Drywall Textured Ceiling Tape Joint Repair

[George Bokros]

I have a tape joint on a textured drywall ceiling that has come loose. The tape is still there but loose from the drywall about 12" long. The ceiling is textured so removing the tape and replacing it is not the best option because of the challenge of matching the texture.

How would you make the repair?

Thanks.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Could you apply construction adhesive behind it ? I find it grabs pretty good.

[George Bokros]

Could you apply construction adhesive behind it ? I find it grabs pretty good.

All that is loose is the seam tape not the board. Don't think construction adhesive will work.

[Al Launier]

I think Yonak meant to glue the loose tape to the sheetrock using construction adhesive. If construction glue doesn't work, although I think it would, applied lightly, then other glues could be tested & used.

[Erik Loza]

I tried essentially the same thing and the results were terrible. At least according to my wife. But I am no drywall guy, either. We ended up hiring a real drywall guy to come out and repair it. Cost a few hundred $$$ but you can't tell it ever was repaired. Guess it all depends on what your priorities are. Personally, I would have left it like it was but it was the holidays and it was in the guest bedroom, we had family coming in, my wife was pretty unhappy with the appearance, so maybe you know how the decision gets made...

Erik

[Rich Engelhardt]

I always just use drywall mud.
Smear some on the spot where the tape goes, then use a paint brush and smear more on the face of the tape as you push it back into place.
A little daubing with the brush should blend it all back in.

[Tom M King]

chucksceilingsmall.jpgThe only way to do it right is to take the old tape, mud, and maybe all the texture off the ceiling. A wet sponge will resoften any of the mud, and allow you to scrape it off. Try not to disturb the paper board surface, which will also be softened by the water. Typically, if it's a single room, we'll put a beaded board ceiling over the sheetrock mess. Picture attached. It ends up being less work in the long run. Seams are covered with MDF "boards".+-

[George Bokros]

The only way to do it right is to take the old tape, mud, and maybe all the texture off the ceiling. A wet sponge will resoften any of the mud, and allow you to scrape it off. Try not to disturb the paper board surface, which will also be softened by the water. Typically, if it's a single room, we'll put a beaded board ceiling over the sheetrock mess. Picture attached. It ends up being less work in the long run. Seams are covered with MDF "boards".+-

This is a bedroom so the beaded board ceiling is not an option and neither is taking all the mud off the ceiling. The loose tape is only about 14" long. There has to be some method to do this without reworking the entire ceiling.

[Bob Vavricka]

For your situation my first inclination would to use a little white glue avoiding too much squeeze out. Wiping off any squeeze off and keeping some light pressure on it with a slightly damp cloth--3 -5 minutes should be enough time for it to stick. The taping compound would work, but in my experience be more messy and difficult to work under the tape without tearing it. Let us know what you do and how it worked. Good Luck.

[Tom M King]

Hopefully the problem is just that the finishers just squeezed too much mud out from under the tape. I'd take the texture off with a wet sponge along that section of tape so you can use a knife to squeeze it back down properly with a little mud under the tape. You can find various texture patching stuff in Lowes and Home Depot. I've never seen any patch work that makes a good match, so good luck.

[Sam Murdoch]

You might just try staples. I know it's not your first thought but if all you want to do is hold the tape - hold the tape. A few dabs of drywall compound and paint will hide the fix. Maybe?

Alternatively you might be able to slice the 12" section in two -peel back the two pieces spray each with a 3M type adhesive and gently lay it back into place. The super tac stuff should hold the weight of the textured tape.

On the other hand and just FYI - I just recently finished a job that required removing 4 popcorn ceilings. The original plan was to strap over then re-sheetrock. One ceiling was so perforated with old light fixture holes and then new holes for new lights that we decided to simply apply 3/8" sheetrock directly to the old screwed into the easily located strapping. Came out great. The other 3 ceilings we decided to sand or scrape the popcorn texture off. Thought it might require special equipment but after all it was just scraping and vacuuming. Lots of dust as you can imagine but with one person sucking and the other scraping it all came off beautifully. A light sanding and minimal retaping and we were done.

[Neil Gaskin]

There is no need to scrape all of the texture off the ceiling. You do however need to remove the bad tape section and redo it. The tape did not adhere properly to the drywall behind and there is no other repair then replacement. You do not need to take All the entire tape joint just the section that is loose. You can then rebooted the tape and fill with joint compound and apply texture blended into the existing ceiling.

All of that sounds harder than it really is but without the right equipment is difficult. Stay away from the "texture in a can" Products they do not work well. You should be able to find a local drywaller to do this for you for a modest amount.

Around me it would cost approximately $200 not including painting. We charge around 400 to 500 for most minor patches like that including wall and ceiling painting. Size of the patch is not all that important so long as it's a few square feet.

[Jay Jolliffe]

When I was in the painting field I use to spray the textured ceilings every so often. There is no easy fix that will look like it wasn't repaired....As far as using a damp sponge that will take the texture of...You might luck out if paint was sprayed over it.

[julian abram]

There is no need to scrape all of the texture off the ceiling. You do however need to remove the bad tape section and redo it. The tape did not adhere properly to the drywall behind and there is no other repair then replacement. You do not need to take All the entire tape joint just the section that is loose. You can then rebooted the tape and fill with joint compound and apply texture blended into the existing ceiling.

All of that sounds harder than it really is but without the right equipment is difficult. Stay away from the "texture in a can" Products they do not work well. You should be able to find a local drywaller to do this for you for a modest amount.

Around me it would cost approximately $200 not including painting. We charge around 400 to 500 for most minor patches like that including wall and ceiling painting. Size of the patch is not all that important so long as it's a few square feet.

Agree with what Neil said here. Removing all the textured ceiling to make this repair is killing an ant with a sledge hammer.