Paper or Mesh?

tburritt

I don't do a lot of new construction mostly remod and was woundering what tape do you use? Is one superior to the other?

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DRYWALLDAN

I Use Mesh For Patching And Small Jobs On Flats But I Feel Paper Is Better For Angles Due To The Crease Helpes Make Clean Ceiling Lines...my 21 Years Of Experience Opinion...

pacesafety

I agree with Dan. Mesh for patches is the only way to go. Making paper disappear takes way too much time and material

savant

Ditto

BoB The Fixer

I use mesh for everything , and paper for corners. sometimes i also use mesh for corners, for me i prefere mesh , but both are good for the job !

cheers

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Brockster

I mesh all short tapes (flats) like next to door ways and the short ones next to windows. I put on the mesh tape as I'm cutting out blowouts and coat the mesh on prefill that way the short flats ore out of the way. (Wiping out short flats are a pain for me.) Also, I mesh flats in the closets because that is much easier than getting the bazookee in there.

OraarO

I am fairly new to drywall taping and finishing, but an experienced guy who taught me some things doesn't ever use mesh on seams because he claims it cracks. He showed me a job he took over, and the previous guy taped the ceiling joints with mesh. There was a hairline crack running down the seam.

Is this caused by the material used, or ceiling shifting? (I know, no one can see the problem here, but anyone else hear anything like that theory?)

butcherman

It's most likely caused because some guys put the mesh on and then second coat it. You have to set the mesh by slaping compound in and taking it off. This is to work the compound and the mesh into the joint. Don't use lightweight compounds. They tend to come back out and don't set as well as all purpose compound. (Why isn't any one posting here anymore?)

OraarO

Butcherman -

Do you mean that you need to put down a coat of quickset, and then apply the mesh tape?

Does the quickset need to dry first?
What do you mean by "slapping compound in and then taking it off"?

butcherman

No, sorry for the confusion. Apply the mesh to the joint first. Then slap the quickset over the mesh so it goes thru the holes into the joint. This fills the joint and bonds the mesh to the joint. Then wipe it off almost like wiping paper tape,but sweep from north to south diagonaly then south to north diagonaly. This does two things, 1) It works the mud into the joint itself better. If you don't work it into the joint your just going over the top. Then the compound sucks into the joint resulting in a crack. 2) It stops the compound from coming out to where you have to scrape it down when it dries. Also a side note have you ever noticed when you coat screws with ez sand that you have to scrape them down before you second coat? To eliminate this coat screws the normal way and take off with the double sweep. In other word apply south to north, take off north to south, then sweep south to north. This extra step keeps you from having to scrape. The same principle applies to setting the mesh. Good luck

rettt

waltip.com Mesh is for ladies stockings and hair nets at the cafeterias. I have had to repair too many low grade patch jobs with fiberglass mesh tape. The fiberglass strands always seem to be sticking out after the mud has dried . I dont buy it i dont suggest it and i do not use it !

fr8train

It could've cracked because the original finisher didn't use the right compound. If your read the fine print on a roll of mesh, it says for use with setting compound only. He probably used regular compound, and crack. Myself, I use paper, and paper only.

Stay away from the wet n stick or the peel n stink tape!! IMO, they are both junk. A buddy's house was done with the peel n stick by the previous owner. Every single seam, the tape is peeling off. I'll get over one of these days to fix it.

cooper

Mesh with hot mud, paper with taping mud. Supposedly the strongest bond of anything is mesh tape pre-filled with hot mud, or a 'setting compound.' You don't want to use any sort of hot mud with perfa tape--it just doesn't have the bonding power to hold the tape properly.

Different regions use different materials. But here in Idaho, the guys that are using mesh tape in new construction are usually not the brightest.

butcherman

Like anything, there are tricks and methods we use. If you put your mind to it you can find the way

cooper

Yeah, but the amount of shrinkage you will have using mesh vs. using perfa tape just isn't acceptable in new construction. For small patches it is fine, especially since you should be using hot mud and it will expand rather than shrink anyways. You can easily find yourself coating mesh tape three times if you are coating with regular mud. And when you are supposed to be making money taping in new construction, that equals unacceptable... At least to me....

butcherman

I agree, but if you have a small job like a bathroom i can see using mesh, even though i use paper because i feel it's more durable. But i never noticed a shrinking difference do to the tape. But then again it the situations I'm referring to i would never use regular joint compound to set mesh. What's the point in that? At that point bring out the banjo or bazooka. I do this only in multiple coat situations like finishing a bath in one day.

brdn_drywall

999 times out of a 1000 paper,if i can't use it in my taper i'm not using it ,so paper i geuss.

KingOfDrywall

"It could've cracked because the original finisher didn't use the right compound. If your read the fine print on a roll of mesh, it says for use with setting compound only. He probably used regular compound, and crack. Myself, I use paper, and paper only".
This is absolutely right. I hate it when people use to tell me....."mesh sucks it cracks"
Make sure you use quickset with mesh. And as for Tape.....Green lid......not plus 3 or topping. I notice alot of people and even some drywallers act like the color of the lid on the bucket or the color of the box is a matter of preference.....LMAO......IT ISN'T!!!! Usually if there is a problem with tape popping loose or mesh cracking.....it's the misuse of a product. Not the weather, or the name brand ,or the house is shifting,.....it just wasn't done right.

TooledUp

Most guys over here, even seasoned tool tapers, use mesh for flats now. One coat of 90 minute then one coat of regular to finish and a perfect job every time. Maybe why a lot of people fail with mesh is the actual tools used to apply the mud and skim the joint. 99.9% use a hawk and trowel here rather than a wipe down knife and mud tray.

I'm thinking of getting a monster mesh applicator and using the boxes to apply the 90 minute. Just gotta be careful to clean the boxes and pump out beefore it sets lol.

Nobody that I know uses mesh for corners. - Never heard of it done around here. The majority of the mesh rolls we get do not recommend for corners anyway...

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KingOfDrywall

that's what I'm a big fan of.....lol
2 guys can mesh 300 sheets in about 1/2 hour. Than use 90 minute quickset in the mud box and bed coat it, having the second guy removing any lap marks right behind you with a 10" knife. After that sets up((as long as you did a super tight-clean bed coat), you can top it with plus 3 before you finish out for the day. Back in the day when I worked for another drywall company it was paper tape only. That would leave us only with the possibility of taping out a large job in 1 day. You can't mud over top of wet paper tape. So after taping everything....that'd be it for that day. To me paper tape vs. mash is a no-brainer. Now, if the seams are rough and beat up....I may consider using paper tape on some of them.