Randy’s Painting & Drywall

Emmaus, Lehigh County

Drywall installation & repair in Emmaus, PA.

The 1950s built more of Emmaus than any other decade, and the borough has held its present size since the 1960s, built up to the line in every direction. New space now comes from attics, basements and additions.

Request a private consultation Call or text (484) 546-3660
Bare stud framing and a scaffold in a room being rebuilt, before any drywall goes up.
Framing and scaffold, before the drywall.

Drywall installation & repair for Emmaus homes

The borough's population grew by almost a third in the 1950s, and that decade alone accounts for about one Emmaus home in five, more than any other. With the borough at its present size since the 1960s and built out to its line, a family that needs another room tends to find it inside the house it already has: an attic finished, a basement framed out, an addition on the back.

So drywall here is often new work inside an old house. Fresh board goes up against walls seventy years old or more, in spaces that were never meant to be lived in, and it has to end up looking as if it had always been there. The older rooms around it bring their own repairs as they are opened: cracks, earlier patches, and walls cut for new wiring.

Emmaus

New rooms inside a borough built out to its line

An attic turned into a bedroom is the clearest case. Its sloped ceilings and short knee walls are hung and taped like any other surface, but an attic is cold until it has been insulated and heated, and joint compound wants at least 50°F, held steady around the clock, for 48 hours before and during finishing. So the heat comes on before the taping starts, and the inside angles where slope meets wall get extra care, since those corners take the house's seasonal movement.

Basements and back additions follow the same logic. A new room meets the old house somewhere, at a stair, a doorway or the wall it was built against, and that seam is where the eye goes. In a 1950s house the old side of it may be plaster on gypsum lath or early drywall; either way, the new board is brought to its face and the joint is feathered across both, so the addition reads as part of the house.

Inside a geodesic dome: smooth white faceted walls and ceiling with hexagonal skylights.
Custom drywall in a geodesic dome.

Worth knowing

  1. Test before cutting into postwar walls

    In walls finished before the mid-1980s, the joint compound can contain asbestos: a sample is tested before the wall is disturbed, and a positive result makes the removal work for a certified asbestos abatement contractor.

  2. Inspections come before board

    Framing, wiring and insulation in a new attic or basement room are inspected before anything covers them, so the drywall is scheduled after those sign-offs, not before.

  3. Nearby patches, while it's open

    Opening one wall in an older house tends to show what earlier owners patched nearby; it is simpler to repair those while the room is already a work site than to come back later.

The work

How the work goes

The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to drywall installation & repair.

A wall opened at its base, showing damaged drywall, studs and wiring above a pulled-back carpet.
Before: the wall opened up. Sharon Marrone’s photograph, from her Google review.

  1. Look at the cause

    Randy looks at the damage with you and explains what it will take. Where water is involved, the leak has to be fixed and the framing dry before anything is closed up. The walkthrough and written estimate are complimentary.

  2. Cut back to sound material

    Damaged board is cut out to clean, square edges, often back to the framing, so the new piece has something solid to fasten to. Damaged studs are replaced while the wall is open.

  3. Hang it tight and flush

    New board is cut to fit and screwed to the framing with its edges level with the old, because a high edge leaves no room for tape and compound. Wide gaps are filled with setting-type compound before taping.

  4. Tape and coat

    Joints are taped and built up in thin coats, feathered wide. Torn paper is sealed with an oil- or shellac-based primer first, since water in the compound would raise it into bubbles.

  5. Blend, prime, paint

    Texture is matched where the wall has it. The repair is primed so it won’t show as a dull patch, and the wall is painted corner to corner so the sheen reads evenly.

Questions

Drywall installation & repair, Emmaus.

Our 1950s twin has dozens of old anchor and picture holes. Repair or replace the walls?

Repair, in most cases. Small holes are filled and sanded, larger or torn ones get setting-type compound or a small piece of board, and the wall is primed and painted as one surface. Replacing a wall makes sense only when the board is soaked, crumbling or more patch than wall.

Can a new addition match the walls of our 1950s Emmaus house?

Closely. The new walls are drywall either way; what makes them match is finishing them to the same smoothness as the old rooms, matching any texture the old walls carry, and painting both sides of the joint together so the sheen is even.

Our basement walls get damp every spring. Can they be drywalled?

Not until the dampness is solved, whether that means gutters, grading or the foundation itself. Gypsum board kept against a damp wall grows mold behind the paint and has to come out again. Once the space stays dry through a wet season, the walls can be framed, hung and finished like any other room.

More in Emmaus

Other services here.

  1. Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
  2. Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
  3. Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
  4. Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
  5. Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
  6. Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
  7. Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
  8. Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
  9. Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.

Consultation

Request a private consultation.

Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.

Hours
Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
Service area
Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.

Randy’sPainting & DrywallReply card
The project
Preferred contact

Walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary.