Drywall Repair

[zepman]

I had a water heater leak and as a result now have mold growing up on some of the drywall in the basement. It's only about 3-5 inches from the bottom but needs replacing. I'm going to try and do it myself but have never worked with drywall before. Looking for a little advice on the best way to take the old stuff out and replacing with the new. Can I just cut out a foot from the floor and try and seam it from there or what would be the best way to go here. I'm putting in 36" pine wainscotting over this area when I'm done so would I need to be "perfect" in the seams and installation of drywall. A little help on this would be great. Thanks.

[Neighbor_guy]

Is it surace mold (black and scrapes off with a fingernail) or is it deeper?

Sometimes surface molds can be bleeched, primed and painted.

If it has to be ripped out and replace, then Ease is in the eye of the beholder. Cut your height with a sheetrock saw, carefull not to cut any electric, and bang a hole large enough to get you hands into, then pull... I recomend pailing the pieces as you do it so it stays "cleaner". Under wainscote you should be able to get by with Hanging the rock, sealing the tape/screws, and putting 1 smooth fill coat, and a light sand. If there are visible spost then I recomend the set, fill, smooth, sand method.

It all depends on how picky/patient you are.

[zepman]

Thanks Neighbor Guy. I think the mold is a little more than surface mold but I'm replacing it either way just to be safe. Thanks for the advice.

[Gus]

I really don't now the proper way to get rid of mold, but I think ripping it out, bleaching, re-rocking and then letting it sit for 6 months might be a good idea. I'd hate for the mold to come back under the wainscoat and you not know it. Just a idea.

[fish specialist]

I have a similar issue going on in my basement as well. The thing that stinks about it is that you don't know how bad the mold is unless you start cutting out sheetrock. In my basement, we probably could get away with removing the rock 3 feet from the floor, but then it seems some of the mold is still on the block wall higher than 3 feet. We decided to just tear all of it out because that wall didn't have plastic between the wall and the sheetrock. I just wonder, if you're not doing wainscoting and want to patch a piece of rock, is it possible to match the texturing on the old rock? Seems to me to be near impossible. I love being a homeowner!

[sparcebag]

An experienced texture person can get a match that will hardly be noticed unless your looking for it.

A good cure for the molds problem is before walls are stood apply foil back rigid 4X8 sheets to the block glued and tape the foil backed joints,I've installed this way years ago on multiple places and never mold problems!