How to redo drywall taping on garage ceiling??

[Ron]

Our 2-car attached garage (my woodworking shop) of our 20-year old home must not have any insulation above. Either that or the taping job on the drywall joints must be substandard. Perhaps both. "Stuff" in now falling on my tools. The ceiling is trowel textured so it's about 1/8"+ thick everywhere. Whereever there's a joint, and I mean every(!) ceiling joint in the garage, the taping has detached from the drywall. By grabbing loose ends of the paper taping, I can peel it off. The texturing that was applied directly to the drywall stays put. So, by peeling the loose stuff off, I end up with ~3" wide strips running in both directions across the ceiling. It's kind of weird looking, because the texturing creates some relief and the peeled "runways" are flat and sunken. How should I repair this problem before repainting the ceiling? Must I retape? I've never done any taping before. Can I just fill the runways with joint compound? Either way, I know I won't succeed in getting a seemless blend into the existing texturing. Does taping have a purpose in addressing expansion, inferring that I should try to retape it? Thanks for all advice. ron Please reply to newsgroup because spammers are killing me.

[Chris Lewis]

According to Ron :

Probably adhesive backed paper tape with inadequate mudding, moisture and freeze-thaw has finally killed the glue. Paper tape very often comes loose in unheated buildings.

I would suggest first checking to ensure that attic venting etc. are working properly, and that the drywall isn't deteriorating.

Assuming attic reasonably good (it probably is), use adhesive fiberglass mesh tape, and put at least one layer of mud over it. The mud will penetrate thru the tape and anchor it far better than the adhesive alone.

If you don't tape it at all, it'll crack.

[Joe Bobst]

Install some if absent. A comfortable shop will be more useful.

Seems necessary to me. I'd use fiberglass tape and a setting type joint compound since the earler joint failure might have been related to a high humidity situation.

It will help prevent the surface cracks that develop in unreinforced joint compound. Do some reading in any DIY text for more insights on the mysteries of drywall. This NG has dozens of experts, some of whom have applied hundreds of acres of drywall so you likely get some better posts than this one Good luck.

Joe.

[Joe]

Forget the tape and the mud. Strip it with 1x2s or 1x4s. Paint them if you like but put them up with lots of nice long screws. They will give your shop very secure material from which to hang stuff.

[Charles Spitzer]

presupposing the existing ceiling trusses can a: hold up the extra wood slats, and b: hold up what you're going to suspend from them.

[Joe]

Well I wasn't suggesting he swap out car motors although I've seen that done. If his ceiling can't support 1x2 slats I suggest he move immediately!!!

[Ron]

Thanks guys. You're a great help!! I appreciate your suggestions.

[Mike]

I am a rookie drywaller and I used the webbed tape with adhesive on one side...I love that stuff!

[Trader]

Hi,

I used that stuff too and all my joints cracked. I've done a lot of spackling and never had this happen before. I hope you have better luck.

[Mike Dobony]

I use it a lot and have had no problems with it.

To answer the original question, yes, you need to tape the joints. If you just use joint compound, and even the "tapeless" joint compound, you will get cracks. I would guess that the original application did not have any compound under the tape or it was not embedded properly. You should NOT be able to just peal the tape off. Go to the library and get a book on drywalling or buy a book from your hardware store before you try this project. There are lots of tricks and tips on how to do drywalling properly. Setting type mud holds up better, IMHO, but is more complicated to work with. If you decide to use this type, get the longest setting time to give you plenty of time to work with the mud.

-- Mike D.

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