caulking inside sheetrock corners=Taboo?
darrel
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I’m putting up sheetrock in our new bathroom. I have it worked out that I shouldn’t have to do too much detailed mudding. We’re putting in a ‘chair rail’ at the 4′ mark and I’ll be adding ceiling coves on the ceiling. The outside corners will have to bd done, as well as the inside corners. Staring at the inside corner, I wondered why I couldn’t just run a small bead of caulk along it and skip the mudding altogether for that.
I’ve searched through the forums and it seems as if some folks do this but it’s seen as being ‘cheap’. Is that merely an aesthetic issue or is there a structural/durability issue as well?
Replies
Wood framing expands and contracts and using caulk will eventually lose its elasticity and fail resulting in cracked caulk. Using tape will bridge the gap permanently. Take the time and do it right. This is coming from experience.
You would have a difficult time making the edge cuts so precisely that the resulting crack is small. And, like the other person said, it won't look good.
Better to fuss over mudding the corners. Then after everything is dry, if you get a hairline crack in the corner you could put a very small bead of siliconized latex caulk in the corner and smooth it with a wet finger, then paint.
caulking the inside corners works and lasts just fine.
Keep in mind ... you have to cut off the tapered edges first.
started doing it in rentals about 15 years ago .... they all still look fine.
now I sneak it in as much as possible.
cut it to fit tight
use good caulk .... top coat with good paint.
it'll last.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff,If you caulk the inside corners how do you handle the other joints?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
guess.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I'm going to try the caulk. I'll report back with photos (in a week or so...)
I caulked the inside corner along side my bedroom door 10 years ago as an experiment and it's still there with no cracks. I'm not saying that everyone should go and do this and not tape and spackle your corners but like I said it's been 10 years and it looks fine.
It's been my understanding that all drywall joints are filled with mud and taped for fire resistance- hence, the term "fire taping". When trying to minimize sound transmission it's recommended that joints be cauked to uncouple the walls from each other and the ceiling.
Interesting question for the BI.
Jim
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
In many parts of Europe that's the way it's done and it looks great. Paper taping and mudding will crack first before the caulking method does.