Sealing drywall seams - process features

Sealing drywall joints with your own hands - selection of material and sealing algorithm

Drywall is a pliable popular material that is most often used for leveling different surfaces. This can include uneven ceilings, floors, and walls. The installation of such elements is quite simple, but, at the end, ugly seams usually remain between the drywall sheets.

Today we will consider the features and nuances of sealing drywall joints between sheets of material.

Most often, a reliable and sturdy frame made of wood or metal should be installed in advance for laying drywall boards.

Even if such a structure is made perfectly and has a sufficient number of required profiles, the seams between the sheets will still be very noticeable.

The need to seal the gaps

Of the size will directly depend on the edge condition of the cladding material and the possibility of resizing drywall sheets in conditions of temperature changes. If you do not seal up the seams that have formed between the sheets, then the surface of the drywall structure may become uneven or it will seem like this - both options are undesirable. Moreover, the coating, which has joints that are conspicuous, look sloppy.

Usually the seams between the gypsum board are formed if the lathing is not rigid enough or there are not many profiles in the structure.

For example, under the weight of drywall panels, metal frames can be deformed. This will cause the tiled edges to protrude unevenly. Such unsightly seams between panels can appear due to the loss of linear structural dimensions. Such phenomena can most often occur due to temperature changes. The minimum shear of the sheets in this case can lead to the fact that the material is cracked.

Without sealing the seams, the facing material will quickly deteriorate, because its edges will be directly influenced by external factors - to absorb moisture or even dry out.

Please note that you should also take into account that without finishing the joints, ugly stains will appear on the surface of drywall, which is painted or pasted over with wallpaper. After a while, finishing materials are completely capable of detaching from such a base.

What can be used

The joints between drywall boards can be sealed with various materials. Let's take a closer look at the most popular ones.

Paper ribbons

This material is sold in rolls. The length of the tape is usually 50 meters, 76 or even 153 meters, the width is 5.2 cm. Such materials are made of special paper, which is characterized by a high degree of strength. It is reinforced with glass fiber both in the longitudinal and also in the transverse direction.

Usually, the surface of the paper tape is characterized by the roughness of the texture, which provides a more reliable and high-quality adhesion to the putty on the gypsum surface.The paper tape has a special insert, which is depressed and located in the center. Thanks to this element, it is very convenient and simple to use the material. What's more, paper tapes are great for sealing off structural corners.

Such material is not susceptible to stretching, crushing, unlike ordinary masking tape.

Naturally, paper tape is not an ideal material in all respects, and it has disadvantages. These include a rather laborious installation process, especially if we compare it with the installation of a simple serpyanka. Such material is susceptible to the appearance of air bubbles if there is an insufficient layer of putty on the base. To avoid such shortcomings, it is recommended to buy perforated tapes. Bubbles appear much less often under it.

Self-adhesive serpyanka

Do-it-yourself drywall seams using a serpyanka. It is sold in rolls with a width of 4.5 and 5 cm, and the length can be from 20 to 90 meters. Self-adhesive serpyanka is suitable for sealing joints between drywall panels, which have a thinned edge. Moreover, this material can be used to seal base cracks or small holes.

At the moment, in hardware stores you can find many options, a durable and high-quality serpyanka, which you can tear. Such a mesh can be self-adhesive or non-self-adhesive. By the way, the last type of serpyanka is more affordable, but its installation is laborious. When using self-adhesive serpyanka, it is required to take into account such a detail - it is important to keep the already started roll of material only in plastic bags so that the adhesive layer does not dry out and does not lose its properties.

Putty

This is also a very important component that is required for sealing joints on the gypsum board.

Experts advise to cover up the joints with a high quality putty, which will not shrink and will not crack after a while. Moreover, the putty mixture should create a firm and smooth surface on the plaster base. These requirements are met by the proprietary formulations produced by Knauf.

Primer solution

This composition is important to protect the material from fungal colonies and mold. Moreover, drywall sheets that are coated with a primer are not so afraid of contact with moisture.

Usually the primer is applied to the substrate in a couple of layers.

Plaster mortar

It is the plaster that will serve as a topcoat, creating a perfectly neat and even surface. Moreover, the plaster mix can provide additional protection to the gypsum board, as well as a high degree of adhesion to other coatings that will be applied later.

Required tools

Before starting to seal joints between drywall sheets, you should prepare fixtures and tools:

1. Set spatulas.Craftsmen advise buying three main types of tools - narrow, medium and wide.

   The latter will be the least useable, but it can be used to quickly and easily smooth seams.

2. Falcon. Such a tool will not be required to purchase, but many craftsmen use it quite often. Sokol is a special device for working with a mixture of putty. It is made of a handle and a flat plate.

3. Building level. Masters advise choosing between a bubble and a laser instrument.
4. You can buy or rent a special machine to putty walls.
5. Drill with mixer attachment.
6. Roller and brush for priming solution.

