come and tape that basement, I would use a quick dry first coat (45 minutes) and the same with the second coat. I would use an easy sand for the 3rd coat, and have that basement taped and sanded in a day.

People dont notice the beautiful framing you worked on, they dont notice the electrical, you took the time and ran throughout the basement. What they do notice are your brand new finished walls. Why not just hire a professional taper, and have perfect walls? Crisp corners, no seams showing, no blemishes, just perfect walls.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

The entire objective when taping drywall, is minimum sanding.

Go with the professional.

covered in bliss

(just checking)
Is your basement a walk out? Did you do a proper vapor barrier and insulate? You will be pissed at yourself if you wind up with a damp and poisonous basement.

It's totally something you can do on your own if you educate yourself. Have you thought about doing a texture finish? You can eliminate the PITA of joints and sanding if you go that route. I'm not talking about the old-fashioned sandy or popcorn ceiling texture, I'm talking about a washable texture that looks like a subtle venetian plaster. (something that people pay to have put on their walls). There's also one that's between those 2 that's sprayed on and not gritty.

JonnyPistachio

blackredyellow wrote:

After getting it mostly done yesterday, I should be done framing tonight. I have some electrical outlets to run before I can start the insulating and drywall, but really want to get this done in a few weeks.

To those who have done drywall before, is it worth paying someone to come finish it? I don't think hanging it will be bad, but the taping, mudding and sanding seems like a royal pain in the ass (especially if you really don't know what you are doing).

Man, i have always been so jealous that I cant have a basement in Florida. I guess we have other stuff to make up for it though.

So, your thread made me realize, however, that we have piss-poor music down here because its not as easy to find places for bands to play if you dont have a basement. Silly theory, I know.

Given to...

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

youngster wrote:

I tore down a wall in my room last summer and rebuilt it on the other side of the stairwell (3rd floor) so my son didn't have access to the 3rd floor at night (he is only 2). My father and I tore down, rebuilt the new wall and hung drywall in 3 days. The next weekend I began the taping and mudding process and I wish I had hired someone. It is very tedious work and trying to smooth the tape over the mud with a putty knife is very frustrating. I had to do it on both sides of the new wall and I think it took 2 weekends just to get 3 coats of mud on the walls. If I had to do it again, I would pay someone to do it in a heartbeat.

Thats just it. If I were to come and tape that basement, I would use a quick dry first coat (45 minutes) and the same with the second coat. I would use an easy sand for the 3rd coat, and have that basement taped and sanded in a day.

People dont notice the beautiful framing you worked on, they dont notice the electrical, you took the time and ran throughout the basement. What they do notice are your brand new finished walls. Why not just hire a professional taper, and have perfect walls? Crisp corners, no seams showing, no blemishes, just perfect walls.

Take Speedy's advice. I built an addition with 12' walls on one side and started taping a corner... called the specialists about 30 minutes into that mess. Hanging drywall is actually fun with the proper jacks, but taping and texturing takes practice regardless if you have the right tools.

blackredyellow

covered in bliss wrote:

(just checking)
Is your basement a walk out? Did you do a proper vapor barrier and insulate? You will be pissed at yourself if you wind up with a damp and poisonous basement.

It's totally something you can do on your own if you educate yourself. Have you thought about doing a texture finish? You can eliminate the PITA of joints and sanding if you go that route. I'm not talking about the old-fashioned sandy or popcorn ceiling texture, I'm talking about a washable texture that looks like a subtle venetian plaster. (something that people pay to have put on their walls). There's also one that's between those 2 that's sprayed on and not gritty.

We should be ok on the moisture front... We've lived here almost 2 years and haven't had any water (or signs of water) in the basement. We put drylock paint on all of the exterior walls and am using the foam board insulation (tonight's project) and will have a vapor barrier between that and the drywall.

I'm just going to get a drywall guy to finish it smooth, we have that venetian plaster in our living room and I don't like it.

Heatherj43

blackredyellow wrote:

After getting it mostly done yesterday, I should be done framing tonight. I have some electrical outlets to run before I can start the insulating and drywall, but really want to get this done in a few weeks.

To those who have done drywall before, is it worth paying someone to come finish it? I don't think hanging it will be bad, but the taping, mudding and sanding seems like a royal pain in the ass (especially if you really don't know what you are doing).

I drywalled a wall in my house and had never done it before. Its not that hard. One thing I did learn though was to wet sand it. Not all will agree, but when you just sand it the regular way, you get all that dust everywhere. When you wet sand, there is no dust.
I also used a straight board and put a carpet remnant around it to do the wet sanding. It makes for a pretty even finish.
No on could even tell that the wall I put up was a new wall. It looked just like the wals that were already there around it.
Taping is easy, mudding is easy...it is only the sanding that is problematic. Google about wet sanding. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble to do it that way, plus its easier, less messy and anyone can do it.

The one thing to be very careful about is making sure you buy the same size drywall. Like, I bought the right width and height, but the thickness was wrong....ooops. It mattered. I had to start all over.