What to do with holy drywall?
 

We've got a room that's ~23' long x 11' wide and 9.5' tall. It was previously covered in paneling. We've pulled down the paneling which was stapled to the walls. There are probably 1000 staple holes in the walls. Otherwise, the drywall isn't in bad shape.

Hopefully, these pics will show the staple holes, but they may not show very well.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623799939.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623799939.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623799939.JPG

On top of the staple holes, the window casing is 1x6 pine boards that have been stained and finished. Those boards cover 3-5" gaps between the drywall and window all around. We'll be replacing the casing. It will probably be as wide as the existing casing, but not cheap, knotty stained and finished pine.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623799939.JPG

What should I do with the drywall?
1 Pull it all down and replace - drastic
2 repair each hole and issue (if so, it feels like that's going to be very visible)
3 lightly sand the whole room and then skim the entire thing with joint compound to go back to a nice smooth surface. (is this going to be faster/easier than #1)
4 something else?

If we go with all new drywall, we may (probably) hire that out as it will be faster than for me to do it and presumably, someone with more experience would do a better job, even with me watching the Vancouver carpenter videos.

I assume trying to patch each hole will look like hell. I assume to do a good job, I'd want to sand around each hole, then patch so the surface is flush with the existing, then add texture.

Could I just coat the entire room with a thin layer of mud or is that just asking for trouble?

Patch, sand, prime and paint. You won't see a one

5 gallon bucket of joint compound (mud) will fix that.

$200-300 and have someone else do it.

I do any patching and filling that it may need. Then skim coat all the walls. It's pretty easy. You fairly much slop it on then wipe it off with the plastering trowel. so you leave about a mm or less.

However... there are heavy build undercoat/sealers that do much the same thing but with a roller - sounds easier to me! Your paint shop man will know the stuff.

Dimple the holes slightly and spackle.

Kids had an air-hockey game growing up. Hundreds of puck dimples in the walls. I patched w/o skimming and you can't tell.

Skim coat it. 15 minutes a wall and you have the look of your choice.

Me, I'd use veneer plaster, but that's just me and my hate for drywall. DIY is difficult w/o experience and finding someone who actually knows how to do veneer is impossible.

Best looking walls this side of the Hearst Castle.

For any hole or ding the size of a 50 cent piece or smaller, this thing is magic. It will work perfectly for the staple holes and you’ll be amazed at how fast it goes and how perfectly you can smooth the patch. It’s magic, I say.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnawus2281/

We had a house that the previous occupant had apparently hung a picture from every square inch of wall space. There were so many holes it looked like someone let blast a couple of magazines of full auto rifle fire. No kidding. A half dozen tubes of the 3M stuff and you couldn’t tell there had been a dimple in the wall.

For the larger openings around the window, fill the voids with drywall patched screwed to the framing as much as possible. Then just get some mesh (not the old fashioned tape), high strength joint compound snd a good trowel. Buy a sanding block to finish it flush with the original wall, but if you smooth it out nicely before it dries you’ll hardly have to do any sanding. The nice thing is that if you make a mistake all you have to do is add a coat of mud, trowel it smoothly, and sand it back to flush as soon as it dries. There’s nothing that can go wrong that can’t be fixed.

Once you’re done with the patching you’ll hardly see where the patch was. Slap a coat of paint over the finished patch and you’ll never be able to tell. This is one repair anyone can do. I am living proof of that.

I honestly thought this was going to be a religious discussion.

Me too. I knew of holy water and holy hand grenades, and was hoping to learn about holy drywall.

I learned very early in my construction career that there were two things to farm out.

Hanging, Patching/taping drywall and sanding drywall. Trust me. Lots O’ Dust for an amateur.

What a couple of the others have said, pay someone a couple of hundred dollars to skim coat.

I thought the answer would be a quote from, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Wave your private parts at it?

...'O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chulapas. And the Lord spake......

Get yourself a 6" tape knife and go over all the holes with it. Sand with a pole (so it doesn't get all over you). Like Dad said, give it a slight whack with a smooth face hammer if the holes is sitting proud of the drywall. Fill, sand, prime and paint. You wouldn't see a thing when done.

You must use a drywall sanding pad to get it wide and flat. Tip, don't skim it but use a tiny bit of force on those holes.

When I see really good mudders do their thing, I just know I could not equal their work.

The answer depends on the time and money you want to invest in the job and the end result you are looking for.

If it were plaster I would try and save it. Being drywall it's no big deal to tear it out and re do it. I would assess the over condition of the dry wall first. Any other imperfections? Bad tape joints, years of built up paint, etc. If you remember your joint thread I am a stickler on tape joints so I might hire out hanging the dry wall for speed if i chose to tear it out. But I would tape the joints my self so they are perfectly flat and invisible when finished. Nothing worse then a lump at a tape joint. And I hate sanding and dust everywhere so a damp sponge for me.

For the holes that are just a staple or thumb tack hole I use Dap 33 glazing or 53 painters putty. I personally like the 33. I also use this to fill nail holes on paint grade trim. A small blotch on a finger smoosh in wipe a few time with your finger to push in, smooth and remove excess and it's ready to go. For any of the holes that may have a little of the paper sticking out take the back of a screw driver, putty knife or five in one tool and push it into the hole this will push the paper back in and ever so slightly dimple the hole, then putty. This process is a little time consuming and boring but you and the wife can tackle that room in an hour. Many of the holes will fill with paint when rolling so I would repair only the worst/largest holes, paint the room then go back after the paints dries and spot fill and roll the area with a trim roller.

Because of its expense, I don't know if Id recommend the 3M quick patch stuff. But for hole patching its incredible. You can patch a hole in one coat and sand. It doesn't shrink and leave a dimple that you have to try and fill over three layers. They claim you can patch seams without tape, but I'm skeptical of that. It doesnt shrink, dries fast, and sands easily. Perfect for a hole repair that you dont want to have to make several trips to finish. But its very pricey- something like $15 a quart. Too much to skim the walls with.

Lots of good stuff folks, thanks for the recommendations.