Recommendations for drywall patch & paint

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2014 9:37 am

Finished replacing all the plumbing in my house and looking for a contractor to patch and paint. Any suggestions?
Thanks!

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2014 10:09 am

If you can replace all of the plumbing in your house, you can do dry wall. Damn, I bet that was a job. Why the swap?

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2014 10:55 am

RodneyWright wrote:

If you can replace all of the plumbing in your house, you can do dry wall. Damn, I bet that was a job. Why the swap?

I am guessing Quest/polybutylene.

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2014 11:33 am

Swapped copper to PEX. My 40yr old copper was getting constant pinholes. I'm on a well that has a low pH (acidic) and over the years has eaten the copper to the point that it crushes when you try to cut it.

It was a big plumbing job. I got plumber quotes for over $9k - not including patch & paint. Did it myself for around $1200 (and 4 weekends). I CAN and have done bigger drywall jobs, I just prefer not to. Its my least favorite thing to do and since I saved a bunch on the plumbing, I figured I'd splurge.

Cash

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2014 11:51 am

Here's what the ceiling below the second floor bathrooms look like:

I have confidence in the PEX tubing, but the fitting make me nervous. So since I was doing it myself (and I'm an engineer) I decided to design it so there were no fittings behind drywall. I ran 3/4" continuous risers from the crawl space, over the air handler, up the closet wall, across the dining room ceiling to a set of manifold under the 2nd floor vanity. Then every 2nd floor fixture has its own hot and cold shut off at the manifold and the 1/2" PEX runs continuously to each fixture. For the shower valves, I installed a removable access panel in a closet.

I also replaced all the 40yr old faucets and shower valves.

It was 4 sinks, 2 toilets, 2 showers and a garden tub - and that was just the second floor. So I'm kinda tired of this project now. :lol:

Jordan Normark · **Posted:** Thu May 22, 2014 12:08 pm

I like the manifold idea. It takes a while to do all that, but it's a lot faster than going back with copper :thumbsup:

Alec Moody · **Joined:** Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:02 am **Posts:** 299

Cash - If you end up liking the drywall contractor let me know. I have been doing old drain plumbing on my house and also don't want to mess with drywall in the ceiling.

Also, did you know that old galvanized will still drain while being so clogged that you can't see light through a two foot section?

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2014 2:46 pm

Nice work Cash. That's clean.

I'm with you, I've done drywall and sheetrock repair but it's so nice to have the pros come in and make it look easy. If you still need a contractor, call Dwight at "About Drywall" @919-961-3729. They just did a room at my home after a leaky roof incident.

Frank Catena · **Joined:** Wed Aug 27, 2003 1:08 pm **Posts:** 418

Cash -

Nice work. I always appreciate the thought put in to a design when one has had to consider long term support. As opposed to thinking about "how quickly and cheaply can I complete this and move on".
I've seen a few high end new builds with the manifold approach. Always made me think that some care had been taken in the entire build process.

Frank

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Fri May 23, 2014 7:57 pm

Very nice!!!!

Since I have 30 year old (1984) copper and a well (don't know the pH) were there any early symptoms of problems that I can look for? At this point there don't appear to be any issues.

Thanks!

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Sat May 24, 2014 7:41 am

DickRasmussen wrote:

Since I have 30 year old (1984) copper and a well (don't know the pH) were there any early symptoms of problems that I can look for? !

Blue stains in the sinks and tubs. That's where the dissolved copper ends up.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I've got three contractors recommended by friends looking at it. Of course my wife keeps adding to the scope - while we're at it. :roll:

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cash

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Sat May 24, 2014 10:29 am

Cash Davidson wrote:

DickRasmussen wrote:

Since I have 30 year old (1984) copper and a well (don't know the pH) were there any early symptoms of problems that I can look for? !

Blue stains in the sinks and tubs. That's where the dissolved copper ends up.

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I've got three contractors recommended by friends looking at it. Of course my wife keeps adding to the scope - while we're at it. :roll:

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cash

No blue so I'm not feeling blue.

Got lucky with our well except for the mica which just requires a sediment filter change every few months.

Thanks!

Dick

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:38 pm

I went with Carolina Customized Interiors. http://carolinacustominteriors.squarespace.com Two 20-something guys that grew up in their dad's construction company back in MA. They do all the work, communicate very well, have been on-time and trustworthy. They provided a 3-week schedule of all the tasks and what area of the house they'll be working in so we could de-clutter ahead of them. In all, they will be working in 10 different rooms (I basically added every paint, patch or trim task that my wife has request over the last 10yrs).

We are at the end of week one. They've scraped the popcorn off three ceilings, patched all my plumbing holes and painted most of the ceilings. So far, so good. I'll give a final report upon completion.

Cash

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