Finishing drywall.....please tell me this won't be as horrible as I fear

[Ottakee]

Next week we have a contractor coming to finish drywall in our basement. It will be a wall in one room, a closet in another and then the ceilings in the hall, bathroom, family room, and a bedroom.

 

I am dreading the mess. I am imagining drywall dust everywhere. We are taking up all soft surface things (mattresses, blankets, books, etc) and the rest will be tarped off and covered in a storage room.

 

Any positive experiences?

[StephanieZ]

Our drywall crews were amazing. Super fast and efficient. They put up clear plastic sheeting to separate the working-area from finished spaces. If you can do that yourself, do it. Buy big rolls of it, and tape it securely. Just wall off all your finished spaces. Do a second "wall" of protection if possible . . . Say, at the steps to your upstairs/etc, as some dust will definitely escape through a single "wall" of it. 

 

Plan to vacuum well and the wet mop all possible surfaces. It'll be OK. Everything will be dusty, but it won't be too bad if you can seal things off. 

 

If they are there multiple days, then go ahead and sneak in and clean up after them and re-seal any goofed up plastic "walls" each day . . . IME, contractors aren't the best about that . . . and every little bit helps. 

[Guest]

It is a mess but it vacuum easily. Get to it quickly so it doesn't track. Turn off the a/c, fans, etc. so it doesn't spread.

[Guest]

Nm, totally misread your post. It's a mess but a shop vac and tarps help.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[Ottakee]

Thanks. So wish we would have been able to afford this before we moved in 6 years ago. It is amazing how.much stuff has to be moved to do this project.

 

The idea though is only half of it will.go back downstairs when we are done.

 

Once the drywall crew is done we will need to clean and then paint.....fresh new ceilings and the walls that I am having them touch up.

 

I am sure we will be happy when it is done but it is a lot of work.

[Annie G]

My drywall guy cleans up after himself. He wipes walls with a swifter, sweeps and uses a shop vac on the floor. I go behind him to mop but it's always been pretty clean. He puts plastic up in doorways to contain the dust. But I've seen it before he cleans and it's not bad. 

 

I long for the day when I no longer have 'a drywall guy'. This old house renovation has taken FOREVER. 

Edited August 5, 2017 by Annie G

[Ottakee]

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

I also need to pick colors for walls, etc. Decorating is not my thing. I love a well decorated space but I don't have an eye for design/color.

[KatieJ]

Good experience in that it is worth it in the the end. Hated the process. We remodeled our kitchen which involved removing the soffits . I eventually gave up on cleaning until they were done with the patching and sanding, and yes, we did have tarps hung.

Absolutely leave your central a/c off!

[tex-bex]

There will be dust on every imaginable surface, including your own head.

 

My drywall guys are painting as I type this. We live in Dallas, and it is August, so leaving the AC off was not an option. We did buy a bunch of new filters so we can change them out frequently as we have messy renovations done. One air intake was whistling loudly because of all the dust it had accumulated!!