Drywall can help create a room fit for an interior design magazine, but when it’s installed poorly, it can make your home look cheap and shoddy. Since finishing methods vary, discussing your expectations with your installer goes a long way toward getting good results.
Also, know which flaws are never acceptable so you don’t get stuck with a second-rate drywall job.
Making your expectations clear
Rough-looking drywall isn’t always a sign of unskilled work. The Gypsum Association’s guide Recommended Levels of Gypsum Board Finish outlines five acceptable levels of drywall finish. The higher the level, the less likely imperfections are to occur. Higher levels involve more work and expense, so installers use them only when they are needed or requested.
Before you can decide if a drywall job is poor, you need to know what the installer’s goal was. While it’s important to discuss what level of finish you want, the installation should always be done to professional standards.
In your garage, a level 2 finish with some minor streaks is normal and is not a sign of a poor installation job. However, the same level in your living room indicates low-quality work.
Level 1 – This is a rough finish used in rarely seen areas, such as an unfinished attic, above-roof space or service corridor of a commercial building. At this level, you will see some ridges and tool marks. Nails, screws and other fasteners, as well as joints, may be slightly visible.
Level 2 – This finish is used on garages, storage sheds, commercial warehouses and similar buildings. Nails and screws should be well covered and largely invisible, but you may see some streaks and tool marks.
Level 3 – This is the lowest level of finish you want in your home and only if you plan on using heavily textured paint or wallpaper. The wall should be smooth, with no ridges, tool marks or fastener marks and then finished with a coat of drywall primer.
Level 4 – At this stage, your installer will apply additional layers of joint compound over joints, tape, and fasteners, then finish with a primer to create a completely smooth surface. You can then apply flat paint or lightly textured wallpaper without any bulges or other drywall imperfections.
Level 5 – If you plan to use a high-gloss, semi-gloss, satin finish or enamel paint, this is the drywall finish you want. It includes all the additional joint compound layers used for Level 4 as well as a skim coat, or a thin layer of joint compound, plaster or other material specifically formulated for this purpose. Applying a primer is the final step.
Signs of a Bad Drywall Installation Job
While some imperfections are expected in lower-grade finishing, certain issues should never arise with quality installation work.
Visible joints – Ideally, you shouldn’t be able to tell where one sheet of drywall ends and another begins. Visible joints and gaps wider than 1/8 inch are signs of a poor installation job. These are often caused by incorrectly placed drywall sheets and air bubbles underneath the tape used to cover the joints.
Visible nail and screw holes – Visible nails and screws are a bad sign, even at a low level of finish. In older drywall, look for “nail pops” or nails popping out of the drywall. One or two are usually harmless and easy to fix. If they are occurring all over the wall, it indicates that the drywall is deteriorating and has probably been poorly installed.
Uneven Corners – At any stage of finish, the corners of your drywall should be smooth and straight. There should be no crooked lines, gaps, pits, bubbles or folds. Incorrectly applied tape can leave pits and creases. A crooked corner bead can cause a wavy corner.
Rough Surfaces – Some minor ridges and roughness is acceptable at lower levels of finish. However, at Level 3 and above, the drywall should feel substantially smoother. Ridges are caused by leftover joint compound, carelessly applied second coats of compound, air bubbles, or problems with joint tape.
Often, the installer can sand these down. Grooves are usually the result of over-sanding and having to add more compound to smooth them out.
However, cracks are not necessarily a sign of poor drywall work. Especially in older homes, drywall cracks occur due to expansion and contraction related to the building’s constant temperature. Less often, it indicates structural damage.
Crooked panels – Drywall often ends up crooked when an installer tries to do everything alone. It is difficult to hold heavy sheets of drywall in place and screw them in at the same time by yourself. Sometimes this is because the wall itself is crooked. A skilled installer may be able to straighten the drywall even on a crooked wall, but this is not always possible. Crooked drywall on a crooked wall does not necessarily mean the installation job was poor.
Loose Ceilings – Assuming you don’t have any water leaks above you, a sagging or “pillow” ceiling is usually the fault of the installer. They may have used 1/2-inch drywall sheets instead of the stronger 5/8-inch sheets that can withstand gravity. Using nails instead of screws is another possible cause of loose drywall.
Leftover Dirt – Getting a smooth finish on drywall requires a lot of sanding, which creates a lot of fine dust. Responsible professionals clean up the dust thoroughly before they leave. If not removed, drywall dust can interfere with the paint on your walls and can also clog the joints in your windows and doors with glue. If your installer didn’t bother to clean up his mess, it calls the rest of his work into question.Today’s Homeowner Tip
Drywall installation is a specialized job that requires patience and attention to detail, so imperfect jobs are not uncommon. While you can expect minor imperfections in your unfinished attic or garage, don’t tolerate major problems that compromise your home’s appearance. If you see clearly visible joints, fasteners, ridges or crooked corners, call your installer to fix the job.