# Reparing/Finishing drywall under skylight..help!!



## greymoose (Nov 3, 2013)

Hello. I am new to this forum and wondered if anyone could kindly help me out with some ideas.

We just had a new roof put on and decided to replace the old vented skylight with a new, efficient Velux vented skylight--curb mount, not deck.

The roofing company installed it, but left the finishing and drywall repair up to me. In the attached pics, you see the new lumber "curb" for the install, and a black border of felt and ice&water shield over the new roof decking.

The existing drywall is in fair shape (patchable), but I need to fill in the exposed lumber sections. The new lumber is recessed about the thickness of drywall, so I was thinking the following:

1) Cut off or fold and tack the protruding ice shield material (up or down?)

2) Cut new strips of drywall to fit as best I can--possibly shimming for thickness

3) Adhere or screw the drywall into the new lumber curb

4) Spackle fill any gaps and let dry

5) Sand down, tape seam, then reapply and smooth spackle to cover tape

6) Paint, then caulk gap between new drywall and skylight frame.

Is this stupid and am I way off base here? I am pretty good at most of the household stuff, but drywall freaks me out.  Patience and finesse are not my strong suits.

Thanks in advance for any ideas and help!!!

p.s. Further plans include adding a cordless cellular shade. Velux wanted $400 for a custom one. I am going to get a custom sized 21x45" blackout shade for $60 online. I plan on mounting a 1" strip of either wood or metal L-channel on both sides of the skylight shaft. Then I will install the shade at the top, "behind" the wood or metal strip. When you pull the shade down, the sides will rest on the strips. Sounds good in theory, right?:yes:


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I would cut off the paper, make sure any gaps get sealed, then shim and trim out with real wood not drywall.
Just condensation will cause staining and rotting of drywall.


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## hand drive (Apr 21, 2012)

just as Joe mentions, seal,insulate and then cover down onto the current drywall with a 1x8 or 1x10 that sits up into the notches on the skylight. use inside cove to trim out underneath the 1x where it lands on the current drywall. another method I've used is to use bead board put in vertically nested into the skylight notches and use 3/4" outside wood corner mold ripped 3/8" on the underside to finish out where the bead board lands on current drywall.


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## michelclarke (Oct 26, 2013)

Finishing is not looking good. You can use the mud and smoothen it with the trowel in single stroke and screw the metal sheet on the corners. This will provide your wall a new look.


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## usbp.josh (Nov 22, 2013)

hand drive said:


> just as Joe mentions, seal,insulate and then cover down onto the current drywall with a 1x8 or 1x10 that sits up into the notches on the skylight. use inside cove to trim out underneath the 1x where it lands on the current drywall. another method I've used is to use bead board put in vertically nested into the skylight notches and use 3/4" outside wood corner mold ripped 3/8" on the underside to finish out where the bead board lands on current drywall.


Agreed


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## Danno6462 (4 mo ago)

I cut-away drywall caulking that butted up to sklight frame in order to lift off existing skylight and replace the skylight with a new unit. By cutting away the caulking between drywall and skylight frame I would like to now finish the rough drywall look with a metal U-channel to cap/hide the rough cut of free standing drywall that ecists between to drywall and the new skylight frame. Can you recommend a U-channel brand to research and pursue? Thanks.


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