As part of a bathroom remodel, I'm replacing some sheetrock and have a question about mudding & taping.
How great of a gap can I have between new and old and on the old which has a painted finish, can I just scuff up the paint with fine sandpaper to get the mud and tape to stick? Will that be adequate I guess is my question.
thanks, Chris
I measure at 1/8" and accept 1/4" -- w/ drywall you can fix up most anything...
Use a coarser paper but you can get by w/ just mudding over unless it's a very high gloss and even that would most likely stick...
What about situations (which I have one :-) where as the sheetrock meets, there's not any factory edge (depression in sheetrock for taping). If it's a small section (18"x24"), can a person use something like spackle or Durhams putty in the joint and not the typical mud and tape?
Back to my original post - Does this 'mud' clean right up from the tub surface or are there precautions I should take to protect the surface from that stuff landing on it? Thanks very much - appreciate your advice.
Chris
So is there a desired gap (i.e. 1/4") that I should shoot for to allow the mud to work in? What do you think about tape - do you prefer paper or fiberglass?
Also, in the corner of the shower, I ended up with a little over 1/2" vertically. Should I lay 3 strips of tape vertically across that gap? (1 center and one on either side of that)? Guess that was my plan.
thanks again...
You still need to tape the joint--if you don't it will show up w/ hairline cracks almost immediately. It's easier to get small amount of premixed drywall compound because you need to feather a butt seam over at least 8-12" wide area to avoid the "hump"...
It'll dissolve w/ water...I'd probably mask off an edge just to make cleanup quicker if I thought I was going to be messy...
Almost anything works...it's forgiving. 1/4 is kinda big simply for the amount of mud you can "lose" into it if doing a whole house but for a small repair area, you don't really care...
1/2" is kinda big for the same reason and because it will be harder to work to get a smooth corner. I'd try to fill the void some if I could and then treat it as ordinary corner as much as possible.As for tape, I'm an old fogey so have used paper almost exclusively...thank goodness, I've not done any significant amount of drywall in almost 20 years... :)
1/2" OOPS! Been there, done that. Do you have any more drywall to cut a better fitting piece?
You should try for a 1/16 - 1/8th gap, or just enough to get the mud in, without wasting it. While the boards are basicly made from the same stuff as the mud, boards are cheap, mud/tape/time costs far more.
Thats' why the "pros" toss out what seems to be good size chunks of boards
You can fill a 1/2 gap, but do it in several layers, allowing each to dry this will avoid excessive cracking and the mud running out in a blob. But it will take a few days unless you use hot mud/quickset that you mix yourself.
Then once somewhat level, one piece of 2" tape centered across the gap will work fine, finish it as normal.
Tape on drywall seems to be personal preference, I like paper, but some people only will use the fiberglass.
Cement board = fiberglass only
AMUN
Thanks for the reply, guys. I'm a novice sheetrocker as you can tell. Since this is going to be used for a tub insert, I don't know if a super tight seal is important (Crane Plumbing indicates in their literature that the surround is so water tight, it doesn't matter what kind of sheet rock you use and that a person COULD put it directly to the studs if they wanted to). I opted not to put it right to the studs fearing how the surround might react when one of my teenagers puts weight on it, etc...
I had 'planned on' (though that plan is adjustable :-), using the self adhesive fiberglass tape and mudding over that. If I've read this stuff right - with the non-stick, a person would apply a thin coat of mud, overlay the tape, and mud over the top of that. It appears that with the self adhesive, you just stick the tape and mud over the top. I was planning on the self adhesive since inside corners would seemingly be easier and less messy. I don't see where any water damage or structural related issues will occur from this approach BUT... Being a newbie to sheetrocking sends me here.
Again, your advice is welcome and appreciated.
thanks, Chris
That's where my plan becomes 'adjustable' as noted above, Duane :-) experts or experienced guys like yourself have been a huge help as I've navigated through this project. Thanks again for your advise - I've learned a lot and this has been an interesting and valuable project.
I'd planned on taping it because of the top line (where I removed the old laminant insert and replaced the sheetrock about 5' up the wall. Figured too that if anything were to happen to this 'leak proof' surround, damage may be minimized by taping and mudding the back corners.
I this is going behind the tub insert, why even tape it???
Whatever you're more comfortable with works for me...I just answered about my practice which is, as noted, based more on past history than anything else...
If you get water behind a surround, nothing you've done to the surface is going to matter...
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