mobilehomerepair.com

Want to remove battens and refinish walls that are the basic sheetrock material with vinyl covering. MH has been sitting for over 10 years in eastern Virginia without huge temp extremes or any frost heaving so thinking cracks will not be a problem. Have an old VHS copy of Mark's video (DVD probably same). He fills in grooves on paneling but doesn't show filling in gaps under battens. Combining his video tips with some others found here, my plan is:
1) clean walls (TSP)
2) rescrew all walls with sheetrock screws (Idea from another thread aimed at reinforcing the original staples.)
3) mesh tape and joint compound on gaps, feathering out to about 24". Also compound screws and any other holes. (Idea from another thread) Clean walls again.
4) prime walls
5) light texture using roller and joint compound (hide any imperfections)
6) paint

QUESTION 1 - Mark primes before applying his texture coat of joint compound saying the priming ensures the joint compound sticks to the wall. Should I prime the walls before I apply any joint compound, to include compound used when filling in the gaps?

I will be removing the popcorn ceiling (no asbestos so good to go). Figure the same general steps with compounding imperfections, priming, painting.

QUESTION 2 - Would the ceiling look okay with the same light texture given to the walls? Again, to hide any imperfections.

QUESTION 3 - Not really a question. Any suggestions or modifications to the above are welcome.

That should work, But you may want to try it in a small room first and see if it looks the way you want it to.

Greg

That's the plan - small room. But should I prime before the first bit of joint compound goes on the wall or only prime before the texture coat?

I would say that as long as the wall is clean it should be fine. I really don't think the primer would stick any better than the joint compound to the vinyl, Just my opinion.

Greg

Thanks.

Bet it's too late now, but yes, I always prime before applying the joint compound. I knew a man who was so disappointed because he said the jc literally came off the walls. I never found out for sure, but I always suspected that it was because he didn't prime first. It scared me into priming.

I figured to go ahead and prime before joint compound and finished the first bedroom a couple weeks ago. Looks good. Slight change to my steps.
1) remove all batten and strips, strip popcorn ceiling, remove/hammer all hanging staples/brads
2) joint compount all deep spaces
3) sheetrock screws all around to reinforce staples
4) replace all electrical receptacles with standard "old construction" boxes and outlets
5) clean walls and ceiling with TSP
6) prime walls (not ceiling)
7) tape and joint compound walls
joint compound on ceiling as needed (was surprised to see that ceiling taping looked good under popcorn and just needed some minor touches before paint)
9) Magic Trowel walls for smooth finish (Google Magic Trowel - great tool)
10) prime walls and ceiling
11) paint

One change had to make in second bedroom. After removing batten and molding some gaps were huge (not shrinkage - poor installation). Had a full sheet of wallboard sheetrock left by home installers. Cut out and removed slightly larger sections of wallboard where the gaps were and installed new wallboard cut slightly larger to remove the gaps. Also, one two foot wide section of wallboard from ceiling to floor was previously screwed into wall in a way to easily remove for access to back of shower. Fully screwed this same sheet to studs and installed a 6" x 9" access panel for shower head and a 14" x 14" access panel for faucet and shut-off valve access. Access panels available at Home Depot (Oatey brand).

I have the Magic Trowel you described in #9, but it gave me a hard time and I gave up on it, can you describe the process you used with it?