|
Tips for great drywall corner finishing
Every drywall job has inside and outside corners to deal with. If you can work the mud on flat boards, then you can achieve a great drywall corner finish too. There are a variety of drywall inside and outside corner tools on the market, skip them and use the same tools that you used for the flat wall work. I have tried them all, and none work as well as flat drywall knives.
OUTSIDE CORNERS
To get a great finish on drywall outside corners, you will need to use drywall corner bead. Corner bead is either plastic or galvanized metal, it comes in lengths of 10’, so you will in all likelihood, need a pair of tin snips to cut it to the proper length. You will also need a sufficient amount of 1-1/2” galvanized roofing nails to attach the bead to the wall. The purpose of rigid corner bead is to keep the drywall corners from getting damaged when you move furniture and ding them or when your 3 year old rides his big wheel into the corner at maximum velocity.
Assuming that you have run your drywall as close to the edge as possible, cut the corner bead to the proper length. If you are planning on running base molding later, you can end the corner bead anywhere below the top edge of the baseboard. Attach the bead to the wall using the roofing nails, pressing the bead to the corner as you go, working from top to bottom. The little holes in the bead are for nails, the big holes are for joint compound to bind to the bead. It’s OK if you mash and bend the flat parts of the bead when you install it, the mud will cover a lot of sins. Just be careful not to damage the actual corner, because that is the part that will show up forever.
Once the bead is attached use a six inch drywall knife to apply mud to the corner, apply in the direction of the bead, with your knife overlapping the actual corner. This binds the wall and the bead together. Let it set for at least 24 hours to cure fully. After the mud has cured take your drywall knife and remove any excess from the corner. Then use a twelve inch knife to apply a second coat, this will be the finish coat. Sand the finish coat smooth using a sanding sponge. The metal corner will show through the sanded mud, that’s OK, primer and paint will cover it.
INSIDE CORNERS
Finishing an inside corner requires the same equipment as flat drywall finishing. Mud pan, six and twelve inch knives and paper tape, but you will need your tin snips here, too. There is a great product on the market called re-enforced corner tape. It is regular drywall paper tape with thin bands of metal impregnated in it. Buy it.
Apply the mud into the corner using your six inch knife, being sure to fill the joint crack. Apply enough to fill the cracks but leaving a thin layer on the surface of the board. This where the “thin coats” rule comes into effect. Cut your tape to the approximate length of the corner, using the snips. Fold the tape in half lengthwise to form a crease from end to end. Unfold the tape and apply the tape into the corner, using your six inch knife to press it into the mud as you progress from one end to the next. Don’t get too overzealous, or you will cut through the crease with the corner of your knife. Let the work set for at least 24 hours to cure.
Apply clean mud from the mud pan to each side of the corner using a six inch knife, progressing from end to end. Remember, thin coats. Let this set approximately 6-8 hours to cure, lightly sand with your sanding sponge. Then use the twelve inch knife to apply the thin finish coat in the same manner. Lightly sand and you are finished. Any over-application of mud in the corners can be sanded out with the sanding sponge.
|
