Ceiling Repairs: Sheetrock Repairs Take Planning

My Handyman gets many requests to make repairs due to water damage. This damage can involve a home’s exterior (see current water damage series) or interior damage, i.e. a child letting the bathtub overflow or a leaky faucet overlooked until you find a stain on the living room ceiling (okay, I heard someone out there laughing).

Yes, a lot of homeowners (me?) put off critical repairs. We don’t have time right now, or I don’t have the money to spare. Lots of things can be deferred but repairs that involve safety issues or water damage should always be handled promptly.

What does all of this have to do with sheetrock, you might be asking? I’ve been talking to a client for a month about their ceiling problems, from ideas to reduce the number of rooms that will need to be painted and considerations for possible water leaks in the future. here is today’s dialog:

Putting a House Together

• Mary in Manchester, NH sent this email. “We’d like to have My Handyman 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 sheetrock. Hopefully we’ll have everything ready in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for your help!”

• I wrote back, following the problem solving dialog we’ve been having … “ I’m glad I was able to help explain the steps involved, in enough detail for you to pick the ones you’re comfortable handling yourself. When taking down sheetrock, 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.”

At My Handyman we work very hard to understand a customer’s needs, and offer choices to help them find a viable solution which includes letting you, the homeowner buy the materials and/or do some of the prep or finish work. Our goal is to build a lifelong relationship with you so we take the longer view of getting the right job done, on the right schedule for you.