Tapered joint taping

[rustyh]

Hi,

When your taping a tapered dry wall joint, do you embed the paper tape deep in to the joint, or just below the top surface??

 

[joe-90]

Don't use paper at all. Use mesh scrim.

 

[rustyh]

On dry wall?? I thought paper was best for this??

 

[nickjb]

Yep. Paper for taper jointing. Put some easifil into the join push, the tape in with a narrow putty knife so the filler soaks into the tape and you have no air bubbles. Then go over the lot with more filler and a wider knife. You have to push pretty hard to get the filler to soak into the paper so it will end up pretty deep in the joint. Unless you are a pro you'll probably end up with the odd air bubble and loose tape near the surface. You can just cut this out with a Stanley and add some more easifil

 

[rustyh]

Thanks mate, will give it a go

Being a novice I will probably leave a fair bit of sand to do, any suggestions in the best sand paper to use?

 

[nickjb]

The expensive stuff is noticeably better but you do get through it. New is better than old as it clogs very quickly. Buy a roll rather than sheets and just keep tearing off a new bit. The timing is key. Do it when the filler has fully set but still soft enough to be easy. IIRC about 10-20 hours later, although there is a pretty big window and it never goes that hard.

Generally I find it better to put on too little and then go back and fill it rather than putting on too much and having to sand a lot. It makes a lot of dust

 

[joe-90]

Paper is weak. Scrim with the mesh stuff. Forget 'olde worlde' stuff.

 

[nickjb]

British Gypsum and Lafarge both recommend paper tape for jointing taper edge board. Hardly 'olde worlde', tape and jointing is a much newer system than scrimming and skimming.

 

[joe-90]

So tell me what the benefits are - I'd love to know.

 

[stevethespreader]

Paper tape on angles and scrim tape on straights