Problem In Corners

woodchuck2

My wife and i are having a problem in a customers home that we are painting. This home was built in 76 and i dont beleive it has been painted since. The paint/drywall had cracks everywhere from age and settling so i have been going through making the repairs before painting. The problem my wife is having is when she is cutting in the corners and then painting the corners appear to be soaking up the paint and are now rippling. These are corners i have not repaired and appeared to be fine from the get go. I took a couple pics and will post them. Thanks for your help.

woodchuck2

Here are 2 pics i took, you can see that it is just the corner that is rippling so i am inclined to beleive it is the tape joint only that is rippling. One pics is very faint but you can make out a ripple in the corner joint just before the end of the new paint and the old paint.

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monkey

I will be curious what everyone says but I think that has to be re-taped . Is that a cathedral or a way the pic made it look?
It looks like the moisture in the paint softened up the flat paint,the jc, and the tape.....

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woodchuck2

The home has your normal 9' ceiling. Retaping would suck. I dont beleive i am doing anything wrong, i am wondering if i should wipe down the ceilings with a damn sponge before painting. I would let it dry of course. I will be wiping down the walls when i paint them since i already sanded them.

monkey

I just looked at the pics again...
Is this just one room?
I have a somewhat similar job for a long term customer...
They had a bad taping job on a rental property
I fix it room by room ....
over several years....

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javatom

Maybe it is some sort of chemical reaction. Is your paint a latex product? I have also seen this when someone has skim coated compound over wall paper. It can work if the paint has a low water content. Is there any chance that you have wall paper under this?

ModernStyle

I have ran into this before, I just cut the old tape out and re-tape it with mesh and quick set. I dont really see any other way to fix it, it isnt gonna flatten out, so do it right and be done with it I figure.

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monkey

retaping will suck...!!!!!
I thought maybe it had angled wall to ceiling to wall joints and I have seen some very poor drywall work. I have also seen some great taping work.
Its hard to get around the fact that those ripples in the tape have no contact with the drywall.
The job I referenced is a long time T+M customer but fixing the existing problems is not something I look forward to.
I'm not sure any of this made sense but that is what the drywall forum is for I guess.

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Dustyrose

Yep. That is drywall tape. See how the ripples all stop at the same point about 1.5" from the corner? Wallpaper reacts differently. We will save that for another day.
Do as Modern noted using self stick mesh drywall tape.

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monkey

If that area in the pic is the biggest problem on this job then cut it out ,mesh tape patch, move on....
I was comparing this to a job that had the worst taping job I've ever seen ,I don't even wan't the job of fixing it in an occupied residence.
paper tape is probably fine with jc behind it.
I like the mesh tape in a rebar kind of way but with no real backup.

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ModernStyle

Paper tape is harder to work with for a novice. I just finished patching something similar to this friday, but I also had to fix the texture on the ceiling once I pulled all the old tape out. For small repairs I like the mesh, if I am taping a whole room then I will bring out the paper, I dont think the mesh works as well in large applications, but it is much easier to use for repairs.

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monkey

The "no real backup" comment was because it made sense to me but I have no scientific proof. I have had cracks reopen on plaster but not on drywall..

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Dustyrose

Really? I have heard that before from drywallers, but I find the mesh much easier to work with and I have always been please with my results. I have had nothing but problems with paper tape. Probably because I was never taught how to apply it properly.

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Workaholic

Yep, it is the proper way to fix it so you fdo not waste your time with future problems
I agree. It is because most people do not own a bazooka so they poorly apply the mud before the tape is placed. IMO

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Sean

ModernStyle

Actually I dont like to use any tape, but sometimes I have to. If a job is bigger then 1 room of taping and finishing then I will bring in a drywaller. That way I can also avoid sanding, which I hate most of all. Right now I am looking for a new drywall guy to sub from me, my last one left me hanging on a job so I wont use him again. I had him give me a quote on a job, then I told him that I would pay him $200 more then his quote because I had budgeted that much for the drywall, I was trying to be nice and hook the guy up. He seemed happy and was supposed to start on a certain day, never showed. HO calls me, I try to call him, no answer. So I go do the work myself, which puts me behind schedule because I am not fast at drywall work. I run into the guy a few weeks later and he acts all pissed off like I am the one who did him wrong. I hope to run into him again sometime without my kids with me, I will smack the bald off his head.

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MZ-HANDYMAN

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Another option is to cut thin slivers out of each bubble and mesh tape and refloat the corners, just make sure the JC gets underneath the old tape or inject it with caulking beforehand.

Dustyrose

That is why I hate depending on other people. Too often they leave you disappointed.

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woodchuck2

Well i guess i will be fixing it then. I have both the paper and the self sticking mesh. I have been using the paper for all the repairs so far but i may try the mesh. I didnt know how well it would work in the corners so thats why i havent tried it. The walls and ceiling only have paint on them and it is definitly original, i could see this when i removed the light fixtures. Apparently whomever painted it originally painted around the fixtures instead of installing them after painting. The paint i am using is Ben/Moore vinyl acrylic latex flat. Right now there is only one coat on the ceiling so i guess i will be doing these repair tomorrow so the wife can finish the ceiling. I suspect there will be problems like this throughout the house now. This job is time/materials so that helps.

nEighter

if you know it is all going to be like this I would try to prime the rest of the seams so they don't do this. Isn't it because the paint stays too wet for too long? That is what I always thought it was. So if you prime it with a quick dry primer it should do you fine. This is what I would do with the rest if I was on the job.

woodchuck2

I will have the wife prime all the joints to see if that stops it. She will be finishing the ceiling and walls in this room today. I will need to go back and repair the corners and i will have her put another coat of paint on the ceiling. Hopefully primer does the trick, i sure dont want to re-do all the corners in this home. Thanks for the help guys.