While you are going about your winter preparation tasks this September, you might be in the mood to tackle that big hole in the drywall that you haven’t gotten around to yet. The DIY Network has easy, step-by-step instructions on how to repair seriously damaged drywall that will show you how to: cut out the damaged area, cut out the patch, attach cleats to wall studs, fit the patch into cleats and studs, apply fiberglass tape to the seams and finish the wall surface.
So, you see a black spot on your sheetrock ceiling, what to do? Well, you may very well have a water intrusion issue. Pictured here is apparent mold growth on a sheetrock ceiling which, when probed with my moisture meter, revealed underlying saturation within the ceiling cavity above. The likely contributing factor was a roof leak for which I recommended further evaluation, remediation and repair by a qualified contractor. There is the possibility of underlying damage and mold growth not visible until the sheetrock is removed. This was discovered at an Orcas Island home inspection in the San Juan Islands.
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an analytical method using emission spectroscopy to identify the presence of specific elements in most materials. Every element has a unique emission signature, making it possible to quantify the presence of an element by the relative strength of the emission. Instrumentation has evolved to the point where hand-held XRF can be used in the field for on-site testing purposes. While X-ray fluorescence is a very accurate and reliable instrumentation-based method for quantitative analysis of chemical elements, it should not be used as the sole identifier of toxic or Chinese drywall. To identify problem drywall, XRF is used to target the alkali earth element, strontium, as the primary identifier of problem drywall. There is no doubt the XRF will determine the accurate level of strontium in the wall section being scanned. However, there are several chemistry-related considerations that should force us to take a closer look at using only strontium content as the flag for identification of problem drywall…(read full article here)
While summer is winding down, you might be in the mood to tackle that big hole in the drywall that you haven’t gotten around to yet. The DIY Network has easy, step-by-step instructions on how to repair seriously damaged drywall that will show you how to: cut out the damaged area, cut out the patch, attach cleats to wall studs, fit the patch into cleats and studs, apply fiberglass tape to the seams and finish the wall surface.