Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Drywall Repair Advice?

I got lots of good advice in my flooring thread, so I'm back needing more home repair advice. I'm working on repairing a section of damaged drywall on my ceiling and I'm quickly finding out that I have a lot to learn. I cut the damaged section out and put in a patch. I attached it to the joists, along with using a furring strip on the section past the joist. However, I'm finding that it's slightly higher than the existing sheet rock in one corner, but then in the middle it's slightly lower. The section that's higher isn't a big issue as I will mud over it and try to get it level. It's the part that's proud that I'm unsure how to tackle. I've read numerous sites saying to feather it out more, but I'm just not understanding how that's going to hide a bump in it. I started sanding trying to get it closer and you can see it's starting to go through the paper. At this point I stopped and decided I needed to do more research. What's the best way to tackle this from here? I honestly have no idea what I'm doing as I have very little drywall experience and what I've done in the past hasn't always looked great, but I'm trying to learn.

How big is the area that's heavy,can you just plow it out and fill?
Or pull the patch and shave a little off what's holding it down.
You can feather it out,you'll just have to go out a ways to hide it.

^ this. It aint rocket science but you have to pick one (or both) and do it. Stop thinking about it and do it. Its drywall & mud, not reinforced concrete.

And go wider. Taper it out further than you'd think. Rookie mistake is to go too much mud but not wide enough. You'll end up sanding it all off and still unhappy.

Go wide, taper it out. Wet sand.

Yea, you are going to want those joints maybe 6 inches or more wide. The joint should be thick enough to cover in the center and wide enough to tapper that thickness so that a casual look won't ever notice it. There is also technique involved. Just look at how to do butt joints on YouTube.

Well first of all you'd better be putting some tape on those joints or they will be showing cracks in a couple of months.
The best thing to do if you don't want to take the piece back down and shave the high spot off the back so it sits lower is to feather around the high spot with compound.
Sometimes I will have to feather out up to 24" in order to blend a patch.

This too^^^. A good YouTuber to watch is called the "Vancouver Carpenter".

You will need to tape the joints and then do a wide taper. Use a thinner joint compound and a 12" blade to really push it out past the edges. Save yourself a lot of mess by using a damp sponge to clean up the high spots before final sanding with a 220 grit paper.
For patches I like to use 1/4" luan plywood behind the drywall. I overlap under the existing and patch by 3-4". That gives yoou plenty of room for screws and provides a solid foundation thatt helps prevent high and low spots.

You need a Mescan, lol.

With drywall finishing, if in doubt, hire someone who knows what they are doing.

Seriously, I can do drywall, but I can run over to the cuarenta/hood and hire one of the guys I know for a 18-pack and not have to mess with it.

Use a straight edge of sorts . Put it on the high spot ,move it around,you will see where the lows are ,fill those areas with joint compound. The flatter you can get the rock hung ,the easier it'll be. If you have multiple highs & lows spots ,it's going to be challenging if you do not do a lot of drywall " feathering" , so keep that in mind. If you are looking for perfection you need to start out with the sheetrock all flush

First tape the seams or it’ll crack. A wide trowel/knife will let you bring the mud out far enough that the difference in thickness can’t be seen easily. Don’t over think it.

Popcorn texture hides a lot......grin

At a minimum, I would go around your new perimeter (new drywall) and score the top paper (not all the way to the gypsum) with a razor knife and pull it off wide enough to get the new tape in. Then when you tape the joint you aren't adding height to feather out.

First, you exposed the brown paper that is underneath the white paper. Mud and tape will not stick to brown paper, it now has to be sealed with something like Gardz, Shellac, or Bin. Then it can be taped and muddled.

All three of those joints are considered “Butt” joints. Each one will require a minimum of four coats, starting with,

1) apply “All Purpose” compound ( Green Lid) and paper tape ( not mesh) with a 6 inch knife, let dry.

2) apply Lightweight Compound ( Blue Lid) with 10” knife , double wide making each joint roughly 18 inches wide , it’s called “a double ten”. Let dry

3) repeat the process with a 12 inch knife, it’s called a double 12.

4) repeat the process with a Triple 12 , one down the center and one on each side.

Yes, each joint needs to be that wide.

Easier if its a wall repair, you could just put a picture over it.

Also each coat needs to be very thin and the edges feathered to a smooth edge.

LOL... That's right.

i would buy a new sheet of drywall and cut it so the end of the dry wall where it is thinner to mud the two sheets together is against your proud side ..may be it will be easier to get it to match up with the mud then

The inside corner gets Green Lid and paper tape wiped dry and square on each side with a 6 inch knife, let dry.

Apply a coat of Blue Lid on one side and one side only, wipe and feather, let dry.

Apply final coat of Blue lid on the other side, wipe smooth and feather.