Part 5: Mud and Taping My Closet and Painting Bedroom #1

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Drywall work is much harder than it looks. Which is exactly why we are still working on the drywall in my closet, though it’s inching closer and closer to completion. Then we can finally prime and paint! It’s worth pointing out that ceiling drywall work was much harder than dear husband anticipated.

As he was trying to mud and tape the ceiling, part of the tape strip fell down and slapped him with drywall mud. After untangling himself and cleaning up, he called it a day. I can’t say I blame him, for that or the tirade of obscenities he bellowed out afterward.

Mold

Where are we at with the mold? Well, after multiple applications of a mixture of borax + water, I’m happy to report that there is no longer any mold. As a matter of fact, when looking up at floor from the basement I can see where the borax solution penetrated all the way through the subfloor, killing any mold in its path. Thus, I conclude that this is the superior cleaning method.

I’m tempted to perform some overkill with another round of bleach and/or peroxide as well. Why? Because mold is a nasty bugger that can be difficult to eradicate if you don’t catch it right away. It’s a darn shame that home inspectors aren’t allowed to peak into the walls of wet rooms, via inserting a tiny camera with a light on a cable or something. That would have saved us a lot of headache.

Anyway, my husband decided he wanted to do his own overkill method by pouring straight borax powder on the crevices. I said “Go for it. I’m all for overkill when it comes to mold.” He even made a paper funnel to get it into the area of the studs behind the studs.

I may just take it a step even further and put this primer with fungicide on the subfloor before we install the LVP tile over it.

Paint

Last week, I completed the closet and the first half of bedroom #1, including the ceiling. This week, I painted the second half of bedroom #1. I have to say, that tip from the video in the previous post about rolling the inside corners first, especially where the ceiling meets the wall, made the rest of it go swimmingly.

Why? For one thing, you spend much less time straining your neck while painting the ceiling. Secondly, using a paint roller sleeve that is covered by the nap at one end enables you to really get the paint all the way in those corners, and hit the leading edges of each wall all at the same time.

Third, you don’t have to worry about splotchy spots or scrapes from a roller with two open ends in those areas because it’s already covered, and you only have to go up to the edge of those lines. Truth be told it’s still a pain to do those corners, but not as painful as it used to be.

*Note: I also recommend using this color changing ceiling paint. It’s great for letting you see your coverage, as well as knowing when it’s dry and ready for another coat.

Long of the short, it’s all ready to go for whatever tranquil shade of blue we decide to go with. On that note, allow me to point out that picking paint colors is more complex than you might think, at least if you’re doing it right.

Nearly every aspect of a room affects how the color appears on the wall:

• Furnishing choices
• Natural light in the room throughout the day
• Décor selections
• Flooring choices
• Lighting
• The type of ceiling you have
• The number of windows and choice of window treatments
• Adjacent wall colors
• The color of the trim

And probably a host of other things I’m not aware of because I’m not an interior designer. Taking all of this into consideration can be overwhelming.

The current times have the price of a paint sample from Lowes at $7. A year or two ago I believe it was close to $3-4.  It’s insane how the prices of everything have skyrocketed. Thankfully, paint swatches are still free, which is a good place to start in your hunt for the perfect color. I always use those first to narrow down my choices.

It’s worth noting that in my experience paint often turns out to be 1-2 shades lighter than it seems on the swatch. Thus, I still recommend purchasing a paint sample before committing to 1+ gallons of paint that are currently (as of the writing of this article) about $30-$70/gallon.

*Note: Besides confirming your proposed color selection, samples also come in handy for minor touch-ups.

Before you go selecting colors or purchasing samples, there is one important question to ask yourself: Are you really wanting to paint the walls, or could you do a simpler (and more cost effective) refresh, like changing the rug, the curtains, some fun pillow covers, perhaps?

If the answer is still a resounding yes, I am writing a separate post just for you on how to pick the right paint color(s). I will be sure to link to it here when it is finished.

To sum up, we are nearly finished with the drywall work in my closet, and the mold issue in the laundry room has successfully been remediated. Bedroom #1 is refreshed and brought to a clean, neutral white, ready for color. Next on the to-do list is patching the wall in the pantry and laundry room, bringing bedroom #2 to a basic clean white in preparation for color, priming my closet, and patching random holes in the drywall throughout the house like the one pictured below.

