Finishing Curved Walls

raven2006

I am working on some walls that are curved in and out. Wondering if anyone has any tips on how to finish the joints. They are flour to ceiling joints. It doesn't seem to work the same as flat walls!

Brockster

First off, shoot the hanger.

How big are the curved walls. Just asking in order to give you a better answer.

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dryrocker27

Shoot the hangers twice. we hang curved walls horizonally, using a double layer of 1/4" rock. Seams finish fine

if the wall is wavy as you say, span the high spot with the middle of the board and put the butt joints in the trougth if possible.

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Robert

raven2006

Will definatly give the hangers crap, horizontally makes way more sense. The walls are 13 feet high, and about 20 feet wide, there's 3 of them. There are no butt joints.

dryrocker27

Raven2006 - Hopefully you and your company were not responsible for the installation of the drywall, if not consider the following:
1. Present the problem to the general contractor-you already know how hard it is to finish the seams correctly
2. Remove the drywall and install new rock horizonally
3. Finish as normal
If your crew was responsible for the poor hanging, make them correct the problem, learn from the mistake and move forward

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Robert

Tim0282

Is there room to add one layer of flex 1/4 inch rock on top of wall? Sure would help your finishing. I suppose you could prime with plaster weld and thin coat plaster the wall like it is hung.

taper71

You could order these from all wall. I think you can get overnight shipping for more money, just charge it to whomever. I have never used them, but they have them for inner and outer curves. Good luck.

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SelfContract

Or search eBay for cheap/used drywall tools.

dryrocker27

Taper71- the tool is a great concept-however the frustration level is very high as you go thru the learning curve. If the curve of the mud does not match the curve of the wall, you will see the joints.

Horizontal installation is the way to go on curved walls.

Hey tim0282-great idea. however, if the hangers come back and correct the problem-they will not make the same mistake twice. Expessualy if they fix it at their expense.

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Robert

raven2006

The wall is already double sheeted, but I will talk to them and see what I can do. My company is definatly not responsible. It sucks because it is the front entry room in a fitness gym so I want it to look good.

dryrocker27

Raven2006- Hope all works out for you!!

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Robert

Brockster

I've tackled F-ed up curved walls in two different ways or a combination of both and they turned out nicely.
Bend your best 12-14 or 16 inch knife to the radius of the wall and use a couple layers of mesh then prefill with durabond. Next I used durabond with my bent 14" and went up and down filling and making it as round as possible (trying not to leave it higher and worse than I first started), leaving all lap marks in the middle for easier scraping/sanding. With finish mud start on one side of the butt and coat that side, wait to dry and coat the other half. Sand down and touch up.

Or you can do this too; You know how we box but joints by raising up the sides of the butts using mud and our boxes? Do that only using a 10 or 12" knife going horizontally across your wall being careful to fill and keep your radius looking pretty by the butt joint. Do that all the way down the butt joints leaving an inch or two between like we do boxing our butts. Let dry and now fill the same way like when we second coat our butts.

Using both methods is probably your best bet. Either way with that big of a wall you will end up with butt joints anyhow so might as well not bitch and just finish the mess with a big smile on your face. Relax, cool your jets and enjoy the challenge.

Good luck and hope you can understand these tips...

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taper71

Dryrocker:
I understand what you are trying to say about the learning curve, but any professional finisher knows how to manipulate the mud to achieve a nice feathered edge with minimal high spots. Whether this takes you 2 coats or 12 coats to achieve is what seperates the person learning - from the seasoned finisher. Heck I have cut up bucket lids to make my own special coaters when the application requires it.
I find alot of finishers find it convienient to blame the boarders when in fact they do not trust their abilities enough to tackle the problem and just get the job done. Nothing makes you feel better than turning a mess into something smooth and paintable.

taper71

Raven take some pics , they really help when trying to asses a problem. Is the framing steal stud or wood ?

Tim0282

Just run your knife horizontal and just feel the mud across the wall. You'll be able to float it smooth. Use a ten inch first then your twelve. Easier to keep knife marks out. And you could still run a scratch coat of plaster and one finish and you would have it. The old time plasters would nail on a wire lath right over the studs and brown coat about three quarters of an inch thick and a finish about one quarter thick.
You can do it with mud.
Tim

raven2006

It is steel studs in most of the building, but I think the curved walls are wood. I will take some pictures today. Putting the mud on horizontally seems to make the most sense, I had already been trying that.

Tim0282

Raven
Just keep adding mud. The next coats will just be thinner and thinner until perfectly smooth. No problem, it is always our job to fix the hangers hanging. That's why we are the finishers and they are the hangers. Sometimes they have to be educated to make our job easier. You'll help them know better next time, I bet.
Tim

mrp

You may want to see if you like using plaster darby for this sort of work.

Tim0282

I've never tried a darby with drywall mud. Would it work the same as plaster? I don't know why not. Sorry answered my own question...

raven2006

Here's some pictures. I'm almost finished one wall, putting the mud on horizontally seems to work.