Repairing Wall Seams

LESLIE: Joyce in Maryland is dealing with some walls that are cracking up. Tell us about the seams you’re seeing.

JOYCE: Well, the previous owners had done a very poor job of putting the drywall up. Evidently, the firring strips are bigger than what need to be so when they put the drywall on they kind of bow in two seams and it’s very noticeable; especially when you have your table lamps on.

TOM: Right.

JOYCE: And I don’t know – is there are a way, other than tearing the whole wall down, to either camouflage it or to make it not so noticeable?

TOM: Is it concave or convex?

JOYCE: Well, let’s put it this way. The seams stick out.

TOM: They stick out.

JOYCE: They stick out further than they should.

LESLIE: It seems like something’s missing from the middle.

TOM: Well, you know, who knows what’s underneath that’s causing this buckle but short of cutting into the wall, what you could try to do is this: you could add some additional spackle and if you do it really well and very skillfully you can sort of feather out this area so that it’s not quite as aggressive a bump.

JOYCE: Mm-hmm.

TOM: The other thing to do is to repaint it with a really good quality flat. Flat is very key; flat latex paint. Because the flat paint does not bounce the light around as much as other types of paint and it’s less likely to show up.

JOYCE: That sounds like a better idea than tearing the wall down.

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Oh, yeah.

TOM: (overlapping voices) Well, you can always go to that step next. (chuckles)

JOYCE: Yeah. (chuckles)

LESLIE: And then, Joyce, just don’t turn the lights on.

TOM: There you go.

JOYCE: Well, that’s the other option. (Leslie chuckles) But I’m learning so much from your show; things that I would have never even given a thought about, you know? So your show is really beneficial. I appreciate having you on. (chuckles)

TOM: Thank you very much. It’s very kind of you. Joyce, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.