Repairing Bathroom Drywall

Q: How do I fix the peeling drywall tape and paint in my bathroom? My three teenagers insist on taking marathon showers, leading to a lot of steam damage in a bathroom that has no exhaust fan.

A: The first step is to get some ventilation up there, and this means an exhaust fan. Unfortunately, installing one isn't something a beginner can handle. It involves cutting wallboard, running duct, stringing wire and punching a hole to the outdoors somehow. Better call in a hired gun for all that. As for patching drywall, this is something anyone can do, though initial results may not be appropriate for a renovation TV show. Here's the process in a nutshell: remove the loose paper tape, and replace it with self-sticking drywall mesh tape. Next, coat this tape with one layer of drywall compound applied with a 4-inch wide drywall knife. Second and third coats go on with a rectangular, 12-inch-long trowel. Although standard practice with the pros is to sand the hardened drywall compound only once, after all applications, I've found that beginners do much better by sanding lightly after each coat has dried, but before applying the next one. It takes longer, but this approach corrects the problem most beginners have: over-application of drywall compound. One last piece of advice. Perhaps getting your teenage army in on the repair job will lower your hot water heating bill.