I just purchased a new home. It is adobe construction with some interior walls made of adobe. Problem: At least one interior wall runs into a traditional 2X4 and sheet rock wall (not a corner; one part of wall is adobe and then transitions to sheet rock). When I moved in the joint was covered by a 1X4 board. Looked pretty ugly. The adobe is covered with stucco as is the sheet rock. Idea was not to see the transition. I want to remove the 1X4 but am uncertain of how to join the two materials. I suspect the adobe and sheet rock expand and contract a a considerable different rate. What is the best way to cover this joint?
Thanks.
Bob
Replies
I've not worked with adobe but I do a lot of log and timber frame work and where two differing materials meet (like logs and sheetrock) there's a caulking called "Log Jam" that is really just a good quality flexible caulking available in the big tubes or buckets or whatever. Like a marine caulking, it bonds well and is flexible, paintable, etc., when cured. I don't know how it would bond with adobe, however. You might have to cheat in a transition piece at the seam where the adobe and rock meet and bring the caulking over it.
Good luck!
My supplier for Log Jam is Schroeder Log Home Supply http://www.loghelp.com or 1-800-359-6614
Edited 4/18/2002 12:23:53 AM ET by Notchman
Thanks for the help. I will try it. I did try the web like tape and noted a small crack at the top. Something flexible seems to be the key.
Bob
Could you learn to love the 1x4? Could you do some decorating thing with more wood so that you're not just looking at a straight stick? I've never found anything that doesn't eventually separate. Would love to find something. Polyurethane caulk seems to be the best, but even it fails after a few years. You're right about expansion/contraction. Don't bother with something normal like drywall tape. Doesn't work for long. Are the surfaces flush? Or does the frame T into the adobe since the frame is a smaller dimension?
I've got a trick for beam and deck ceilings meeting the walls, but if I understand you this is a cross wall and as you look at it you've got sheetrock(or probably plaster board) on one side and adobe on the other. Correct? Ugly little transition.
They put stucco on the inside? You sure? If you really want to do some work, suppose that you could remove the plaster about a foot on each side, nail up some expanded metal and replaster. That would probably work. That's what they should have done in the first place. But you'd have to feather out the plaster really well to make it look right.
Shelley
Bob,
Forgot to tell you that I used butyl caulk once. Now that I think about it, worked better than polyurethane.
Shelley