Drywall

[lakota]

I am redoing my kitchen and  in the course of pulling old wall paper down the existing drywall surface has been damaged and is also very dirty and heavily stained. Can I just put new drywall up directly over the old drywall? I really dont want to tear the old stuff down there is loose blown insulation inside the walls and I fear it would create a giant mess.

[Ron 1]

yes you can tang new drywall right over the old. you will most likely need longer screws for any electric outlets.
you can even use 1/4 or 3/8 drywall for this as well. dont for get to use longer screws to hang it to . i do drywall for a living so this is right up my ally good luck on your project. any other ? just fire away
     rw  

[lakota]

Thanks for the help! I may have more questions once I get deeper into this project.

[Hit or Miss]

If you drywall over the existing don't forget to move the outlets and light switch boxes out further so they aren't too deep in the wall.  Don't ask me how I know this!   The best advice I ever got was to use the largest pieces of drywall I possibly could, it minimizes the finish work.

[PowPow]

If there is blown-in insulation in the walls, it may have settled so that its only insulating part of the wall.
You may consider punching a hole in each slot between the studs and topping off the insulation before you put the second layer on.

[hillbill]

all these posts are good advice, if your dooing it yourself, git a buddy who does it for a living to come over and point out a few things. ive learned more in 15 min from a pro than ive done in 10 yrs of dooin it myself.

[Ron 1]

you do not have to move the boxes on the studs you just need longer screws to move the outlets out the thickness of the drywall you are adding. as for checking the insulation that is a good idea but check it up high by the ceiling add some if needed. menards/lowes  has the screws.
  rw

[bilmac]

The rule of thumb is when you restore old housing avoid tearing stuff out whenever you can, instead cover the old stuff up. These TV shows where the first thing restorers do is get a big hammer and start breaking everything in sight is a bunch of crap. Makes for good TV, but it is dumb.

[lakota]

thanks for all the advice. I never even thought of checking the insulation for settling. This house is pushing 60 years old so I imagine there is a bit of settlement in that old stuff. Prior to this my only experience in major home renovation was replacing all 18 windows in this house and I have to say that this drywalling seems way more labor intensive.

[Glanceblamm]

What about the trim around windows and doors? You can obviously use longer nails but will want the trim to match up with the inside wood jam's.

[Ron 1]

the window trim  that is were the extention jum  is used
or you can hang dry wall to the trim and finish or calk around it  if you keep it tight to the trim it can be calked
rw

[Glanceblamm]

Thanks Ron.

I never did do this work "drywall over" but did gut out that filthy plaster n lathe. Had the benifit of getting new electrical along with insulation in those old walls.

When it came time to put all back together I found that I had to face every stud in the room with lathe strips so my trim would match up. This work was incredibly dirty as said but worth it.

[Ron 1]

i have been doing dry wall for the last 18years most of it is new construction. lately it has been more remodels  and repairs than anything else.  my work has slowed down pretty bad in the last year.
 i just took on a engine swap in a friends 93 gmc yukon.  the shop told him it would cost $2000 dollars in labor                       
then $1700 for the motor.    not something i want to do but it will help us both as i will not charge him but $500
and i have a gm 350 in my shop that will fit in the yukon   and it runs good and dont smoke either.
it was a back up motor for my mud truck.
rw