If you own a home, it’s helpful to know how to tape drywall. Holes in drywall happen—for lots of reasons—and knowing how to fix them well is like money in your pocket.
First thing is having the right tools. Of course, there’s tape. We also use three drywall knives (6, 10, and 12-inch) and apply three coats of joint compound. We have a ‘mud pan’ for the compound and a 2-gallon bucket and margin trowel for mixing and cleaning.
For smaller taping projects we use ‘setting type’ compound you mix yourself because the dry times are faster. For larger repairs and entire rooms, we use pre-mixed compound because it’s easier and faster to work with. Tip: Setting-type compounds tend to be much harder to sand than mixed compound. We’ve had good luck with DAP’s FastPatch30.
Next, reasonable expectations. This is where a lot of people not familiar with how to tape drywall go wrong. The first coat is only for bedding the tape and should be ugly. Pretty happens in coats two and three.
To tape, wipe compound on the seam. I wiggle the knife to flatten the compound evenly. Cover the seam just a little wider than the tape (and yes, I like paper tape).
Then set the tape in the compound with your fingers. next wipe it down with a 6-inch knife. This ‘beds’ it in the mud. I take a few passes to make sure I’ve squeezed all the compound that’s going to come out from behind the tape. This prevents bubbles in the tape as well.
To make your drywall repair disappear, apply a second coat with a 10-inch knife and do your best to burnish the edges by flexing the knife a little. Let dry, then lightly sand. Add a third coat with a 12-inch knife. Let that dry and sand it. Our Hyde dust free sander with sanding sponge attachment worked great for making this a nearly no-mess job.
You’ll see that when you know how to tape drywall it takes a little finesse, but it’s well worth it when you can make an ugly mess beautiful in just an afternoon.
