Taping sheet rock corners

[DaveC]

I'm doing the first full sheet rock taping job in my home. I'm finding corners the most challenging.

I'm using paper tape, not mesh, and regular joint compound.

I've put down compound in the corner, placed the creased tape over it, more compound, and using the corner trowel, make the first pass. Quality seems very dependent on whether or not the compound is thinned with water or not.

After letting the corners dry overnight, I go in for the 2nd coat.

Do I put another coat in the corner, using the corner trowel? Or do I start working out from the corner using the flat trowel? In other words, do I put another coat of compound in the corner itself, or just work on the flat surfaces of the tape, working outward?

Other than the corners, I'm doing well. It's a bit tough troweling a smooth pass; there's always marks I've got to go back and re-trowel, or if I decide it's less work, let them dry and sand/fill them next time.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[jeffc]

You can use a flat knife, but you usually have to do that in 2 passes. Working on hte left side usually screws with the right side. Don't know what you mean by "corner trowel". What you need is a 90 degree drywall tape tool made specifically for taping corners. Then you put compound on both sides, and the corner comes out smoothly, for the second coat. For the third coat, you shouldn't have to mess with the corner per se. You can now work on a wider area on each side, avoiding the real corner.

[DaveC]

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 08:04:34 -0700, jeffc wrote (in article ):

I'm still not sure...

--> Do I put compound *in* the corner on the 2nd coat, and use the corner tape tool again?

(Corner trowel is same as "90 degree tape tool", I think.)

[dbird]

not sure about your questions, but i did learn years ago that if you have cracks in the corners of sheet rock walls its not the house settling, it that the installer never put enough mud in the corners.. before you even get to the tape make sure you have that area packed up with mud(the compound) or you gonna suffer with cracks in the walls later.....

[Paul Franklin]

The last few times I've done this, I've used preformed paper covered inside corner pieces, and they are *way* easier to finish than regular paper tape. It's a metal (I've seen plastic too) piece, bent to slightly greater than 90 degrees, and covered with paper. You apply mud to the corner, then press in this piece and embedded it into the mud. Apply a thin coat of mud over top of the paper, and smooth with corner trowel. Because of the paper, the mud sticks very well.

From then on, you don't have to fuss with the actual corner, and just finish the two sides as if they were flat joints. It took me a couple to get the hang of it, but the end result is better than any corner I ever did with tape.

You can also attach the piece with special spray adhesive, which is even easier. Round here, both Lowes and Home Depot carry the pieces. The also come in outside corners, which are easier than the metal type too. Make sure you get the right one, inside vs outside, because the angles are different, one more than 90, t'other less than 90.

HTH,

Paul

[SQLit]

you do not mention if your doing inside or outside corners. Outside use metal molding. Inside, there is some tape pre-creased for corners. It is a bit wider than regular tape. I put mud in the corner first then put the tape on then mud again. that is one coat. I do only rough taping and write checks to pros for the finish work.

[DaveC]

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 12:23:31 -0700, SQLit wrote (in article ):

I'm doing inside corners (small bathroom), so no outside ones.

All the suggestions, so far, are great for the *next* time I do sheet rock. But right now, I still haven't heard an answer to my question:

I've taped and mudded the inside corners once, and let them dry. On my second pass around the room with compound and trowel, do I apply a second coat of compound *in the corner* (in the very corner, over the tape) again? Or do I only address the flat surfaces out from the corner?

Thanks,

[Raymond Koonce]

[3rd eye]

Or do I

[jeffc]

There's a picture of one on this page

doesn't matter much - you should use an excess of joint compound, and the corner tool will see to it that the compound gets spread flat and even, assuming you use reasonably firm pressure. The compound will get squeezed everywhere it needs to go.

[DaveC]

On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 16:39:38 -0700, 3rd eye wrote (in article ):

An answer to my question!!! Thank you!!!

I'll go right now to the corner and lay down another coat.

[Chris Barnabo]

Dave, just one more tip (might've already been posted, but my newsreader did it's weekly purge and lost everything prior to the weekend) ...

