Author Topic: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?  (Read 29885 times)

Jared

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Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« on: August 26, 2006, 05:06:51 PM »
OK, working on a bathroom right now.  The contractor called in a sub to do the drywall work.  The hanging went fine; the problem occurred when the sub sent over an inexperienced guy to do the taping.

First off, he didn't embed the tape quite well enough, which was a factor in the ensuing problem - when he went to sand the first coat, he sanded too far and "frayed" the paper tape.  Badly.  :(  At that point, the contractor fired the sub and called me in to clean up the mess.

In this case, I am afraid a skim coat thick enough to avoid "scraping the fuzzies" will show as a sizeable bulge in the wall - and it is being painted with a white semi-gloss, so very little help in hiding the imperfections there.

I am thinking I should spot prime the frayed tape with Guardz and then perhaps I can get a thinner skim coat on there without having the "fuzzies" in the tape ruin the skim's surface...  the only other course I can see would be to cut out the bad tape and attempt to re-tape those areas.

Any better ideas (or confirmation of my supposition) would be welcomed.  Thanks!
« Last Edit: August 26, 2006, 05:08:48 PM by Jared »

Offline rmichael

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2006, 07:00:38 PM »
Your plan may work, but when you start sanding it may get you back to the same problem.
I would pull the paper tape and lay in some fiberglass mesh tape. Lay it in tight with a four inch mudd knife, once dry, pull a skim with a six or eight inch mudd knife. Top (finish ) with topping mudd using a eight or ten or inch mudd knife.

Pull the compound tight and smooth so all you need to do is feather sand the edges and touch up pin holes.

Best of Luck,
rmichael    pro painter
Pro Painter 30 years ~ Down East Coastal NC

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the PAINTSMITH

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2006, 07:33:32 AM »
Yeah Jared, you don't want to get into a habit of "quick fixes" when you know that the customer's eye will be drawn to that spot because of another's ineptitude. I assume that the contractor called you in on a time-and-materials basis; Take the extra few steps as rMichael described and you'll be happier with yourself and your bill should teach the contractor something about hiring substandard trades...

Offline MacPaint

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2006, 07:42:26 AM »
I agree with you guys in regard to the "proper" fix, but if the contractor called-in cheap drywall people, how much is he gonna spring in order for Jared to fix it properly?
 ::)

I'd seal the paper tape as Jared mentioned, but then I'd prime the whole room, backlight it and then re-skim every spot where there's a problem. Change the light angle a few times, skim again, and then sand and reseal the patches.

If the contractor has deep pockets, then I'd go with the right way, but through my own experience, most contractors won't dig deep enough to fix it right and also become impatient when something has to be torn out and redone. (Eventually, the jerkier ones will even start to blame the painter.)


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Jared

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2006, 10:11:43 AM »
Excellent advice from all.

Luckily for me, I know this contractor very well, and I am doing this on a time + materials basis...  so I will go with the bad tape replacement AND the prime/backlight.  (Couldn't hurt, right?  Especially since the finish paint is white semigloss...)  Luckily, the bad taping is only a few spots in a few joints, so it won't take all that long to fix it right.

Thanks for the info!
« Last Edit: August 27, 2006, 10:17:54 AM by Jared »

Jared

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2006, 05:53:34 PM »
It took me all of half an hour to cut out the bad spots and replace with mesh...  and was out of there in under 3 hrs after doing a skim over all the joints & cornerbead.  Went quite smoothly, actually.  Tomorrow the room gets sanded, primed and backlit for final skims.

Thanks again, folks!

Offline Fat Tony

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2006, 07:38:23 PM »
I got to laugh at the timing of this one quesiton. I just did the same thing in my garage the other day, i had a water leak on the roof which got fixed in november and  the tape was coming down and looked awful. I pulled it down and retaped and skim coated it, waited, sanded it and coated again and sanded and feathered it. Didnt come out great but passable enough for the garage. The only thing i hated and i mean hated was using the sanding pole and that crap falling all over the place. I had a fan going blowing out to the street but still. Anyway, glad it worked out for you Jared.

Offline chrisn

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Re: Techniques for "fixing" a bad drywall taping job?
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2017, 03:25:41 AM »
now, that's very helpful, thanks a lot :o