Hit 2000 square feet of drywall mudding in one go and I think people are wrong about taping

Everybody on here says to tape your drywall joints with mesh tape but I went back to paper tape for my basement reno. I did 2000 square feet in one straight shot last Saturday morning and the paper tape gave me way less bubbles and wrinkles. The old timers say paper is better because it shrinks less and I gotta agree after trying both ways. Mesh tape might be faster for patching but for long seams in a big room paper wins every time. I used a 6 inch knife for the first coat and it was way easier to control than the bigger ones people recommend. Anyone else find that paper tape gives you a smoother finish or am I just old school?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese55025d ago

Man, I feel you on this one. I did my own basement last winter about 1800 feet and went back and forth on tape for two weeks before starting. Paper tape was the move for sure. My first long seam with mesh tape had bubbles showing up the next morning and I had to cut them out and redo it. Paper tape just lays down flat and stays put if you bed it right with a 6 inch knife. I used a 6 inch for the whole first coat too and it made feathering the edges way less annoying than wrestling a 12 inch knife on a wet seam. Its harder to mess up paper tape because you can see the mud squeeze through and know you got good contact. Mesh is fine for quick fixes but for a whole room like your 2000 foot job, paper is the better call.

terryj4525d ago

Paper tape is definitely underrated for long seams, but talking about seeing mud squeeze through to know you got good contact makes me wonder if you're using enough mud on the first pass. You want to bed it in a thin coat, not so much that it's oozing out everywhere. That extra mud can make the tape curl or shift later. I ran 1900 feet in my garage and learned the hard way that too much mud under paper tape causes more problems than mesh tape ever did. The 6 inch knife is the right tool for the first coat for sure, but back off the mud to just a 1/8 inch layer under the tape and you'll get even less bubbles on your next big job.