Sheetrock joint repair of wall seams on finished & painted walls. Can I rip them down & start over?

Question

It looks like my walls have vertical speed-bumps running floor-to-ceiling every 4'. I have much experience in sheet-rocking, etc, but this particular time I was greatly rushed, due to reasons I won't bore anyone with, & of course - as should've been expected - it looks absolutely horrible. You wouldn't believe the difference from the high-points to the 'flat' of the un-compounded part of the walls. Can all the semi-gloss paint & compound be removed down to the tape so I can start again? I don't care about how much I have to rip everything up. I'll do whatever it takes w/o actually taking down the sheet-rock itself. I have the tools, patience, & time, & need of this particular room is not critical. It's so bad that if my walls were streets, your car would crash. The rest of the work I did in my house is perfect & I intend to do a perfect job the 2nd time around like I did the 1st time everywhere else.
The wall that I'm looking to fix is an adjoining/common wall to another room. Construction is wood beam spaced the usual 16" apart.
Thanks very much.

Is there any sort of device or tool that will sand through paint though? I don't care how much it would rough up or rip the wall up. I have 2 coats off eggshell over 2 coats of primer. I've found nothing that can break through paint.

Answer 1

This is why most professional dry wallers lay the sheets horizontal. You don't have to climb a ladder to tape and finish most of it. Where you have butt joints, the stud on either side of the joint should have a butt shim, which is cardboard, 1" by about 4', and 1/8 or less thick. This bows the DW outward at the shim, and inward just slightly at the joint, so that when mud and tape are applied, the joint disappears. You will need to sand the paint briefly to make scratches in the paint so more compound will stick when added. Sounds like too much mud was applies to the joints in the first place. Use the high points as a guide, and feather new mud from the high joint out as far as needed to make the joints disappear. In finishing Drywall when mudding, less is best. You can always add more, but too much leaves the wall looking like it does now. Use a very wide blade when smoothing it out. The wider, the better.

Answer 2

It sounds like you used too much compound in the joint seams. You won't get the paint down to the sheetrock. I would just sand down the seams until you get to the seam paper and just sand that down until you flatten the compound. Reseam it, then repaint.

Answer 3

You could just sheet rock over the old, without tearing out the old. Maybe 1/4" sheetrock might do, or more.

You would have to reset any electrical outlets/fixtures, and base board.

It might be less labor and mess.

Answer 4

Yes, you can. It will take time, and create a lot of dust. An ice scraper will be helpful. When re-applying, use thin layers of mud, prime (to reduce dust) and sand again.