I actually prefer hand taping over banjos for butt joints

Everyone says to use a banjo for speed, but on a 2,500 square foot house in Dallas last month, I switched back to hand taping for the butt joints. The banjo was leaving air pockets I could feel with my knife, about 3 or 4 per joint, and another taper fixing them later killed any time I saved. Has anyone else found the banjo finicky on longer runs?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily5111mo ago

Up in Colorado last winter I had a similar issue but it was the cold making the mud set up weird in the banjo. Had to switch to hand taping just to keep from fighting the tool every ten feet. Your mileage may vary but sometimes the old ways just cut down on the headache even if they take a couple extra minutes.

troykim3d ago

Truth on the mud getting weird in a banjo. Humidity or temp swings mess with the viscosity more than people realize. Best fix I found was keeping a spray bottle with water and giving the mud a quick spritz when it starts grabbing weird in the pan. Also helps to scrape out the banjo and re-knit the mud every couple days instead of just topping it off.

parkerrodriguez1mo agoMost Upvoted

Dude same thing happened to me on a job in Houston last summer. The banjo was great for the flats but those butt joints gave me nothing but trouble with bubbles and the mud just not sticking right. Hand taping them saved my sanity even if it took a little longer.