7. Clean timber.
8. Sandpaper.
9. A special construction knife.

Buy only reliable and high-quality tools from popular companies. As a rule, they have a high cost, but they are distinguished by their reliability and degree of strength, and therefore it will be much more efficient and convenient to work with them.

Algorithm of the process

When you have stocked up with a putty for sealing drywall seams, as well as the necessary tools, you can safely proceed to sealing joints on drywall. Let's take a closer look at how such work will be done.

Preparation

Drywall must be securely and firmly fixed to the surface on the battens. Clean the surface of the base from dust and dirt. If there are burrs at the joints, then they should be removed with construction knives.

There should be no elements on the seams and drywall that protrude and other defects. the base can be wiped with a simple cloth. But if there is a drywall construction that has stood for a while, then it should be cleaned as best as possible. Also, be sure to check the caps of the screws. Most craftsmen neglect this step, which in the future leads to the "stumbling" of the spatula on such elements during the application of the mortar.

you should walk with your hand over the attachment points. If the self-tapping screw protrudes above the surface in the area, you will definitely notice this. In this case, the cap should be carefully sunk into the material using a screwdriver or screwdriver. Factory sheet edges should not be reworked. But if the materials have joints of straight end sides or cut parts, then you can trim a little.

The attachment point should be chamfered at an angle of 45 degrees. Width and depth parameters should be 0.5 cm. Cutting should be done with a construction knife.

Before direct grouting, apply a layer of primer to the plasterboard surface.

If you bought a concentrate, then it should be diluted with water in certain proportions, which are indicated on the package. If you decide to stock up on the ready-made mixture, then it should be mixed well, and then applied to drywall. Here it should be borne in mind that the processed planes are perfectly visible on the sheets, because the whole process should be kept under strict control.Seams should be primed 15 cm on both sides of the joint.

Sealing of seams

It is possible to proceed to sealing the seams only after proper preparation of the base:

1. It is important to putty the joints with paper tape, and earlier the technology was a little different - at the very beginning he applied the composition, and then the serpyanka was sunk.

   Today everything is different - the tapes have adhesive coatings, and therefore they should be carefully glued to the base. When the joints between the slabs are pasted over with a serpyanka, the excess material should be removed with a knife.

2. Before starting the filling of joints, prepare the mixture. To do this, take a clean container and pour the required amount of water into it. Next, pour the composition of putties into it.

   The required proportions are usually indicated on the branded packaging.

3. After the components must be carefully until a homogeneous mass is obtained. For this, it is recommended to use a drill with a mixer attachment. With such tools, the mixture will be better.
4. Next, take a little plasterboard filler and place it on a wide trowel with another tool that is a little narrower.

   To begin with, fill in the seams between the sheets of drywall, and move across the joint, covering the depression, and pressing the putty solution into it.

5. Then align the mixture along the seams so that the groove in the seam is completely filled. This requires a 20 cm spatula, and as for straight joints with a chamfered cut, and to level them, apply the mortar in large stripes up to 15 cm in each direction.
6. To strengthen the corners of the structure, it is recommended to glue a serpentine mesh with a width of 10 cm. It will protect the material from cracking, and it is better to finish such areas with a special corner spatula.

   Such a tool is made for both external and internal corners.

7. After the base has dried, its surface should be leveled with a sanding block, sandpaper and a special abrasive mesh. If, after sanding the coating, you find any flaws on it, then it should be repaired and leveled again.

So, with your own hands you can prepare the base for wallpaper or paint.

Useful tips

Here are some tips:

• When using a self-adhesive serpyanka, you should not waste time in vain so as not to spoil your work.

  Gradually unscrew the tape, and press it to the attachment points of the gypsum board or the opening that is located between the panel or the floor.

• Experts advise using gypsum plaster for such work, and these solutions are also excellent in that they allow the wall surfaces to "breathe".
• For priming drywall sheets, it is better to use an acrylic composition, since there are many harmful substances in the facade solutions.
• When gluing the mesh, try to overlap the fixings on the plaster wall.
• When preparing the mixture for puttying, it is recommended to knead no more than 5 liters at a time, because it begins to dry out in the next 1/2 hour.

  Because of this, you will need to throw away the hardened putty if you don't have time to spend it.

• If you are using gypsum plaster, you should remember that it is incompatible with ceramics, chipboard or stone.
• Do not seal the seams with an oil-glue putty mixture, as it shrinks a lot.
• For the work to be successful, the temperature in the space must not be lower than +10 degrees. Humidity should be within normal limits.

• Use only branded and high quality materials.
• Use clean containers and tools for work.
• If you notice that spots have appeared or the wallpaper has begun to move away from the base, this means that the sealing of the joints was made poorly and incorrectly.

There is a video below, and you can watch a master class on sealing joints on drywall sheets.

( 3 marks, average 2 of 5 )