Job site in Phoenix last month split our crew on taping vs. no taping inside corners

We had a big house in Phoenix last month, about 3,500 square feet. Half the crew said to tape every inside corner with paper tape and the other half said just use compound and skip the tape on tight corners. The foreman let us do both ways on different rooms to compare. After two weeks the taped corners had zero cracks but took longer. The untaped ones were faster but we already see hairline cracks in the dry heat. Which way do you guys lean for desert climates like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathankim15d ago

Huh, nobody's talking about the real issue here which is that in Phoenix dry heat you're fighting the mud drying out too fast on those untaped corners. That's why you're seeing hairline cracks already, the compound shrinks and pulls away because it's setting up before you can get it worked in right. Paper tape gives you a mechanical bond that holds even when the moisture leaves fast, and it's cheap insurance against that 110 degree sun sucking everything dry in an hour.

walker.julia16d ago

Sounds like a classic race to see who gets to redo the most corners by next summer.

felixm2916d ago

Redoing corners is like painting a room, you think you're done then notice a spot you missed and next thing you know you're ripping out baseboards and repainting the whole thing. Someone's gonna end up redoing the same driveway three times because the neighbor's guy used the wrong kind of asphalt and now it's all cracked. My money's on whoever has the loudest truck showing up at 7am on a Saturday. Might as well start a betting pool at this point.