What else is going on? We’re recovering from the flu, tending seedlings for our spring garden, reworking family schedules, and soon I will be butchering my first couple of chickens for our freezer. As the weather continues to warm up, I’ll be hatching chicks for the first time to replace them.

How about you, readers? What colors inspire you, calm you, or bring you joy? Are there colors you simply cannot stand at all? Let me know in the comments below!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own.

This week we are focusing on 2 large tasks, and a host of small ones. The 2 large goals we set for the week are finishing the drywall installation in my closet, and mudding and taping the seams.

The smaller goals include continuing the battle against the mold in the laundry/pantry area, and continuing to paint the first kids’ room. The present goal there is to bring it from a dark, dreary hue back to white, ready for a more buoyant, relaxing color.

After installing the drywall, the next step is to backfill any drywall seams bigger than 1/8″ with joint compound a.k.a. drywall mud. This is done before mudding and taping to help prevent any cracks later on down the road. This step is pictured below. Note: you may have to repeat this step 2-3 times depending on the size of the gap.

After the backfill mud is completely dry, we can mud and tape the seams. We like to use Fiba Mesh Tape, which is self-adhering rather than having to do a sort of Papier-mâché with regular non-adhesive paper tape. It is a bit more expensive, but to us it’s worth it.

TIP: Multiple layers of joint compound may be needed for this step, with sufficient drying time between applications. This prevents your drywall from getting soggy/spongy. When applying, I like to think of it like icing a cake, just a long straight one. Some ladies might liken it to applying foundation. But I bake more often than I wear foundation, so I think of icing.

First, you slap on a good glob of this stuff, then pull it down with a putty knife in a straight line, leaving about 1/4″-1/2″ thick layer of it for the next part, feathering. This is the diagonal spreading of the mud from the center (seam) to each side in a sweeping motion, leaving short swaths of gradually thinner drywall mud as you move away from the seams.

Think karate kid: Wax on, Wax off. Except we’re not doing a circle here, just some short, stubby rays of sunshine.

Tip: When finished, you should no longer be able to see the tape. This helps to blend the drywall seams into the rest of the wall, instead of visible humps.

If we get around to it this week, next we’ll be sanding the drywall seams in my closet. This is to further smooth and blend the joint compound we applied in the last steps. We don’t want to leave uneven lumps or lines in our feathered mud. These will also stick out like a sore thumb after painting.

We like to use our oscillating tool for this, with the sander attachments. The sand paper bits we use were black and 120 grit. There is a 12V version of the oscillating tool that is significantly lower-priced and works just fine for this task, I just couldn’t seem to find it on Amazon with the right attachments.

Note: I also recommend the lower powered one because it’s lighter, and this is a task you really want to take your time with.

Sanding with the oscillating tool does create a lot of dust, like a bag of flour exploding. But that’s kind of par for the course when sanding anything, whether using hand or power tools. We still prefer it as It’s quick, efficient, and less tiring on the body.

Note: a light touch is needed for this. We’re not trying to undo all our hard work in the previous steps.

TIP: Be mindful of the angle of the sander as well, so as not to create gouges in the joint compound. I also highly recommend having a second battery ready to go on the charger rather than having to stop and wait for a single battery to charge.

All of these individual tasks are things that are difficult to explain and you have to just do it and get a feel for it. It feels kind of like trying to paint in the dark at first. Once you start getting a feel for it, it feels like you’re a kid who likes to color on the walls and you’re trying to figure out how to do it without getting into trouble.

Right now, my husband and I are both at an impasse, while we wait for different things to dry. Him for the second layer of backfill on the drywall seams, and I for the second coat of paint.

Tomorrow, I will be applying the second coat of ceiling paint. I highly recommend this video for learning how to do it properly. When that is dry, I can shift all my son’s belongings to the finished side of the room so I can paint the second half next week. Also next week, we will hopefully be taping, mudding, and sanding.

Fellow DIYers, handymen/women, professionals, feel free to comment any tips or tricks below! I also welcome constructive feedback, but let’s keep it clean, respectful, and relevant.