Help! How to fix an awful tape job?

2640 Views 26 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Bud9051, Jul 3, 2020

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · Jun 8, 2020

2

I'll spare you the long, drawn-out saga, but a contractor screwed me on a drywall job. He hired subs who didn't know what the hell they were doing, did the worst taping job imaginable, promised to fix it, and now won't answer my calls or texts. I'll be trying to get some money out of him through threats and/or small-claims court, but for now I need to figure out how to fix the problems and move on with my renovation. I had a neighborhood guy come fix most of the messed-up work, but I'm left with a few areas I need to deal with on my own. I can handle limited drywall work, I'm just real slow and have to do a lot of sanding.

The first section is the photo you see with red chalk highlighting the awful seam. The part of the ceiling you see on the right is 2:12 pitch (9.5 degrees) and on the left it is horizontal (no pitch). You can see how the seam wanders. I am thinking I need to cut the bead or tape that is in there, pull it out, sand or scrape out whatever compound is under it, and use some Strait-Flex bead tape to make a straight seam. My guess is there is a gap where the drywall pieces come together and they didn't bevel one of the pieces. Do I need to rehang the piece on the left and cut it with a bevel so there is no gap, or is a small gap OK?

The other remaining problem is on a short section of wall between closets. As you can see in the photo, the outside corner beads are like 1/2" proud of drywall. There is no way I can fudge that with a baseboard. I guess I need to tear out the corner beads and redo them. There's going to be a lot of dried mud under those beads, so do I just scrape it out with a putty knife or sand it down or what? I've never torn out and redone a corner bead before.

Any advice y'all can provide will be much appreciated. I have spent a year turning my attic into a master suite, doing all the work myself, and I'm not about to let a ****ty drywall job ruin the whole project.

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1 - 20 of 27 Posts

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #2 · Jun 8, 2020

Sorry, I can't figure out how to flip the photos to the correct orientation.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 8, 2020

On second thought, I'm going to case out the closet doors anyway, so I'll just rip out the corner beads and not redo them. So all I need advice on is the red seam.

mark sr

· #4 · Jun 8, 2020

If the tape is adhered well [no bubbles] I'd just float over it and feather it out. If there are bubble under the tape they need to be cut out.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 8, 2020

Thanks. The tape does seem well adhered. Considering my skill level, it may be easier for me to cut it out and use a tape that will give me a nice straight line. I suspect they may have also done a poor job hanging that section, so I may have to cut out the drywall and rehang that little part and redo the seam in order to get a straight line.

Colbyt

· #6 · Jun 8, 2020

A slightly experienced amateur can finish that red mess out if they don't get in a hurry. Get a coat coat over the center of the mess and then feather it out at the top and bottom.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 8, 2020

Since the tape currently wanders back and forth and doesnt make a straight line, is there any trick for how I should make it appear straight? Snap a chalk line and mud/sand to it?

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 8, 2020

And I am a slightly experienced amateur when it comes to drywall.

Colbyt

· #9 · Jun 8, 2020

eholmes77 said:
Since the tape currently wanders back and forth and doesnt make a straight line, is there any trick for how I should make it appear straight? Snap a chalk line and mud/sand to it?

I think you might be over thinking this. There won't be any lines when you are done.

Go ahead and strike a line as a reference poit if that makes you feel better.

Put some mud on a 6" blade and drag in with the line. You want to leave enough mud on the wall to completely cover what looks like a divot. Take 24 hours off and let it dry. Ligtly sand any ridges you left and apply mud to each side of your first pass. Take the rest of the day off and repeat the next day.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jun 8, 2020

I have no doubt I'm overthinking it. This drywall fiasco has been going on for two months.

So, to clarify what you're suggesting... I have two ceiling planes that meet at an angle, creating a joint or seam (which should be straight but isn't). You're saying the first step is to to apply a coat of mud not to either of those planes, but to the joint where they intersect? Then let that dry, sand, and then apply mud to each side of the joint and feather it out. Correct?

