When you work on a home improvement project, once you get the drywall up, you can begin to see what your finished project will look at and start putting all the pieces together. Then when the walls are up and the room finished, you can put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. It is at that time that you know the project is done and you can stand back and admire the results of your imagination and hard work.
For drywall, if you hire professionals to hang it in your home, you will see them cut and fit sheets of drywall, nail and/or screw the sheets into place, tape them, and finally mud the joints. While doing this alone or with a friend may take sometime, a professional crew can make huge accomplishments in a matter of days. The one aspect of hanging drywall that takes the longest is the mud because it takes about three to four days to dry. Once the first coat of mud goes and then dries completely, it is then sanded and taped. From that point, the next coat of mud goes on, again taking three to four days for thorough drying. Finally, the drywall may be sanded in some places to smooth it out, the dust is cleaned, and that portion of the project is done.
Another option for finishing walls is by using plaster veneer. This is a little out of the norm from drywall but it is inexpensive and needs about the same amount of work as what you would put into drywall. The good thing about this type of plaster is that it is certainly more durable against scrapes and dents.
If you hire a crew of professionals to put the plastic veneer on your walls, they will first apply a corner bead and fiberglass mesh tape to all of the gypsum panel joints. Once that is done, a base coat of plaster is spread on the walls and/or ceilings. Typically, this base coat will dry in about 24 hours. Once done, a second coat is applied until dry and then a third coat.
The priming and coating process is just as important. No matter what type of plaster used, you want it to be smooth and ready to finish. You want to use a quality primer, which will help seal the wall so it withstands scrapes, dents, and lasts much longer. Just remember to remove the baseboards prior to putting the primer on the wall. Once all the dust is cleaned, be sure to tape off any other wood such as doorjambs, doors, windowsills, and so on. When that is done, you can paint the first coat of primer onto the walls. Once that coat has dried, you can paint a second coat if you like.
After the primer has had a chance to dry completely, you want to start the painting. Depending on the walls, you should expect two coats and possible three. Use good quality paint, being careful to cover the walls evenly. Once the last coat is on and dried, you can then add a fresh coat of stain and possible polyurethane to the baseboards, you will then add them back on. The result is you will have a gorgeous room that looks amazing.
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