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Don't you just love it when you hire a someone and they say they can do what we want perfectly? But in the end they don't.
Well, we needed a few holes patched in our ceiling (due to installing of pot lights and running speaker wire) and needed the person doing the work to re-texture to match the surrounding texture (knockdown). First person to do it couldn't get it right eventhough he claimed he's been doing it for years and can get it pretty close. Second person came through a recommendation and they also claimed they could fix the first person's job ... but couldn't do it right either. Below is where we stand today:
The lighter areas are the patched areas and it annoys us seeing them everyday! We had our walls painted and had the ceilings painted with 2 coats of paint .. but you can see the results.
We've contacted a few more drywall specialists and told them at this point we've been out of a lot of $$$ and if they claim they can fix it, they should demonstrate on one patch for us before we move ahead .. but no one wanted to put their money where their mouth is.
So ... opening up to the forum. What can I possible do, or better yet, anyone know the procedure to fix my ceilings?
We are out about $700 now from the first two drywallers. I'm hesitant to redo the entire ceiling due to costs. I'm assuming to do it right, all the current texture needs to be scraped off (which would be laboreous since it's knock down), then re-plaster and then texture then paint.
Sand, prime entire ceiling. Repaint the entire ceiling.
Yes.
OP, I'm sorry you're going through this . . . I did, too. I was out of money, as well. I got a scraping tool and scraped it myself (it was high popcorn). It was an 11 x 14 room and it took several days (working 2 - 3 hours at a time), and then I sanded it (one long Saturday), primed and repainted. I didn't retexture it.
I'm sure a pro would've been able to do it faster! But my results were fine: no spots, and my costs were the tool (under $10 at that time), a pack of sandpaper, primer, and paint.
When you say sand, should we sand just the patched areas, or the entire ceiling? Is it light sanding or heavy sanding and what exactly does the sanding do for the process?
You can buy some DIY texturing stuff at Lowes or Home Depot. It comes in a spray can with an adjustment to vary the amount of texture material being sprayed. Do a little trial and error of a sample board.
There are videos on YouTube that shows the DIY process.
The question is "how is the texture?"
Granted, you can clearly see the patches. But I'll assume they are not painted (you said the ceilings are painted), hence the reason they standout. If the texture/knockdown is close wouldn't painting the patches be the most logical next step?
By your description the contractors said they could match the texture- was it "match" the texture? Or was it more like "match it as close as possible, but I can't guarantee it"?
I think any "competent" drywall contractor would NOT guarantee an exact match. But would set a reasonable expectation that you would either agree with or not. And now that you have gone through and I assume paid two contractors I'd say YOUR EXPECTATION is higher than any any final product you'll ever get.
With that in mind, I'd say the only way you'll be completely satisfied is to have the entire ceiling redone.
The question is "how is the texture?"
Granted, you can clearly see the patches. But I'll assume they are not painted (you said the ceilings are painted), hence the reason they standout. If the texture/knockdown is close wouldn't painting the patches be the most logical next step?
By your description the contractors said they could match the texture- was it "match" the texture? Or was it more like "match it as close as possible, but I can't guarantee it"?
I think any "competent" drywall contractor would NOT guarantee an exact match. But would set a reasonable expectation that you would either agree with or not. And now that you have gone through and I assume paid two contractors I'd say YOUR EXPECTATION is higher than any any final product you'll ever get.
With that in mind, I'd say the only way you'll be completely satisfied is to have the entire ceiling redone.
The painting was done after the patching and texture work which is why I am asking what else can be done to fix the situation I am in. I had assumed the paint would have hid them, but it definately did not.
Of course no one will gaurantee an exact match. The contractor's said it'll be close but not an exact match and they said that with confidence. I personally don't care how close the match is, as long as we don't blatantly see it. As you can tell by the picture, It doesn't take much to see the patches so I'm not sure if it's because the texture doesn't match well, or they skipped a step in the process prior to us painting.
Again, the entire ceiling was painted with 2 coats after the patching and retexturing.
Let me ask you if this was your ceiling, would you be happy living with the picture I showed you? I don't think my expectation is high and I doubt anyone would be happy living with a ceiling looking like the picture I show.
I believe there may have been a mid-step- patches should have been sealed/primed before paint. The reason they show so bad is because the raw drywall compound is absorbing the paint- the rest of the ceiling, when originally done was most assuredly primed then painted.
Again, the entire ceiling was painted with 2 coats after the patching and retexturing.
So, the patches weren't primed.... they should have been.
I would have used two coats of primer (feathering well) to get the new areas up to speed with the old areas.
Ya, I don't think any primer went on them ... I guess that is causing the patches to pop out. So is the solution to sand, them prime and paint? Probably gonna do the whole ceiling if that is the case.
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