Welcome to 2023, folks!

Dear reader, I must confess: today’s entry is not going to be all fun and games. No, there will not be any waxing poetic, nor will there be fun science experiments. Today’s entry is going to be a rather dry one. That’s right, it’s all about drywall. I know that looks like a pun, but this is a serious discussion; any fun word play is purely coincidental.

Some may ask, ‘If walls could talk, what would they say?’ but the truth is our walls speak all the time to anyone who listens; they speak of furniture being moved, of children rough housing, of pet ownership; they speak of old smoking habits, either current or long since kicked. They speak of carelessly spilled drinks, they speak of old pictures, of that time that Bill thought it was a great idea to shoot a bb-gun in my living room (not cool, Bill!)

But frequently, we would frankly prefer our walls kept their mouths shut. Working under the theory that ‘snitches get stitches’, we then must make sure to keep our walls in good repair to ensure their silence (that’s what that phrase means, right?)

For some of the lighter damage, we may just need to expertly apply some spackle (making sure to use a minimal amount and keep it completely even with the surrounding wall) and doing a spot paint job; a great solution for those little nail holes, or even minor cracks.

Speaking of paint jobs, of course, you don’t need to wait for damage to occur to give a room a fresh coat of paint; stick with the same color and make a room feel fresh, or change things up to create a brand new mood and atmosphere. I know my sleep actually improved when I went with a soft blue for my bedroom.

But there may come a time when you see some more severe damage. Maybe the nephews were over, and a mysterious hole about the size and shape of an 11 year old suddenly appears in your wall. Maybe you had some water damage as a result of a little flooding. Things like this may require some new drywall be installed.

Let’s talk about drywall for a minute. But first, let us imagine if you will a world without drywall at all. A world in which lath and plaster was king. This was the world before Augustine Sackett (a Civil War veteran of the Union Navy) created what he called a ‘Sackett Board’. A simple design, it layered paper and plaster of Paris (calcined gypsum to those who prefer the sciencey names) to create a sheet of ready made wall. And with this, installing walls became a much easier task. It wasn’t until the rationing of available lumber in the 1940s, however, that drywall became the staple that it is today in the building of homes.

And thanks to Sackett, fixing your more damaged walls doesn’t need to be an inconvenience. Of course, the extent of the damage to your wall is something you’ll want your Bright Star Handyman to assess; there are times that surface imperfections are actually just the tip of the iceberg. But we are here to help no matter how minor or major the issue is. Just contact us here.