How To Fix Wall Cracks

Cracks are probably the most noticeable imperfection at your home. It always gets your attention when you walk through the room with the cracked wall. After a number of these walks I probably will get your call by asking to fix a crack☺ . I will walk you through the process how I am fixing the crack.

Step 1 Open the crack, by using 5 in one painters tool (you can use a utility knife as well). It is important to scrape all peals and cut along those cracks for the purpose to  make a groove for the mud.

Step 2 It is necessary to put screws along the crack. If it's no stud behind the crack, you can use stud finder to detect it. Even one or several screws will make a difference in the future. Because the place you are fixing and patching needs to be sturdy and not suppose to have moving parts. Otherwise it can brake that crack in the same spot after a while. After securing the place with screws you need to put  a mesh tape on the top. It will hold the mud firmly and after its dry it will make better bond with the drywall.

Step 3 Now we are ready to patch it. The first layer of mud can be rough, the purpose of it is to fill all area with the mud and to cover the mesh tape.

Step 4 After first layer is completely dry you can scrape the surface easy, to make it as smooth as possible before second layer by using 5 in one tool or drywall knife. Now its time for the second layer of mud.

Step 5 After second layer of mud is completely dry we should check the surface of the patched are. If everything is covered well, no mesh tape signs on the top, we can start to sand. If you think that it needs third layer of the mud- do it.

Step 6 After sanding a patched area we need to prime it first before painting it.

The crack is fixed now and no more bothering of our attention ☺.

How to fix a cracked ceiling corner

This time we have big family room with a four sided tray ceiling. The upper corner is cracking along whole one side of the ceiling. Usually corners with more or less than 90 degree are more likely to crack, because construction itself is less resistant against the houses small, insignificant moves, related with changes of temperature and humidity outside and inside the building, types of nails or screws used in construction process. In our case we have nails- you can see in this video after scraping the nail pop.

Step 1 Open a ceiling crack along the corner by using a 5 in one scraper. Before starting it we need to separate a good part of the corner from cracked part, because we will need to open and lift one side of corner bead and fill it with mud.

Step 2 Lift up one side of the vinyl corner bead and fill up under it with mud along the whole corner. Make sure that the whole area under the corner bead is full of mud. Put an extra screw by the nail and make sure you have found the ceiling  joist. For that purpose you can use stud finder to locate a joist. Patch a nail pop area. 

Step 3 After first layer of mud is completely dry we can scrape uneven parts of mud from the surface to make it as flat as possible. Before a second layer we can use a mesh tape along the corner if we are not sure that the mud properly bonded corner bead to the ceiling surface. In this case everything looks good, so we can skip this part ( we will need less time for putting extra layer of mud and save some time). Right now is time for the second layer of the the mud. 

Step 4 After second layer is completely dry we inspect the surface and decide if we need one more layer of mud for better quality surface. If it's enough we can start sanding process. We can use folded sandpaper or sanding sponge for better reach of the corner. 

Step 5 Prime sanded area with the primer or extra coat of ceiling paint and after primer is completely dry, paint the ceiling with a ceiling paint. 

Today is Saturday and after good work it is time to relax ☺.

Feel free to leave comments or ask some questions below this post. Thanks and have a wonderful weekend!

Stair Painting after Refinished Treads

Today we are going to paint risers and skirt boards after refinished (stain) stair treads. We have stain spots on these risers and skirt boards. Varnish was done about a week ago, so it is dry already. But for secure job we are going to use easy blue tape ( we don't want to rip varnish spots off  ). We have removed carpet along the middle part of the stairs and new carpet will be installed the same way. So actually we need to paint just side parts of all risers and all skirt boards.

Step 1 Tape treads everywhere, where they meet white skirt boards and risers. We have little gap between risers and treads filled with putty. Usually I tape on the top of treads by keeping distance about 1/8" or less from riser and skirt board. We wouldn't like to tape on the putty, because the surface is not so flat and for nice line we need steady flat surface. Use 5 in one scraper to push tape to the tread surface.

Step 2 Caulk all gaps along the tape for better line quality otherwise you can have paint seeping through the tape and after removing it you will have shaky line.

Step 3 Prime stain spots with special primer: it could be oil based primer or water based primer with qualities to cover stain. 

Step 4 I will paint two coats of white semi gloss paint on the top of primer by using small roller and the brush.

Step 5 Remove tape form treads. If you will find that the tape rips the caulk- cut gently along the tape by using utility knife with a new blade. In my case caulk was dried enough and everything worked well without knife.

Finally everything is done. Now we can compare how it looked before painting and how it looks after. Oh! It was picky job! ☺

Before

After

It is it for today, feel free to leave comments or questions.