# Do I need tear the drywall after leaking?



## minimii (Nov 5, 2012)

Our roof was broken and leaking. So the drywall in the wall and ceiling was soak with water for a day.
Now we have put on tarp on the roof and leak has stopped. We have fans on and plenty of ventilation in the room. Do we need tear off all the drywall that was wet? I got different opinion from different contractors. The temperature here is around 50+ degree in the day. 

Thanks


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## nealtw (Nov 5, 2012)

If it does not dry quickly it will likely have a mold problem. For interior wall and ceiling without insulation you can sometimes get away with cutting holes in the drywall to allow for drying and the patch holes latter. For exterier walls full of insulation and vapour barrier, the drywall should be removed along with the insulation so the wall can dry out. Wet insulation in the attic should be removed which may allow drying, vapour barrier there can be cut in the middle and folded back until thing dry out and tape the barrier back together with red( TUCK) tape.
I hope this helps.


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## minimii (Nov 5, 2012)

Thank nealtw.
I have both exterior walls and interior walls that were wet. I had put on the pink R-19 insulation (http://www.homedepot.com/Building-M...splay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051) on all of them.


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## nealtw (Nov 5, 2012)

That stuff will hold a lot of water and needs to come out, sometimes you can hang it out to dry but it needs to come out of the walls.


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## Veteran (Nov 12, 2012)

I had to do the samething because the drywalling in the basement got wet and became very very moldy. The mold spreads very fast. I am in the process of knocking the drywall down, bleeching it and dehumidifying it. I suggest you do the same and insulate the areas after fixing the wster source


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