LESLIE: Julian in Louisiana is working on a tile-ceiling makeover project. Tell us what you’re working on.
JULIAN: I’m wanting to repair my ceiling. The old, Styrofoam, square – 12-inch square – tiles are in bad need of repair. Some of them are broken loose and some of them are stained. And I want to do something to cover that up but I’m not sure if I need to take those down or if I can cover – put something over the top of them.
TOM: I would recommend that you take the tile down and not sandwich them in between new drywall.
JULIAN: OK.
TOM: Now, when you take those down, Julian, what you’re probably going to find are wood strips underneath that. We call it “furring strips,” yeah.
JULIAN: Yes.
TOM: It’s going to be a pain in the neck because you’re going to have hundreds of staples to pull out one at a time or un-flat (ph).
JULIAN: Right, right.
TOM: But when you do take them out, get all those staples nice and flat and then go ahead and add the drywall right to the wood strips. And I would recommend you use drywall screws to hold it in place, because sometimes those strips get a little bouncy if you try to nail into them. And the screws will be the easiest way to handle getting those sheets in place. And that’ll do a real good job and you’ll be very happy with it, I’m sure.
JULIAN: OK, OK. Is it very hard to do the design on the ceiling, like the “stomp and drag”? That’s what type of finish I was trying to get. Is that hard to do yourself?
TOM: Can I tell you how many calls we get from people that want to take that away?
JULIAN: Oh, really?
TOM: Seemed like a good idea at the time but we get dozens of calls every month from folks that want to remove textured ceilings.
JULIAN: Really?
TOM: So, we’d say don’t do it. Yeah, don’t do it.
LESLIE: Don’t do it. Do a good job with your tapes. Instead of doing just the paper tape when you’re doing the joints on the drywall on the ceiling, use the fiberglass tape.
JULIAN: OK. Alright.
LESLIE: Do thin coats. Do several coats and get wider as you go out from each coat. Let it dry well, sand in between, then prime it, because you’ve got brand-spanking new drywall. Prime it, let it dry. Then you want a ceiling paint, because it’s going to adhere differently. Use a flat paint, white, you’re good to go.
JULIAN: Thanks. I appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, Julian. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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