The chair rail in our home has always bothered me.. it just isn’t my style. I was a bit apprehensive about the amount of drywall repair removing chair rail would entail, but it wasn’t that hard. So I’m going to teach you how to remove a chair rail and patch it so your wall will look like the it was never there!!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- Pry bar
- Mallet
- Putty knives (smaller ones and a larger 12″ knife) + drywall tray
- Spackling + lightweight joint compound
- 220 grit sanding block + 80 grit finger sander for the caulk lines
- Utility knife
- Primer & paint!
TUTORIAL:
- Remove chair rail with pry bars. Be careful not to pry too hard & damage the adjacent drywall!
- Scrape & sand excess caulk to get as smooth a surface as possible.
- Wipe away excess dust & apply 2 coats of Drydex spackling, sanding after each coat. Feather it out further than you think you need to!!
- Apply 2 coats of easy sand light weight joint compound, sanding between each coat. Feather it out & be patient. You can always add another coat!! Really try to make the transition from existing drywall to new drywall nonexistent. That 220 grit sanding block will be your friend here!
- Prime & paint once you can’t see any lines, bumps, or holes!
Tip: Hold a flashlight up to the wall to inspect the joint compound after sanding, and observe the patch in different lighting scenarios before priming. The transition from old drywall to new drywall could be noticeable if you don’t feather it out enough.
Watch the tutorial on IG:
