I am a homeowner that is converting a small attached garage into a bedroom. I am at the stage where my wife and I are taping the drywall. We are using paper tape and are satisfied with our progress so far.
However, the corner that is the interface between the top of the walls and the textured ceilings has me concerned. I know what to do if the ceiling was smooth but the ceiling was already installed and has a textured surface.
Should I scrape smooth an inch around the edge to bed the tape? Is there an easier answer? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.
Replies
It depends on how heavy a texture you have on the ceiling. If it's not too heavy and a medium coat of compound fills it, then it's not necessary to remove the texture.
If it's a heavy texture, rather than scrape a smooth strip, just pre-fill the texture with a coat of mud. When that's dry, tape and spackle as usual.
The real issue is going to be mis-matched textures on the ceiling... smooth around the perimeter and textured in the field. I see 3 choices: 1) crown molding, 2) re-texture the perimeter or 3) skim-coat the field. I've never had good luck matching textures so I would be leaning towards the other choices.
crown molding? caulk the seam between the ceiling and wall then shoot up some crown.
If the ceiling is intact and you don't want to mess with it, flat tape the wall, coat and then caulk if needed.
At first I was thinking popcorn texture, if it is regular texture you are going to have to match the walls to the ceiling no? Might have to smooth the ceilng and then texture, unless you are going with a heavy enough texture to blend it together.
Mike
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Edited 11/22/2009 10:06 pm by ruffmike
Look for Tear-away L-bead. Perhaps easier than flat taping for a novice. When done finishing, pull tape and caulk.
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small 3/8" x 1 1/2" board or even 1/2 drywall strip (width of your choice) will look good in the bedroom. Paint it contrast or use the same ceiling paint on it.
Don't tape at all. As others have said put up some type of molding. Or cut drywall for nice tight fit and then paintable latex caulk the joint.
I would go with molding.
So many good suggestions. The texture is not "popcorn" but rather looks like the finish that is made with a stiff bristle brush that is shoved into the wet skim coat. When it is pulled back it leaves small points probably no more that 1/16th to 1/8 of an inch in heigth.
There is one wall that needs crown molding because there is a television cable running external along the upper corner for a television upstairs. I think my wife would be happy if I just continued the concept around the rest of the walls.
My second choice is the caulk at the top of the drywall. If I use a paintable caulk and smooth it flat with the drywall, the corner edge should be pretty good once painted.
I also liked the idea of a border that mounts to the wall and abuts the ceiling. Thanks for all the ideas to ponder during my quiet times.
I think my wife would be happy if...
It sounds like the decision just became a lot easier :-)
There have been many discussions on crown molding. If you haven't done it before, be sure to do a search and, of course, feel free to ask questions.
You could scrape an inch, caulk it, and run crown around.
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what i have done in this situation is scrape smooth a 6" border around the entire room, then tape the one wall/ceiling joint with a 4" knife.
it looks good, and a lot of the textured ceilings have a decorative border already.
this only works well if the popcorn has not been painted over- it scrapes off easily.
if the popcorn has been painted, i reverse the procedure. tape with a 4" knife, and then skim a 6" border around the whole room.