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Tried using painters tape as a cheap substitute for drywall mesh on a crack repair
I had a hairline crack in my living room ceiling that kept coming back after every patch job, so last weekend I decided to try painters tape instead of buying proper mesh tape. The crack is about 2 feet long and the tape lifted right off when I applied the joint compound, leaving me with a mess to sand down. Has anyone else found a reliable way to handle stubborn ceiling cracks without spending a fortune on specialty supplies?
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rodriguez.mia4d ago
3 bucks for a roll of mesh tape is nothing compared to the cost of redoing a ceiling patch job. i have a crack above my kitchen doorway that i tried the same shortcut with masking tape and it turned into a 4 hour sanding nightmare. proper mesh tape has fibers that grab the mud and let it bond into the crack, painters tape is basically just smooth plastic. did you try pre-filling the crack with hot mud before taping over it?
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holly7094d ago
Three bucks for mesh tape is cheaper than the mud and sandpaper you already wasted, so the math is pretty simple there. If a crack keeps coming back it's probably a structural issue not a tape problem anyway, you might be chasing shadows. Half the time the fix is just using more mud and patience instead of looking for some magical product.
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