Colbyt

· #11 · Jun 8, 2020

Did not realize that was a ceiling. For that you may want to strike that line. So no what I said isn't correct in your situation

You do need to straighten that line out and that is tough.

Let me mull that over and hope you get a better reply while I'm mulling.

mark sr

· #12 · Jun 8, 2020

It doesn't really matter how crooked the tape is as long as it's adhered to the drywall and there aren't any air bubbles under it. As noted above once it's covered with mud you'll never see the tape.

Reactions: 1

Colbyt

· #13 · Jun 8, 2020

To keep you entertained 2 videos though the second was more along my thinking process.

As an after the tape went bad thing I was thinking a very thin board to establish a straight line with mud applied to one side of the wall board and feathered out, board removed and do the other side.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jun 8, 2020

Colbyt, that may work. What I've been having a hard time figuring out is how to establish a straight line now that there's already a crooked line there. I could get a piece of cheap trim board or whatever, screw it down to establish a line, mud to it, let that dry, then mud the other side.

And if it still looks like crap, cut it out and start over. Thanks.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jun 8, 2020

mark sr said:
It doesn't really matter how crooked the tape is as long as it's adhered to the drywall and there aren't any air bubbles under it. As noted above once it's covered with mud you'll never see the tape.

It's not the fact that I can see the tape that's the problem - it's that the line or joint where the two planes intersects is not straight.

SPS-1

· #16 · Jun 8, 2020

Colbyt said:
I think you might be over thinking this. There won't be any lines when you are done.

I think there is supposed to be a line. If you look closely, the ceiling portion close to the wall is flat for a couple feet , and then angles up. Is that right ?

That is harder for a rookie, but still do-able.

The first photo with the bowed wall looks more like a framing issue than a taping issue. Easiest thing might be to get the baseboard molding to follow that curve. Other options are not so easy.

ClarenceBauer

· #17 · Jun 8, 2020

If you will go to the post in this section dated 05/02/2020 posted by Bird Doo Head for changing a radius to a crisp corner you can use the same procedure to make a very straight corner.

Reactions: 1

Colbyt

· #18 · Jun 9, 2020

eholmes77 said:
Colbyt, that may work. What I've been having a hard time figuring out is how to establish a straight line now that there's already a crooked line there. I could get a piece of cheap trim board or whatever, screw it down to establish a line, mud to it, let that dry, then mud the other side.

And if it still looks like crap, cut it out and start over. Thanks.

Make it a very thin piece of wood. Lattice or screen mold come to mind.

Or maybe one of the variable corner beads? https://www.homedepot.com/s/variable%20corner%20bead?NCNI-5

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jun 9, 2020

SPS-1 said:
I think there is supposed to be a line. If you look closely, the ceiling portion close to the wall is flat for a couple feet , and then angles up. Is that right ?

That is harder for a rookie, but still do-able.

The first photo with the bowed wall looks more like a framing issue than a taping issue. Easiest thing might be to get the baseboard molding to follow that curve. Other options are not so easy.

You're correct. The ceiling is flat for a foot or so, then slopes up at a 2:12 pitch. (It's a shed dormer, and the ends of the rafters were cut flat instead of having a bird's mouth to give maximum head room.) Where those two intersect is a crooked line instead of a straight line. Either they didn't cut the sheetrock straight or they didn't use tape with some type of structure to it to give a straight line.

For the bowed wall, the framing is straight. The moron who did the outside corners slathered a half inch of mud and laid the plastic bead in it. I guess I'll just tear those out and chisel out the excess mud.

eholmes77

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jun 9, 2020

Colbyt said:
Make it a very thin piece of wood. Lattice or screen mold come to mind.

Or maybe one of the variable corner beads? https://www.homedepot.com/s/variable%20corner%20bead?NCNI-5

Yeah, one of those variable corner beads should work, but to do that I probably need to rip out the old bead or tape first so it doesn't build up too much.

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