Drywall Installation Common Mistakes: Tips to Avoid Them
Avoiding some of the more common drywall installation mistakes will help you avoid the costs and extra work of having to perform repairs.
Problem 1: Inside corners are not straight
Solution: Try using a metal reinforced corner tape. It uses a metal angle with paper flanges that will create a perfectly formed and smooth corner. Also, the metal gives your knife a smooth, stiff surface that you can straddle corners easier.
Problem 2: The outside corners are too rough and brittle
Solution: Instead of using standard paper tape on the exterior corners, spend a few dollars more for an outside metal or plastic heel. The corner bead is durable and easier to install than its paper corner counterparts. Save the paper tape for exterior corners that don’t receive too much traffic, like on skylights, or partitions.
Problem 3: Dry the compound on the inside corners before you tape
Solution: Before you apply any mud or compound on your drywall, make sure you first cut your paper tape to length and then pre-fold it. If you are using metal-reinforced tape cut it to length and keeps it handy before you start to plug the corners. Either way, it is easier to measure your tape when there isn’t any mud on the wall yet.
Problem 4: The drywall stripe appears through the mud
Solution: According to most experts, there are three layers of the compound, which are duct tape, filler, and the final layer. You can exclude the final layer. The ribbon should show through the filling compound. If it does not, then your filler is too thick. And the final coat should be covering the tape. If your first final coat fails to cover the strip, simply apply more layers, but just make sure that you keep them thin.
For details about the drywall installation services and products that Killeen Drywall and Painting can offer you, and if you live or work in or around the Killeen, TX area, please don’t hesitate to contact us at this number (254) 284-1431 today.
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