Kingston, Ontario · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 2 votes
I have taken drywall off all the exterior walls but left the inside walls. The drywall is a bit bumpy, smelly and in need of some repair. The electrician suggests i take out all drywall but thats more demolition cost, more dumpsters and more drywall installation. However, will the old drywall look awful next to the new beautiful drywall? Should i just do it all over?
Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
I have never gutted a house to the stud. Personally I leave drywall and plaster unless I find a need to remove it. In your case "bumpy" can usually be fixed by a good taper/mud guy. If the majority of the walls are rough and need to be coated, it is probably worth removing it all. Also if the smell you describe is into the sheetrock, then it might be worth it to demo it all as well.
Keep in mind, electricians almost always "ask" for the drywall to be removed. It makes their lives a whole lot easier when running wires.
To date I almost 100% gut my kitchens and baths to the studs. I leave most of the other rooms in tact, unless I have work to do behind the walls (framing, rot, etc..) and spot patch as needed.
Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
I have never gutted a house to the stud. Personally I leave drywall and plaster unless I find a need to remove it. In your case "bumpy" can usually be fixed by a good taper/mud guy. If the majority of the walls are rough and need to be coated, it is probably worth removing it all. Also if the smell you describe is into the sheetrock, then it might be worth it to demo it all as well.
Keep in mind, electricians almost always "ask" for the drywall to be removed. It makes their lives a whole lot easier when running wires.
To date I almost 100% gut my kitchens and baths to the studs. I leave most of the other rooms in tact, unless I have work to do behind the walls (framing, rot, etc..) and spot patch as needed.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
I agree with @brian, most issues can be fixed with some skim coating -which is easy and inexpensive for those who are good at it.
If the electrician is decent and willing to spend a bit of time fishing wires, he should be able to run just about anything with just some well-placed small holes.
Investor · Columbus, GA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Drywall is about $13 a sheet. It goes up easily and one sheet covers a lot of area. I would replace any drywall that can't be repaired with tape and mud easily. If it has old wall paper on it that will take days to remove, I would replace it with new because it's faster.
Investor · Southern Pines, NC · Member since 2014 · 339 posts · 171 votes
9y
Depends on studs, if there are nail pops, how many patches, etc. My guys love to replace because it is soon much easier than starting with bad sheetrock or a bunch of patches, but if we aren't doing anything in the walls then they always pretty much stay. If your guy is good you may not be able to tell the difference, but only if he is good. Otherwise it may look pretty bad. Pictures would be best. Ozone generator for a few days after a B.I.N Shellac or oil based primer will kill odors.
Investor · Newberg, OR · Member since 2012 · 161 posts · 82 votes
9y
I think it depends on the level of property - in my market it would sell much better if it was all a unified look. I think it depends on your end price expectation. I don't really leave anything that is smelly in my flips. Sheetrock wall demo is easy-peasey and if you have a good sheetrocker in terms of scale of economies its not going to be that much more to have the bad stuff replaced versus fixed.
Investor · Grapevine, TX · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 24 votes
9y
I'm a flipper in DFW, Tx.
The smell shouldn't be a problem so long as the drywall is solid and not rotting. The primer will take care of the smell smoke, pets etc. As far as it being bumpy; are you talking about the texture on the wall or are there large swollen areas on the wall so that the wall is not smooth? If it's just texture; then your sheetrock guy should be able to float the texture. If it's swollen areas of the sheetrock it should be replaced.
Investor · Norman, OK · Member since 2017 · 101 posts · 34 votes
9y
I agree with Lisa Thoele, it depends on the level of property and the end goal. I tend to try and make everything match. I recently took all the exterior walls down to the studs in a house and did the interior walls to match. The percentage of cost and time increase for the total project was nominal and I do not regret it. Could there be a possibility of regretting doing the interior walls, or regret not doing the interior walls after the fact? And obviously, does the cost increase make sense for this project?
Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
9y
It should look fine after you paint it again and especially if you texture it and then paint it. We often have to patch holes in the wall and the like and they look fine afterward.
Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2014 · 636 posts · 486 votes
9y
Are you doing it all yourself, and how much do you calculate your time is worth? If you have fast, skilled workers and you're paying them less than about $20 an hour, it might be worthwhile to skim-coat instead to save on material costs, but it's certainly a lot faster and easier to just put up new sheets.
Investor · Newberg, OR · Member since 2012 · 161 posts · 82 votes
9y
Just a thought...one option is just to ask your sheetrocker the cost difference and their opinion about whether the sheetrock is repairable? If you don't have a sheetrocker you trust ask three different ones and you'll probably have your answer!
Investor · Mountain View, CA · Member since 2016 · 40 posts · 25 votes
9y
I agree with @Brian Pulaski in a kitchen and bath remodel it is best to remove all the walls and cut an access hole in the subfloor. This save time and money. In most cases the ceiling rock can stay unless you are doing multiple can lights.
In other rooms if you need to cut into the sheet rock cut large. I usually cut 16"x 16" or 32" x 32". If you can stay 6" back form trim and corners. This will allow for tape and mud to not interfere with them. If you need access in more than one location in a single wall then it maybe time to remove the sheet. The labor that is saved not having to work around the sheetrock will more than pay for its replacement.
Specialist · White Rock, British Columbia · Member since 2017 · 99 posts · 34 votes
9y
I confer with my GC, since she's the one doing the work. Sometimes having an expert make suggestions and just saying yay or nay works for me. In this case, they can provide 2 good estimates, for time and price, making the decision easy instead of a guess.
Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
9y
Your question calls for lots of opinions, evidenced above. Without seeing it or at least pictures, it is tough to say. The price point of the home and your market is also a factor.
Best advice, eliminating the opinions, is to have your contractor price out both options, the demo, haul away, and install if new vs patch, skim coat and texture, also taking into consideration the added time and costs for electrical work (more difficult when drywall is up vs removed).
Memphis, TN · Member since 2015 · 27 posts · 9 votes
9y
Not sure about your jurisdiction; however, in Memphis if you pull out more than 40% of the drywall you are required by code to re-wire the entire house and bring it entirely up to new construction standard. This can be a budget killer to people in lower end housing.
But if you are already going to re-wire the whole thing then no big deal!
James
Can you post some pictures? Is it a flip or a rental? We recently gutted a house and removed all the drywall, it's not the dumpster cost that will get you, but the extra labor to remove the nails, hang, mud/tape and sand... it's horrible, tedious and expensive!!!--- obviously the electrician wants it out, it will make his job significantly easier, and he doesn't care about your costs!
Call me a pessimist, but I become very wary when someone tells me to do something $$$$$ that has nothing invested in my bottom line.
Kingston, Ontario · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 2 votes
9y
Wow, so much great advice! I'm delighted. For those of you who are interested, here is my little story.
My parents gave me this old bank built in 1904, in a small town in rural Ontario, Canada. Its about 30 min from a medium size city. It has a lovely river running through the back of the houses. They spent a fair amount of money fixing it up and its lovely inside. The driveway has an easement with next door, which caused problems. The people next door walked away from their house and I made them an offer. Probably too high alas! i was worried that someone horrible would move in and make my house unsaleable. Fences don't work because of the driveway situation. I thought i would just fix it up and rent it out as it is a duplex.
Kingston, Ontario · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 2 votes
9y
So although the question was about drywall (more pictures of that to come) Now the new and much bigger problem is that the road is higher then the house and has caused a lot of damage. Also the floors are wonky. I'm thinking the only solution may be to raise the house and build a proper foundation and floor joists etc. But wow....so much has to be redone....why not build a new house? But what a cost!
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2012 · 155 posts · 41 votes
9y
I'm not seeing the road being higher than the house? I'm surprised that place is drywall inside rather than plastter. Any idea when it was built? They should be able to skim that and make it look great, but if it smells and you're running new electric I'd consider just tearing it all out. It sounds like youre going to have a fair bit of new rock going in so it probably wouldn't be too much more to do those areas.