10 Things to Consider When Buying Paper Drywall Joint Tape

Naturally, this means that paper tape also takes a good deal of time to apply, since you have to first do the adhesive layer, embed the tape, wait a few hours for the adhesive layer to dry, and then apply a second coat of mud. This process also takes considerable practice to master and if you aren’t careful to embed the tape perfectly, you’ll end up with air bubbles under the tape that will weaken the joint. That said, a perfectly finished paper tape joint will have less movement – and thus less potential to form cracks – than a mesh tape joint, thanks to that extra mud coupled with the nonelastic nature of paper.

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Fiberglass tape, on the other hand, is comparatively easy to work with. It is self-adhesive, so it can be applied to all the joints in one go and then mudded over in a single pass, skipping the first layer of mud entirely. As an added bonus, because it skips the adhesive layer, you don’t need to worry about air bubbles causing problems down the road. All this makes mesh tape easier to work with, especially if you’re not an expert. It can also save you time and is particularly well suited to patch jobs where the strength of the finished joint is slightly less important. The downsides of mesh tape, though, are that it is much more difficult to apply by hand (it can easily get crooked without an applicator and needs a different, special applicator for inside corners) and that you’ll need to finish it with setting-type compound (rather than standard compound), so you’ll need some extra supplies. The setting compound protects against cracks that can develop from mesh tape’s comparatively high elasticity, which can otherwise give joints more movement than they would have with paper tape.

Bottom line: paper tape is a perfectly good choice which leaves a slightly stronger joint thanks to the additional steps it requires, but those extra steps take time, practice, and patience. Mesh tape has a much shallower learning curve and can save you significant time on the job but you’ll need some extra tools and materials to work with it and it can leave a slightly weaker joint even though the material itself is stronger than paper.

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Hiding Butt Joints

To hide “butt joints” (where two non-tapered ends of drywall meet), you have to build up a hump of joint compound that’s very thin and wide. This is time-consuming and difficult to do well. So if you’re a novice drywall finisher, avoiding butt joints is smart.

The best way to avoid butt joints is to use sheets of drywall that are long enough to cover entire walls and ceilings. As a result, you’ll have only tapered joints to finish. Drywall sheets are commonly available in 8- and 12-ft. lengths. Often, specialty suppliers carry 14-ft. sheets.

If your ceiling is longer than 14-ft., you can’t avoid butt joints. But you can avoid butt joints on a wall that exceeds 14 ft. Simply hang the sheets vertically rather than horizontally. That way, you’ll have several tapered joints to cover, but no butt joints.

Hanging drywall vertically is slower than hanging it horizontally because you have to make sure the tapered edges fall at the centers of the studs. Cut the first sheet to width so the tapered edge lands on the center of a stud. After that, the edges of each sheet should fall perfectly on the studs. If you run into misplaced studs, nail 2x2s to them. If you have 9-ft. ceilings, call a drywall supplier to find 10-ft.-long sheets.

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