# Water damage



## timberlinemd (Jul 9, 2010)

What do you guys account for when you look at a home that has been through a flood. A pipe broke on a second home used by 'snowbirds' that wasn't discovered for six months. The demo crew comes in and strips all floor coverings (slab floor) and cuts a 18"-24" strip off the bottom of all the walls in the home. Can you get your automatic tools to finish the patch or do you just rip more drywall out? Recepticles are still in the electric boxes. Screws left in the wall where they did the tearout. The hanging and finishing has to be more difficult, but by a factor of what? Any input would be appreciated.


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

I have had to do repairs like that before, I just banjoed the seam on my knees and hand troweled it all off because its all butt joins., Auto tools wont really do it.

Prob best to leave the seam as low as you can because its a little harder to spot at knee height. You could tear more board out to get the seam higher but that's just more work so theres no gain really, It is what it is, Put the knee pads on and start troweling, Or knifing.


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## pips (May 15, 2015)

We do small patch jobs by the hour, instead of by the board. And if we have to pull several walls of screws out we charge extra (maybe $50 more if its 3-4 boards..dont quote me tho!).


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## timberlinemd (Jul 9, 2010)

I guess the best way is to figure how much time on your knees for hang, tape, texture, screws and redo electrical receptacles. Add materials, overhead and profit. I'm guessing three/four times production work.


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## embella plaster (Sep 21, 2013)

cazna said:


> I have had to do repairs like that before, I just banjoed the seam on my knees and hand troweled it all off because its all butt joins., Auto tools wont really do it.
> 
> Prob best to leave the seam as low as you can because its a little harder to spot at knee height. You could tear more board out to get the seam higher but that's just more work so theres no gain really, It is what it is, Put the knee pads on and start troweling, Or knifing.


Thats the best way i do a lot of insurance work and thats how i do it


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## Wimpy65 (Dec 17, 2013)

I've done lots of these repairs and I agree with Cazna's approach. The only difference is I like to use a rolling stool, not work on my knees!


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## D A Drywall (May 4, 2013)

I'm doing basement flood repair like that right now. The guy that cut the board did a horrible job. I had to recut most. One big room I just pulled all the rest of the board off to the ceiling so I could redo it properly. Not sure what it had been taped with but they just pulled off with very little effort. Job is a bit bigger now but homeowners ecstatic.


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## aaron (Jun 19, 2013)

The last 10-11 months was all dealing with the flooding we had last summer. I ended up getting my pricing figured out good per lineal foot, was all hand work. Fibafuse worked great, as the 2 or 4 ft cut ones were tying into old paint. I taped with hotmud in a compound tube with flat applicator. That compensated for bad cuts, would fill good, got the system going good. Grab knee pads and get going! 
Lineal price was roughly 150% of the lineal price of my regular 8ft wall. Materials are more, as it is one long butt joint. Factor in fixing old drywall if needed, as I ended up fixing up a lot of old messes that were there before.
Corners need extra time unless you're replacing the whole corner.


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## endo_alley (Nov 2, 2013)

Sometimes it can be helpful to shim the entire repair area with a single layer of cardboard shims. Cut them about 6" short of the horizontal drywall seam. That way the seam tends to be recessed like a band instead of crowned like a butt joint.


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## D A Drywall (May 4, 2013)

endo_alley said:


> Sometimes it can be helpful to shim the entire repair area with a single layer of cardboard shims. Cut them about 6" short of the horizontal drywall seam. That way the seam tends to be recessed like a band instead of crowned like a butt joint.


 Very interesting idea. Would be a good job for Trim-Tex shim-on-a-roll but that's not available anymore.


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## endo_alley (Nov 2, 2013)

D A Drywall said:


> Very interesting idea. Would be a good job for Trim-Tex shim-on-a-roll but that's not available anymore.


We do similar shimming all the time. And buttboards can be helpful in some applications.


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## Trim-Tex (May 4, 2011)

endo_alley said:


> Sometimes it can be helpful to shim the entire repair area with a single layer of cardboard shims. Cut them about 6" short of the horizontal drywall seam. That way the seam tends to be recessed like a band instead of crowned like a butt joint.


Many times I recommend a 36" layer on top with a simple J Round bead or a fancy decorative bead. Choose the finished edge that goes with the house. Way easier to finish a bead at 36" height that fight with a continuos butt joint at 24"

My 2 cents
Joe


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## D A Drywall (May 4, 2013)

Trim-Tex said:


> Many times I recommend a 36" layer on top with a simple J Round bead or a fancy decorative bead. Choose the finished edge that goes with the house. Way easier to finish a bead at 36" height that fight with a continuos butt joint at 24" My 2 cents Joe


 I really like that idea Joe. I just got a call from another flood casualty. Maybe I can work something like what you suggest for that job. Sure would beat trying to re- trim the horrible cut that the restoration company made


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