TIL about taping corners with paper instead of mesh

I was grabbing coffee at the shop on 5th Street yesterday and overheard this old timer telling a young guy you should never use mesh tape on inside corners because it doesn't fold clean. He said paper tape gives you a sharper line every time and you get less cracking later. I always just grabbed whatever roll was closest, but now I'm gonna stick to paper for corners and see if my finish looks better. Anyone else switched and noticed a difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace_allen2d agoTop Commenter

Paper tape still needs a little mud behind it or it'll bubble up.

emery_lopez2d ago

Paper tape definitely needs that thin bed of mud underneath or you're asking for trouble down the road... @grace_allen is right about that. I've seen guys skip that step and come back a week later to bubbles that just keep getting worse no matter how many times you try to flatten them. The key is to keep that base coat real thin though, just enough to get the paper to stick without squeezing out all over the place. If you lay it too thick it can cause the tape to wrinkle up and that's a whole different kind of headache to fix later on.