Today I'm going over to Collinsville to tape and mud a corner of an upstairs bedroom so that the room can be painted. Now, taping and mudding is probably something better left to professionals, but I decided to tackle this on my own. I've had some practice with this over the years, but it is not an easy thing to do if you want to make a wall look like nothing happened and there is a smooth finish all across.
Do you use mesh tape which has a bit of adhesive so that you just have to stick it on the wall and get to skip the first coat of mud or do you use paper tape which is cheaper and normally the choice of dry wall pros? This involves a pre coat of mud so that it stays on the wall. The trick here is to make sure it isn't a thick coat of mud or you'll have a rise in the wall.
But with a corner I'm using paper tape because it comes with a center fold which makes it easier to lay into the corner. Thin coats of mud, take the mud knife and go straight down the wall until you can't reach anymore and then up from the bottom. Zip, no stopping. Do both sides of the corner then lay the tape in and mud over it thinly.
The worst is having to come back for a couple of days and repeat this process and then sand until no tape shows and the mud is smooth. Being an impatient sort, I want to get at the painting, but patience is a virtue when mudding plaster or drywall.
I hate that job. I have only seen the pros's use the mesh tape when doing a hard coat of plaster.
Also the swivel joint sanders (they accomodate a broom style handle) are worth the investment.
Godspeed
Posted by: Brad | January 29, 2013 at 02:12 PM