How To Repair Drywall Near Shower

How to Repair Drywall, Caulk & Grout a Tub

Long time, no see! I've been very busy creating some fun projects as a guest blogger for BLACK+DECKER. You can click on over to see the planter box and, my favorite, the DIY Ladder Bookshelf I built for them.

But in between those projects and a few more I'm still working on, I was able to right some issues in my bathroom I mentioned a few months ago when I updated my shower curtain.

Like this wet piece of drywall from a lack of caulk.

And this little divot from relocating the drapery rod.

Well my husband went out of town to finish upward his SCUBA diving certification, and so I hit it hard starting on a Saturday morning.

Remove Old Caulk

The showtime order of business organization was to remove and clean some moldy caulk effectually the bathtub.

Since I had a little bit of mold brewing on the caulk, I wanted to brand sure I killed the mold earlier reapplying caulk. Otherwise it'd keep coming dorsum and ruin my new caulk! And then I bought a cleaner that kills 99.9% of germs. This is important because a lot of cleaners will make clean the mold stain, but not kill the source!

The directions were simple. Spray, await 5 minutes, and wipe abroad. I let the caulk articulation sit for 24 hours drying. Then I moved on to my next repair! Tackling that h2o-damaged drywall!

Remove Damaged Drywall

I started by removing the drywall. Using a utility to score above and below the badly damaged expanse. I also scored along the bathtub and the bead board's trim.

Then it was time to bring out the heavy artillery, or my tiny crowbar and hammer.

I used them to pry out the bad stuff simply still leave a mostly-straight line.

Replace Drywall

With the drywall out of the manner, I measured the hole I needed to fill and headed out to my shop to cut the new drywall. I bought i of those 2 foot x 2 foot drywall squares you lot see in the drywall aisle at the home center. It was perfect for this job!

Again I used my utility knife to score along the cut line. I took three passes with the knife, going a little deeper each fourth dimension, so I could become it equally straight as possible. When all that was left was the paper backing, I bent information technology backwards and scored from the back with the knife.

Two drywall screws was all I needed to secure it to the stud.

Employ Joint Chemical compound

Then I got my materials ready for the 3-glaze drywall mud process.

On small repair jobs, my dad likes to use "quick mud" on the first ii coats and and so switch to regular joint compound. So I did the same. The 20-minute mud merely takes 20 minutes to dry earlier you can sand and re-coat.

The downwards side is that you lot have to mix it up yourself, whereas the regular chemical compound comes in pre-mixed buckets. I mixed a small amount in my tray and checked that the consistency was a trivial thicker than pancake batter.

I outset put a layer of mud on the two seams, and so cutting a slice of drywall tape to size for both seams and placed it in the mud, centered on the seams. I applied another coat over the record, trying to make it equally smooth as possible.

And since I withal had some drywall mud in my tray, I turned around and applied the first glaze to the divot in the wall from moving my shower drapery rod.

It was much easier than the tight space between the toilet and tub!

Mix Grout

While those 2 spots were drying, I turned my attending to Another repair needed in the bathroom, grout. I guess with the fluctuation in weight of the bathtub the grout cracked.

I had previously removed the chipped pieces. And I brought i of the pieces to the home center to match the color. And then I realized I bought my original grout from Dwelling house Depot, so maybe I would call up when the color when I saw information technology. While I was in the tile alley, I saw the perfect matter for this small job, a 1 lb. tub of grout with room to mix h2o in the tub itself.

It really is the same color and make equally my original grout! Score! (If y'all're wondering, it is PolyBlend's Linen.)

With the fill up line on the outside of the tub, it was piece of cake to add together h2o for the right consistency.

The directions call for you to mix in the water, then let information technology sit for ten minutes before mixing over again and applying.

Utilise Grout

After the await and re-stirring, I practical information technology with my putty knife since information technology was such a small and confining area. It required a piffling more working than perhaps a grout float would, but it got the job washed. Of grade I kept whatever weight off of the few nearby tiles while it stale. I think the results are worth the $5 price tag of the grout tub!

You tin encounter it'due south not a perfect match. Perhaps it's due to the 2+ years of wear, tear and staining the older grout has on the new grout. Simply manner less obvious than missing grout!

Double-repairing once more, I headed into the kitchen where I had noticed a spot where the grout was also missing, up confronting the cabinets.

I knew for sure the grout would non friction match, but it's so inconspicuous to anyone but me, I didn't hesitate to use what was leftover in the grout tub. So 2 repairs for the toll of 1. 🙂

Sand Drywall Repairs

By this fourth dimension, the first coat of drywall was dry enough to sand. I used the minor edge of sanding block to get in that pocket-sized space. One time the smoothness was to my liking, I vacuumed up the dust with a moisture/dry vac. Don't forget to vacuum the wall, too, if you're doing a repair to your drywall.

And so I mixed upward another small batch of quick mud and applied another thin coat to both the wall past the toilet and the impairment from the shower drapery rod. The second coat is e'er a relief. It makes you lot call up that it might actually look OK in the end. Because the first coat definitely doesn't practise that!

Employ New Caulk

With the grout complete and everything else still drying, it was time to call it a day! Just I woke upwardly on Sunday set up to finish the drywall and caulk. Since information technology had been 24 hours since I had sprayed my mold and mildew remover, I started with applying the caulk. I used a silicone sealant.

It's like shooting fish in a barrel enough to wipe upward with a wet rag while it's still moisture, but don't let it dry as well much or you'll have to go out the denatured alcohol to clean up.

Information technology simply took me about twenty minutes to employ and, over again, the results are worth the ooey-gooey-ness that comes with whatsoever caulk job!

Sand Drywall, Once again

And then in that location was i! I moved on to sanding the drywall again and re-coating for the third and concluding time. This fourth dimension I used the regular 24-60 minutes drying joint compound (the one in the green and white saucepan).

Fortunately the shower rod repair didn't require a third coat, just a little sanding earlier information technology was set for pigment.

Touch Upwardly Paint

Then come Monday morning, everything was dry out. I took my sanding block to the wall in one case again and called information technology consummate! Afterward vacuuming the dust, I dug out the wall pigment and covered my beautiful repair. I spread information technology on in long strokes and and so followed up past daintily jabbing the paint brush on the wet paint. This more closely mimics the look of a paint roller to alloy it in with the original paint job.

It made a bigger difference when I used the same technique on the shower rod repair area.

I'thou very pleased with all of the repairs I fabricated to my tiny bathroom over the form of one weekend! Although, in my opinion, it's too soon after my remodel to have to practise such things. I guess that'due south the life of a homeowner! Hopefully these repairs will last longer than their predecessors!

And just for fun, here's the evolution of my drywall repair in one JPEG!

Anyone else tackled small-scale repairs lately? They aren't as satisfying equally doing something new for your space, but necessary yet! Who else smiles every fourth dimension they walk by one of their repairs and realizes it's not an eye sore anymore? Share in the comments below!

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

Source: https://checkinginwithchelsea.com/caulk-mud-and-grout-oh-my/

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