Drywall over drywall with adhesive?

[Ed62]

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I've been around quite a bit.

We have a room that previously had bead board around the room, and it was put on with adhesive. Before we moved in, someone had ripped the bead board off the walls, leaving that part of the drywall a mess. Instead of using new bead board, I'm thinking of putting 3/8" drywall over that part, and using trim on the top to make it look good.

I am not good at drywall finishing, although I have done it (way too time consuming for me). Is there a reason I shouldn't use a good drywall adhesive to put new drywall over part of the existing drywall? Maybe I should use just a few screws along with the adhesive? I really want to minimize finishing if possible.

Ed

[Stytooner]

Screw holes are the easy part of drywall finishing. It is the corners and seams that take practice. I would use screws spaced about twice as far apart as normal. Maybe every 12" to 16". Enough to get the panels to lay flat.
They have a fat fluted drywall screw specifically designed for drywall to drywall when using adhesive. You can use a cordless drill to install them and just set the clutch light. Heavy enough to bury the head below the surface, but not heavy enough to strip the threads. Getting the hang of those will take a few tries as well, but all will be easily covered up.

[Ed62]

Thanks for the reply, Lee. It's good to know they make a screw like that. Fortunately, the room I'll be putting it in will only require one short seam if I use one ten foot piece of drywall, and the rest, eight footers.

Ed

[All Thumbs]

Before you cover it with more drywall, consider rolling a bonding primer on and then finishing it with hot mud.

[Hellrazor]

I had that kind of mess to deal with after removing paneling from a wall. Tons of tennis ball sized areas of glue or bare drywall because it tore the paper off. I was somewhat careful removing what didn't tear off with the paneling and I skimmed all of the tear outs, primed and repainted the wall. Looks great compared to the mess it was.

I couldn't add another layer of drywall even if I wanted to. HW baseboard heat on the wall.

[eccentrictinkerer]

I've built rooms for massage and acupuncture using a second layer of 1/2" over 1/2" drywall on inner and outer walls.. The customer wanted the room as quiet as possible and the best way to sound-proof is by increasing mass. (Using insulation is often done but is ineffective and a waste of time, IMHO.)

A few screws and a good quality construction adhesive do the trick.

I've applied 1/4" rock on walls to clean them up, but 1/2" or 3/8" is preferred.

[chopnhack]

Agree with All Thumbs, butter the wall with mud, slap the new sheet up and screw it in. Spend the rest of the time getting the taping nice. If the taping is so so, spray it with texture.

[BigguyZ]

If you did want some sound proofing, there is a product that's used to isolate one sheet of drywall from another. It's green glue or something like that. I know Menards carries it, not sure about HD or lowes. But worth a look if you needed that. Otherwise, the idea of using wet mud sounds like a decent one. Though I'd be worried about all of that moisture being trapped.

[Stytooner]

Mud is also not really an adhesive.
In any thickness, it can crack, especially with the weight of the sheet.
If you choose to use mud to smooth out the surfaces between, then screw off completely as in like new construction about every 6 to 8 inches.

[Ed62]

I got things going shortly after Lee's first reply, and didn't even see the others until the drywall was hung. All the replies are appreciated, and I didn't want anyone to think I was just ignoring them.

I couldn't find the flat fluted drywall screws, but it looks like the regular drywall screws are working well. Thanks for all the replies.

Ed

[chopnhack]

Mud is also not really an adhesive.
In any thickness, it can crack, especially with the weight of the sheet.
If you choose to use mud to smooth out the surfaces between, then screw off completely as in like new construction about every 6 to 8 inches.

Mud is not an adhesive, however, it is common practice to laminate sheets of drywall this way. The sheets themselves are just mud between two skins of paper.

[JSUPreston]

Having had a house where this had been done by the previous owner, let me ask of you one favor...before adding the 2nd layer of ply, please remount any electrical boxes or add spacers to account for the additional depth.

One benefit to 2 layers of drywall...if you bump the wall with something, you might get a dent, but most likely you won't get a hole in it.

[All Thumbs]

Agree with All Thumbs, butter the wall with mud, slap the new sheet up and screw it in. Spend the rest of the time getting the taping nice. If the taping is so so, spray it with texture.

Actually, I was just suggesting to try fixing the single layer, rather than adding a 2nd layer. Most people think a 2nd layer will be less work, but I'd rather just patch than add an entire 2nd layer.

But you're right in one regard: When you do use multiple layers, mud makes an excellent bed for the 2nd sheet. The bond between the paper and the substrate is the weak link, so thin lines of construction adhesive will often fail at the paper bonding. But when you use mud, you are bonding across the entire sheet (larger surface area), so get a better bond.