I finally stopped using the cheap tape and mud from Home Depot on every job

For years I grabbed whatever 5 gallon bucket of premix was cheapest, usually the USG all-purpose, and standard paper tape. I figured drywall is drywall, right? Then I did a ceiling repair in a client's house last spring where the tape started peeling within 3 months. Had to go back, cut it out, and redo the whole patch for free. The owner told me he'd used FibaFuse on his other rentals and never had a problem. Now I spend the extra $12 per roll on mesh tape and use the green lid compound for flat work. Has anyone else had a job come back to bite them over cheap materials?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nina1mo ago

Green lid changed everything for me too, night and day difference.

charlie_ellis1mo ago

Oh come on, @the_nina, is it really "night and day" though? I swapped to the green lid and honestly barely noticed a difference. Maybe my taste buds are broken but I swear it's like 90% the same experience except now I'm paying extra for the privilege of a different colored cap. Feels like one of those things where if you did a blind taste test most people couldn't tell you which was which.

skylerp311mo ago

Man @charlie_ellis might be onto something though... what if it's batch variation not the lid color?