6 Drywall Taping Problems and How to Fix Them

Taping is one of the most difficult steps in siding contractors Greenville, NC installation and this is usually where most new drywallers run into problems. Although perfect finishing is often a result of consistent practice, most of the common mistakes that amateurs make can be easily corrected through a better technique.

Here are some of these problems and how you can fix them.

Ragged Inside Corners

The best solution to this issue is to try a metal-reinforced corner tape. This requires combining paper flanges with a metal angle to achieve perfectly shaped corners on the inside. The metal gives the knife a rigid and smooth surface.

Rough Outside Corners

You shouldn’t use a standard paper tape on the outside corners. Instead, you may want to spend a few more money on plastic or metal corner bead. The corner bead is often much more durable and easier to install, unlike the paper-only corners. You can use the paper tape for the outside corners that don’t receive much traffic like the bulkheads or skylight shafts.

Mud Dries on Inside Corners Before Tape Goes On

Before you put the mud, cut the paper tape to a certain length and pre-cease it. You could save yourself some time by doing this. If you’re going to use metal-reinforced tape, cut the tape to the required length and have it ready before you mud the corner. Either way, it’s often much easier to measure the tape since there’s no mud in the wall just yet.

Drywall Tape Through the Mud

Remember, there should be at least three coats of mud – the tape, filler coat and then the final coat. The reason why you’re having this problem is that you have excluded the final coat. The tape should be showing through the filler coat. If it’s not, then this could be because the filler coat is very thick. Covering the tape should only be done after the final coat.

Can’t Hide Mesh Tape

This problem might be a bit complicated to fix and this is why most drywallers would prefer to use paper tape on the butt joints. Remember that butt joints are seams where panels would meet at their square edges so there’s no space for the mud and tape. If you have already used the mesh tape and have mudded over it, yet it’s still showing, continue to apply thin final coats using a 10-inch or 12-inch vinyl siding Greenville, NC knife, while gradually building up joint at the middle in order to cover the tape. Feather it out in both sides to make it look flat.

vinyl siding Greenville, NC Seams Are Cracking

Window openings and joints tend to crack often as a result of the movement in the wall framing. This is unavoidable but the best thing you can do is to make the joints as sturdy as possible. Paper tape is not as strong as mesh tape but the paper is less elastic and will not stretch, unlike the mesh tape.