Many of our jobs involve homeowners attempting to repair their own drywall. Whether it’s a wall or ceiling, the results are usually the same: a frustrated homeowner who invested many hours (sometimes weeks) and $100+ in tools and materials only to discover that their house (and lungs) are full of white drywall dust and their wall or ceiling repair looks like something straight out of a horror movie. Let’s not even discuss the annoyed look on their significant other’s face. We don’t know about you, but nothing is worse than being constantly reminded by your wife or husband that you should have listened to them. We’re here, so that doesn’t happen!

Lately, we’ve seen an increase in drywall repairs involving us needing to correct terrible do-it-yourself attempts, possibly due to an increase in YouTube warriors. Their expectations are for us to come in and make their amateur work look beautiful. Yes, we can correct terrible sheetrock walls and ceilings that homeowners have messed up. However, sometimes we have to rip it out and start fresh. Thankfully, Jake & Son® is experienced enough to correct almost any poor job. However, repairing inferior drywall work sometimes presents challenges that can become more costly than if the homeowner had called someone with experience first. For instance, leveling a drywall ceiling after it’s been textured and painted differs from when it’s in its early stages.

A Tale of Trying to Save Money and Face

Last week, we were in Metairie, Louisiana, attempting to improve a homeowner’s do-it-yourself repair. Thinking they could save some money, they watched some YouTube drywall videos and attempted a sheetrock installation. Mind you, this was a beautiful home with a 12-foot drywall repair smack-dab in the middle of a living room wall. To make conditions worse, it was surrounded by many floor-to-ceiling windows. The sunlight showed no mercy in exposing all the faults and flaws of their attempt. For one, the drywall was improperly hung. Yes, there’s a right and wrong way to hang drywall. According to them, some of the drywall videos they watched showed this improper technique. Here’s a tip: don’t trust everything you see on the internet. It was a challenge to correct the sheetrock. Days and costs added up. Remember what I said earlier about the wife? This poor guy may still be in the doghouse since we left. 

Drywall repair is harder than it looks.

Home improvement videos are deceiving. There are hundreds of good and bad videos showcasing how to hang, install, and float drywall. However, what most viewers do not realize is that it looks easy because the person in the video has had some experience doing this. Professional drywall installers make it look even easier for a good reason: because they have time. We get it, though; sometimes egos need to be scratched and filled. That little voice in the back of your mind wondering if you could do this gets loud and convinces you to gas up and take a trip to the home improvement store (hopefully one trip only). A week later, you’re frustrated, but your pride gets in the way, and you have to prove to yourself and others that you can do this sheetrock repair. Maybe you’ll get lucky. However, many value their time and need a professional. Jake & Son has decades of experience in the sheetrock and plastering business. We’re so good at drywall repair that if we made videos, we’d make it look extremely easy, too. So how do you repair drywall correctly the first time? You hire someone that know what they’re doing.