Smoothing Sheetrock with RO 150

[HowardH]

I have been stripping wallpaper in a hall bath and have it to a point where it needs to be smoothed. Is this a job for my RO150  and if so, what abrasive and mode should I use?  There is just bits and pieces of the old paper and some old float material to get off before the wall could be retextured.

 

[Bob Marino]

  Hi Howard,

Sure you can use the Rotex. I would use either the Cristal 120 or the Brilliant 100 or 120 to start. If you use the Cristal, follow with the Brilliant.  I go to 180 Brilliant, tops. Use in ros mode and go easy.

Bob

 

[plywood]

Will drywall dust hurt a festool vacuum?  My old shopvac manual specifically said not to use on drywall dust because it was so fine it would damage the motor.  I have a ct 22.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Will drywall dust hurt a festool vacuum?  My old shopvac manual specifically said not to use on drywall dust because it was so fine it would damage the motor.  I have a ct 22.

Hi there! I use my RO150 to sand sheetrock compound all the time, and it really doesn't seem to have harmed the CT22. In fact, I think the vast majority of the dust gets caught in the paper bag, because when I use compressed air to clean my filters I can't perceive much (if any) dust. So, on the one hand, that's great because that means hardly any dust is getting to the machine. The downside is that I think the paper bag becomes saturated with the compound dust, and my perception is that I lose some suction performance. The only solution that I can think of (short of installing a brand new bag after each use) is to try to use compressed air from the outside of the bag to try to knock some of the caked dust off...... Anyways, yeah, I typically use Brilliant 220 or 400 on Plus3 and 20 minute speed-set. The RO150/20 minute Speed Set is an especially sweet combo. 20 minute is a beast to sand by hand, but with the RO150 you can lay it on really thick in fewer coats, and sand it more flat than I can by hand, it works really slick! I hope this helps  ;D

 

[ericbuggeln]

RW, Zinsser Guardzz is an awesome product for variable drywall surfaces usually after wallpaper removal.

Plywood, maybe RW or Bob no more, but it's interesting to me that it looks like the Planex in Europe has it's own special vac system.  Wonder why?  Like Tom no major problems and I've done a handful of homes worth of wallpaper removal since I realized I should break out the old RO150.  I have had great results with  methods similar to Tom's. 

 

[Brice Burrell]

.......In fact, I think the vast majority of the dust gets caught in the paper bag, because when I use compressed air to clean my filters I can't perceive much (if any) dust.......

Tom, the HEPA filter are not to be hit with high psi from your compressor. It will damage the filter, the particles will punch tiny holes in the filter. I got this from David McGibbon while in Henderson. He suggested just tapping against the side of a garbage can to clean them or very low psi if you use compressed air if you insist on using compressed air.

 

[Steveo48]

Will drywall dust hurt a festool vacuum?  My old shopvac manual specifically said not to use on drywall dust because it was so fine it would damage the motor.  I have a ct 22.

There is a drywall dust bag available for shopvacs.  I use one plus the HEPA filter.

 

[John Langevin]

I have used a water filter from HD. The consumer version only has a 1" dia. hose; see if you can find a commercial version with a larger diameter. You could also just look at one in the store and easily fabrciate one yourself from a 5 gal. bucket and the hose of your choice.