I just did drywall in two rooms downstairs (bathroom and home office), and with the pipe chases in the ceilings there's a lot of long inside corners. On the advice of a friend who is a painter by trade, after taping and mudding as described earlier in the thread I laid a bead of paintable caulk in all the inside corners, smoothing and removing excess with a wet finger. The caulk softens the corner just a bit (nice look, I think), and it's flexibility will protect the corner just a tad more against cracking.

Granted, it's my first drywall work ever but it looks pretty nice at the moment - give it five years and I'll tell you if the caulk really helped at all or not. :-)

-- Chris ________*________ Chris Barnabo, [e-mail] ____________ \_______________/

\__________/ / / __\ \_______/ /__ "The heck with the Prime Directive, \_______________/(- let's destroy something!"

[DaveC]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 06:53:18 -0700, Chris Barnabo wrote (in article ):

That's a great idea! I've mudded the corners a second time, and they're cracking already (the next morning). Your technique sounds like a way for beginners to look like pros, in the corners, anyway!

Thanks,

[JerryD(upstateNY)]

Keep in mind this technique only works if you are using the same color paint on the walls and ceiling.

[DaveC]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 06:53:18 -0700, Chris Barnabo wrote (in article ):

Chris, Did you use the corner tool (trowel) to smooth the calk? Or just run a finger down the corner?

Thanks,

[DaveC]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 08:07:59 -0700, JerryD\(upstateNY\) wrote (in article ):

Huh? If the calk is paintable, what does it matter what color paint I'm using anywhere?

Thanks,

[DaveC]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 10:10:54 -0700, Rico dJour wrote (in article ):

[snip]

Thanks, Rico! That's a "keeper"!

[jeffc]

If you like the look, use it, but it won't help a good drywall job from cracking, because a good drywall corner won't crack to begin with. Also, if you ever plan on painting the walls different colors, it will be difficult to get a good line in that corner.

[Eric Ryder]

I was taught to do inside corner joints with the corner trowel, but use a 6" knife almost exclusively now.

First coat is the same either method: apply mud to the corner; set creased tape in mud; squeeze most out with 5" knife leaving a clean square corner; let dry.

For corner trowel finishing, I apply mud with a 6" knife (less messy than the corner trowel for application); hold the tool with the handle out from the corner 15 degrees or so (too little angle will leave a poor finish, too much angle will leave no mud); make a short pass to spread compound on the working edge; press tool in the wall/wall/ceiling intersection with a little pressure; make a clean pass as far as possible; do same from the other end of the joint. Clean joint ridges with a flexed 6" knife. If you can hold angle and pressure constant, you will have no trouble feeling when the compound thickness is consistant. Remove excess mud from the tool and keep it in a bucket of water while working.

For 6" knife finishing, you do one side of the corner and let dry completely before coating the other side. after spreading the compound, I usually make the last pass with the knife held in my fingertips. Clean ridge as above. typically, a single coat over the tape is enough. since corners are the slowest to dry, I usually tote a fan with me to speed up room sized projects.

The corner trowel is a plus for vertically hung jobs with no ceilings as both surfaces get finished in one shot. On all other jobs, good knifework is a bit more efficient as you can coat horizontal taper joints right into the opposing side of the corner, etc.

For your job: After scraping/sanding any mass excesses of compound... If you have a lightly radiused corner and the tape isn't showing through the first coat you can stay out of the corner proper. Feather out ridges, etc with the 6" knife. If you have tape showing, use either tool as above.

[Chris Barnabo]

I used a finger on the caulk ... used the corner trowel on the taping and mudding, of course.

In response to another post - I didn't go for a heavily rounded look, it's just a slight easing of the corner - probably no worse than you'd see if you were repainting a room that already had a few coats of paint on it. Cutting in on the (very different color) paints between ceiling and wall wasn't a problem.

-- Chris ________*________ Chris Barnabo, [e-mail] ____________ \_______________/

\__________/ / / __\ \_______/ /__ "The heck with the Prime Directive, \_______________/(- let's destroy something!"