removed spackle and drywall crumbled

[give813]

i was trying to prepare a wall for painting; spackling, sanding, removing old wallpaper and such. there was a section of wallpaper peeling and as i scraped it off, it took off some previous spackle work which was done from where the ceiling and the wall meet down the wall about a foot. as i was peeling it off closer to the ceiling (about 1.5 inches) the spackle was about 3/4 in. thick and very hard to remove. when i chip at it, the drywall behind it crumbles, but if i leave it on it will protrude from the rest of the wall.

so my question is should i remove the spackle, which will crumble the top of the drywall, and then fix the drywall? or would it be better to leave the 3/4 inch of spackle along the top of the wall and use a bunch of spackle to level it as well as possible? or should i do something different?

thank you.

[thedcdude]

Probably faster and easier to add more compound and feather it down, but the more professional fix would be to cut out the bad spots and patch with new drywall.

[holzee]

I would fix the drywall if you use to much spackle it will crack when it dries. Over time if you wallpaper, it will crack with the spackle. All you need is a small amount of drywall. Cut a square in the area to be repaired do not go all the way to the ceiling. now cut a rectangular piece of drywall. I.e if the square is 2inch by 2 inch cut a piece 2inch by 4in so that the piece can be placed inside the hole. While holding the rectanular piece with some string or wire, screw with drywall screw through your existing wall into the backer piece of drywall. Now cut a piece of drywall to fit the 2inch by 2inch hole and screww it to the backer piece. Now place drywall tape on all four crack lines and spackle the cracks and screw heads then sand till smooth. If you do this you must get drywall that is as thick as the drywall in your wall. It does come in different sizes. Your local Lowes or Home Depot rep sould be able to explain this patch system. It sound confusing but it is a fairly simple repair. Try This Old House online you maybe able to see an example there.

[give813]

you say not to go all the way to the ceiling. what if the bad part of the drywall is the part that is at the very top of the wall where the wall meets the ceiling?

[HayZee518]

anything you put on top of what's already loose will itself loosen up with time. if your wall is sheetrock then make a sheetrock repair. if the base wall is metal or wooden tath then use plaster of paris or spackle compound with horsehair or fiber filler. plaster or spackle needs to be "keyed" into the lath just don't slop it on - make it the consistency of lumpy peanut butter and force it into the lath with a trowel.

[holzee]

I that case just do the best you can to repair it although since you know it's there you will probably see it. Do the best you can and forget about it over time. If you do fill it you should put only thin layers of spackle about 1/4 inch each time give ample time to dry. Then use a mesh patch over the blemish on the last application when you get close to flush on the surface and sand till satisfactory.