Blog 3537 – 07.11.2025
Staying At It Till The Job Is Done
Every task no matter how big, tedious, or long can be broken down into easily manageable steps if we give it enough thought. And if we follow through with the appropriate actions the job will eventually be completed.
I knew that I would not be able to handle an eight foot by four foot, half inch thick section of sheetrock so I opted for half inch plywood already cut into four foot by four foot sections. I picked up three pieces at Lowe’s, but only needed two as the two pieces that I had to cut off to fit my ceiling opening were adequate to fill in the two inches of length that I needed. After cutting those two left over pieces to the right length I screwed one to the up side of the second larger piece so I would have something to screw the other end of left over piece to as well as to the ceiling joist at the end.
This part of the ceiling repair project involved at lot of small, yet important steps including two additional trips to Lowe’s to pick up another pail of sheet rock compound (mud), a box of sheetrock screws, and then another trip to get a corner piece to support the mud, a gallon of ceiling paint, and another plastic drop cloth.
I remarked to my wife that a big part of the job is gathering all the tools and supplies that I need for each step and then cleaning them, putting them away, and cleaning up the area each time. It would have been easier to block off the whole area with plastic sheeting until the job is complete but sheetrock repair there are multiple days required for the mud to dry between applications and the paint as well. Since the repair is right at the intersection of the living room, the kitchen and the laundry room that would have made daily life a lot more stressful so I opted for the daily clean up as a better way to go.
If this tale is tedious, imagine the steps involved, many of which I did not specifically reference in getting to this point. After I let the mud dry today, tomorrow I will re-mud the taped seams and apply mud all over the plywood to hide the grain and hopefully give it a more textured look like the rest of the living room ceiling around it. Then I will let all that dry for twenty-four hours before painting. So at least two more drop clothes and messy clean-ups to go and probably a handful of smaller steps to complete.
Two of my uncles and a cousin were professional sheetrock installers and I have a great deal of respect for their trade. They took great pride in their work and rightly so. I am reminded of a couple of proverbs:
“A job worth doing is worth doing well.”
“A good worker is worthy of the company of kings.”
Clark Gable, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson (three American kings) and James Brown (if not the king of soul at least “the hardest working man in the business) would all say “Amen!”
And me too, just a handyman, jack of all trades, and master of one, I hope, writing.
Your friend and fellow traveler,
David James White (Handyman)
Handyman
theencouragingword 