Warning: I keep seeing guys skip the second coat of mud on inside corners

Just finished a punch list on a big condo job where every single inside corner was cracking after 6 months. The other crew only did one coat with paper tape and called it good. My old boss in Tampa drilled into me that you need two thin coats minimum, letting each dry fully, or the tape just pops. How many of you actually do the second coat versus trying to save time?

4 comments

4 Comments

felixlane1mo ago

Used to think one coat was fine until my own corners cracked.

nelson.wren1mo ago

My first house flip in Austin had the same problem. Every inside corner split open after the first hot summer. I had to go back and redo every single one with two thin coats of mud over paper tape. It added a week to the project, but that was ten years ago and those corners are still perfect. Now I never skip it, even on small jobs.

nancy_king298d ago

I mean, I gotta push back a little here. @ross.christopher's crew in Phoenix might be onto something with mesh tape and one heavy coat. I've seen guys in this area do that same method and those corners hold up fine through way more humidity than you'd expect. It's all about getting the mud packed in there tight and letting it dry fully before painting, not about how many coats you use. Paper tape can bubble up on you if you don't do it just right, and two thin coats just means twice the chance for something to go wrong. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather do one solid pass and move on to the next house.

ross.christopher1mo ago

My crew in Phoenix has been using mesh tape with a single heavy coat for years. Never had a callback for corner cracks.