theheadlemur.typepad.com > Taping

Drywall

The drywall is hung. You can see the three types of tape joints. Seams which are the long edges of the sheets which are depressed from the factory. Butt Joints which is where the ends of the sheets butt together. And Corners. I will discuss Corners in another album.

Before you begin taping, you need to make sure your fasteners are secure, that any scuffs, breaks or tears on the edges or on the sheets are, fixed.

The quickest to check the fasteners is to run a 6'' taping knife along the fastener line. If it 'clicks', you need to fix it.

Tape1

Here is the ceiling with the first coat, also known as the tape coat. You use a 6'' Drywall knife. You apply the mud to the joints, embed the tape and wipe it down. (gently) You need to fully embed the tape in the mud to not create bubbles, or to roll the tape edges.
There is no magic formula to say that a certain size glob of mud will cover so much length. It is an technique that you have to experiment with.

Taping order is Butts, Seams and Corners.

The best method is to tape your butt joints first. Butter the joint along it's entire length and into the seam depression. Apply your tape and wipe it down. The tape should extend into the center of the seam joint on both sides, in the field, and to the corner where it intersects corners.

The reason we extend the tape into the seams is so we can cover the ends of the tape when we run or tape the seam joints. We do the corners last so we cover the ends of the seam and butt joint tape ends.

You also spot the nails/screws by applying a thin coat of mud over the fasteners and wiping it down. TIP: Apply the mud in one direction and wipe it down in the opposite direction when spotting your fasteners. It won't roll out.

See ya Tomorrow

Tape2

Our second coat is a cover coat. Here we use either an 8 or 10'' drywall knife for covering the seams. The order here is the same, Butts, Seams and Corners. Here are technique is different. The Butt Joints are already above the surface. We apply mud to either side of our tape joint 6-8'' wide. We smooth the mud down in the center and feather the edges. We are doing this so that our drywall will appear flat when we are done.

Our seams are filled in with an 8'' knife as we are just filling the factory depressions. Where the seams cover and meet our butt joints we feather the outside edges, so there is less to sand and appears flat.

Spot the nails again.

See Ya Tomorrow.

Tape3

Here is the ceiling with the third coat in place. We have used a 10-12'' knife to widen our butts to 18-24'' wide. Yes it is a lot of work, but you don't want your friends and neighbors to see your tape joints, seams or be able to pick out your ceiling joists by looking up do you?

Didn't think so.
Spot your nails again.

See Ya Tomorrow.

Sanding

Sanding is your punishment for not following the preceding directions. The amount you need to sand is directly proportional to the care you took with the taping.

WEAR A DUST MASK!!

Relax, Everybody sands. Bite the bullet and get it done. Try to cover all the doorways leading out of the rooms you are working on. Drywall mud is almost as fine as face powder and is happy flying around the room and finding the smallest cracks to hide in.

Vacumn up the dust, and take the rest of the day off. You need a shower to get it out of your hair, blow your nose to get the white boogers out and change your clothes.
See ya tomorrow.

Primer

The dust is gone, and it is time to primer.
No you cannot skip this step.
Primer seals the paper and the drywall compound forming a surface for that real expensive custom colored paint you want to put on the walls.
The primer, as well as acting as a sealer will also show you any areas that you missed, skipped over, or sanded too hard. Spackle is a quick fix if the 'holidays' are small. Holidays is what they call them in the trade, despite the fact that it is extra work, and not a holiday.

See ya Tomorrow.

Painting

Painting Day!! This is the day all of your hard work pays off!
Take your time, roll smoothly, and hopefully you will have a job you will be proud to look at and show off!