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ORC Week 7: Still Covered In Drywall Dust

Did time just speed up? Because it feels like we just started our basement laundry room renovation yesterday and yet here we are seven weeks later with only one more week left till the end of the One Room Challenge. I'm not one to deny the inevitable so I'm just going to call it: we won't be finished on time.

Catch up on Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

If you're new to Rambling Renovators, welcome! My name is Jennifer. I help people create functional and beautiful homes, I help brands create digital content strategies, and I've been writing this blog since 2007. I live with my husband and daughter in Toronto, Canada in a centre-plan, colonial style house that we've infused with the fresh traditional style we love. We DIY all our renovations and have a fondness for architectural details, built-ins, and classic decor. See our home renovations here.

Note: affiliate links have been used in this post for shopping convenience.

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I'll apologize now for the terrible quality of these photos. But that's what you get when everything in my house is covered with a thin film of drywall dust.

Drywall Installation


Last we left this room, we had just loaded up 12 sheets of drywall in The Home Depot Canada rental van, brought them home and lugged them down a narrow staircase, and installed half of them, most of them overhead as we contended with a room that had three different ceiling heights. Our middle age bodies are still feeling the pain.


basement laundry room renovation, laundry room remodel, diy drywall installation

Here's a picture of a man who is thinking "Never again will I do drywall". This having been my first experience with lifting drywall sheets, mudding, taping, and sanding them... I have to agree.

Drywall is dirty, hard work. We are far from experts at it so our installation was adequate. As Sean always reminds me, every layer gets progressively better, so though our seams were slightly large and uneven, we hoped that three layers of mudding and taping would make our work look better.

What we couldn't make look any better? Me after an hour of sanding.

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I have taken more showers this week than any time in my life. We have about two more days of mudding, waiting, sanding, mudding, waiting, sanding left to do and we will finally be done with the drywall. I cannot wait to be through this phase of the project. 

basement laundry room renovation, laundry room remodel, diy drywall installation

Inside Corner Bead Installation Tips

One bright spot was the installation of the inside corner beads. We were skeptical that we could get the corners looking great but it was so much easier than we expected. We used a paper-faced metal inside corner bead on all of the inside ceiling and wall corners.

Here's some quick installation tips for inside corner bead:
  • Measure and cut your inside corner bead first
  • Laying your trowel parallel to corner, use a small trowel to mud from the corner outwards
  • You don't need a thick layer of mud, only about 1/8" thick. Your mud should extend about 3" from the corner
  • Mud both sides, working from the corner outwards. Then place your trowel perpindicular to the corner and smooth the two sides from the top downwards
  • Using a damp cloth, gently wet the paper corner bead. This will make it pliable and easier to sit in the mud
  • Take the corner bead and lay it onto the mud. Use your finger to gently push the metal into the corner. Then use the edge of your trowel and use it to further push the metal into the corner
  • Starting on one side, drag the trowel over the paper from one end to the other. Ensure the paper has no bubbles
  • Repeat on the other side

basement laundry room renovation, laundry room remodel, diy drywall installation

It might not seem like much progress from last week, but this was a huge hurdle. As soon as we're done with the sanding, we can quickly move onto painting and then flooring. We might not finish in time, but we will finish and I will keep posting. I hope you'll continue to follow along for the journey! 

Here's one more look so we can appreciate just how far we've come. Here's a Before and a Current view from the door:

basement laundry room before

basement laundry room renovation, laundry room remodel, diy drywall installation

And one more of the opposite wall:

basement laundry room before

basement laundry room renovation, laundry room remodel, diy drywall installation

What a difference! Visit the One Room Challenge blog to see how the other participants are doing.

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