bad tape job in garage celling

[eavila]

Hello all,

I am new to this site and am in need of help. I purchased my home about a year ago and the home was built in 2006 and now want to fix my garage. The garage is texutured,painted but the problem is the tape is bubbling and it appears as if there was no sanding on the seems on the celling. The side walls look great but the celling needs some work so that the tape job does not look so bad.

Also there are no leaks, I spoke to the previous owner and he said he had a professional do the side walls and did the celling himself. He did admit he had no clue what he was doing.

What can I do? Do I have to sand and retape??

I don't have much experience but would like to do the work my self. There are no leakes or anything like that.

Any help would be appreciated!!!



Thanks.

[HayZee518]

for a quick fix, they sell a texture paint in a spray can. It emits a stipple finish when it comes out of the can. you can try to hide the boo-boos of the previous owner. the way wallboard joints are finished, a layer of mud is applied to the joint. a paper tape is embedded in the mud and a wider putty knife, called a taping knife is drawn over the tape and mud right down the center of the tape. as much excess mud is squeezed out and any compound squeezed out either side of the tape is removed. what you are going for is as thin a coating of tape/mud you can do. after it's dry another thin coat is applied but spread out to about four inches to the sides of the tape. the wallboard joints are tapered. the finish or third layer of mud extend out about a foot on either side of the tape and again as thin as possible. what you are trying to do is build up repetitive layers that equal the thickness of the wallboard and don't require a lot of sanding.

[pushkins]

Does the garage ceiling have a room above it or an attic and if it's an attic is it insulated. Drywall tape will never last on an uninsulated ceiling. The heat that builds up in an attic causes the tape to separate from the drywall.

[eavila]

No, no room above but there is an attic that is not insulated!! Should I be using other materials to fix celling?

Thanks for quick response.

[pushkins]

If you want the ceiling to remain drywall then the only repair would be to re tape/repair the falling/bubbling tape.. Any sort of insulation added above would be a long term fix even R13 (as it's not living space) The insulation basically slows the major swing in temperature changes.
A quicker fix (though definitely not long term) would be to cut out the peeling tape with a very sharp stanley knife and reapply new tape like mentioned above in HayZee's post. You will need to remove any popcorn/texture in the near vicinity to enable you to apply the tape and three (ish) layers of drywall compound.

[eavila]

Pushkins,

Thanks you so much for your help.

How much drying time do you think I need for each coat of mudd? I live in Washington State and the current temprature is about 43 deegres durning the day and about 29 deegres at night.


Thanks again.

[pushkins]

The standard response would be 24 hours (to make sure) between coats of standard drywall compound. (not quick dry). Depending on your humidity level it may be a little quicker, but 24 is still a good number. What you will need to look for is easy, the mud will look wet and be a darker color than dried mud what looks almost flour white, take particular note in corners or any area that needed to have a thicker layer of mud applied.
If when your applying the second or third coats you start to see previous coats crumpling into the new coat, stop, let it dry more and then restart. The biggest mistake you can make is to try to do too much to soon. A good drywall mudding job takes skill and a certain amount of patience, like previously mentioned it's all about layers to feather out the joints.
Also get yourself a 6" and 12" taping knife (minimum tools) the 6" will be for applying the first layer and tape, the 10" will be for subsequent layers.

[eavila]

Pushkins,

I will start my project this Friday, so wish me luck!!

Thanks for taking the time to help.