Taping Inside Corners

Taping inside corners is not hard if you follow a few simple proceedures. This short tutorial should help you tackle taping projects at your house. This is part of the Bathroom Pocket Door Project, being the wall over the pocket door, to the corner.

Taping is as much art as mechanics. A lot of it has to do with feel, and technique. As you develop the technique, you will be able to feel the mud doing what you want. Don't worry about speed.

I am using a 6" drywall knife for this project. This first photo shows my knife with a glob of mud. Notice that I have 'cut' the side of the glob. This is to minimize splatters and 'mud sharks' from forming as I start my mud lines. I have 'cut' the right side of the mud as I will be running the right hand side of the inside corner first. Also note that our mud glob is about 2'' wide.

In this photo you see that I am starting at the top of the inside corner, and the cut portion of my mud is facing down. Note that we are using the knife sideways. The wide portion of the knife is parallel with the direction of our run. This is so we apply just enough mud to embed the tape.

This photo shows the knife in action as we do the mud run along the one side of the edge. My forefinger being used as a guide for my application. Hold the knife firmly, (not a death grip, cause your arm will get tired real quick and you will create a mess)
Notice that we are trying to apply a consistent amont of mud for the tape.

This photo shows two mistakes that you want to avoid. First is the narrow mud line. This line is not wide enough to allow you to embed the tape completely. This means that if you wipe down the tape without getting complete coverage between the tape and the mud, creating a void, you will get a bubble, which are harder than hell to fix. Secondly, see the real light area next to the narrow line? This is where the knife side was pressed too hard against the wall as you ran the mud. This will bubble for sure.

Now that you have mudded your corner on both sides, measure and prepare your tape. Drywall tape is pre creased which will allow you to create a smooth sharp corner. The crease is on the inside as you unroll the tape.

It only takes light pressure with thumb and forefinger to crease the tape/

Once you have your tape creased, you gently place it on your mud.

You then use your knife normally to wipe down the tape and mud, one side at a time. Here is where the feel comes in to your project. You need to apply enough pressure to embed the tape,and feather the edge of the mud. It takes a bit of practice, but you can do this.

Here is your corner after wiping down both sides. A quick swipe with your knife will get rid of the little bits of mud you see at the top.

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