Drywall Butting issue

jelly

I have a 34" gap between two pieces of sheet rock which means one of the seams will not have two tapered edges. Please dont ask why I did it this way, my only answer is that I've never done this before. So this is what I am faced with...

Any advice/tips on butting two non tapered edges? Thank you.

AllanJ

Just my ideas, and I have that problem too.

1. Make sure the rough edge of the drywall paper doesn't protrude above the surface at the seam in question. You might wish to trim away about an 1/8 inch strip of the paper along the edge leaving the drywall core exposed.

2. Put on the mesh/paper strip and mud as if the seam was normal (with factory tapered edges butting).

3. After the first coat of mud dries, in the process of mudding the second coat, that seam will bulge out slightly but should be smoothable just as a normal seam is.

arichard21

i would take down one of the pieces and put the 2 factory seams together, then get a 3rd piece to put on the end with a factory edge.

ponch37300

If your not good at tapping and worried about it take it down and get another peice for the couple bucks it will cost. You can tape the joints and never notice it, just takes a little more work when taping.

Sammy

Clean your seam between the boards and run a peice of paper tape as in normal taping.

Then work each side one at a time with wider taping knives and allow to dry between coats just as if you were taping a corner.

It will feather out the bulge where you wont see it.

Drywall finishing is perfect... Its one of those optical delusions....

Ron6519

Cut the missing pieces and put it up. Tape the joints. The one with the nontapered edge will have a wider compound joint.
Not a big deal.
Ron

Mike Finley

You'll spend less time taking that board down and replacing it then you will trying to feather that edge on a ceiling.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

MinConst

My thoughts exactly.

__________________
Minichillo's Construction
I will never leave you hanging!

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

DIY4EVER

I just hung drywall a few months ago for the first time. I had some help from a friend that does it on the side. I had several places where there were butt joints and had no problems with finishing them smooth. Some of the pros on here will tell you differently but all I did was butt the pieces tight, clean up any paper fuzzies, tape, and mud. I used a 6" knife to tape, then went to an 8" and then a 12" knife. No visible seems in the finished drywall.

By the way, there is no way to totally avoid butt joints anyway. I never understood why people make such a big deal about it. If you are hanging a ceiling for instance, you throw a sheet up there, and the next sheet is going to give you a butt joint where the untapered ( top and bottom ) edges of the two sheets meet. Its unavoidable. Just do your best and you can be proud of what you accomplished as a DIYer.

jelly

Thanks for all the tips~ I ended up pulling the sheet down.

I agree DIY4EVER, butt joints are inevitable. I guess the fewer, the better.

Do I need a 12 knife? I have a 6 and an 8.

Generally speaking, what thickness should I be putting on the ceiling? Can I use 3/8 on exterior (load) and interior walls?

ponch37300

12" knife will feather the edges out alot better than a 8". 5/8" rock on the ceiling and 1/2" on the walls, I have only used 3/8 a couple of times on remodels to get the thicknesses to match.

kgphoto

Definitely get a 12 inch knife.

Ron6519

jelly said: "Generally speaking, what thickness should I be putting on the ceiling? Can I use 3/8 on exterior (load) and interior walls?"

3/8" sheetrock doesn't take much force to punch a hole in it. I use 5/8" for the walls and 1/2" for the ceiling.
I would use 1/2" minimum for the job.
Ron

kgphoto

I prefer to use 5/8 always and 1/2 begrudgingly, and 3/8 only as an overlay or filler.

GearHd6

You'll be just fine compounding a non tapered edge. Like stated above, you'll just have a little wider compound area than 2 butted joints. No biggie. Just think of the guys doing an entire house.... do you think they have tapered edges butted everytime? I don't think so. Don't fear it, tape it. The pro's usually use real long sheets that they run horizontal. So they're butting the 4' ends all the time, just less of them with the longer sheets.