so i watched like 5 youtube videos and figured i could handle taping my garage conversion. just finished my first coat and honestly it looks terrible. the tape is bubbling in some spots and i can already see the mesh through the mud in other areas. do i need to rip it all off and start over or can this be fixed? feeling pretty defeated right now tbh
8 Comments
Relax dude, this is fixable. The bubbling usually means you didnt press the tape down enough or theres air pockets underneath. You can actually just add more mud over it on your next coat. For the spots where you can see mesh, same thing - just needs another coat or two. Its all about building up layers.
wait seriously? i dont have to peel it all off? thats a huge relief. how long should i wait before the second coat?
nah man just let it dry completely - like overnight or until its all white with no gray spots. then sand down any high spots lightly and do your second coat. youll probably need 3 coats total tbh
Did you use paper tape or mesh? Mesh is honestly terrible for beginners imo. Its way harder to get right. Paper tape with premixed all purpose mud is the way to go for flat seams.
My first taping job looked like a 5 year old did it lol. 4 garages and 2 basements later i can actually do invisible seams. Point is dont give up - everyone sucks at first. The difference is pros do it enough that the muscle memory kicks in.
100% this. Also want to add that the knife angle makes a huge difference. Keep it at like 30 degrees and drag the mud thin on the edges. Took me forever to figure out why my seams always had ridges on the sides
how did it turn out? Just curious because i literally did the same thing last month. my first coat looked horrible but by the 3rd coat things started coming together. the sanding between coats is what made the difference for me. not too much, just knocking down the high spots
late to this but wanted to add something nobody mentioned yet. get yourself a bright work light and hold it at a low angle against the wall between coats. youll see every ridge and bubble that needs attention before you put the next coat on. i wasted so much time on my first project because i was mudding in garbage lighting and didnt see my mistakes until after painting. also dont use the same knife to apply and smooth, use a wider one for smoothing. 6 inch for applying 10 or 12 for feathering out