Learned the hard way about not pre-filling gaps on butt joints

I was doing a job in a basement last month in Nashville and got too confident. Just slapped mud right over these quarter-inch gaps on a butt joint without pre-filling them first. Came back the next day and the tape was all bubbled up and loose. Had to cut out 3 feet of tape, fill the gaps with hot mud, and re-tape the whole thing. Took me an extra 2 hours easy. Anyone else skip this step when you're in a rush and regret it?

3 comments

3 Comments

lewis.brian19d ago

Me too @grant155, had to rip out 4 feet of tape on a garage job last week.

bailey.jennifer19d ago

Filling with hot mud just creates unnecessary stress on the job, @grant155. Pre-fill with regular all-purpose and you avoid all that cracking and pulling later. Tape and bed in one pass is fine if you keep your mud wet and your knife clean.

grant15519d ago

Man, I did the same thing on a basement job last year and had to tear out a whole ceiling strip because of it. Hot mud pre-fill is the only way now, learned that lesson the hard way.