If you live in a climate like I do, with temps that
vary from -35 Deg F to +100 Deg F, you may have had your drywall
joints crack above or below a window or door as
shown here.
This happens because there is a joint at this location which also
happens to be an area of high stress due to temperature variation
associated with the door or window. There is a way to avoid
this: Install your drywall (also known as sheetrock) so that there is
not a joint directly above or below the window or door
as shown here.
What if you don't wish to totally redo all your
sheetrock but want to repair the crack? Here is a method I use
given step by step:
Step 0 - Quickly review
this graphic
that covers all the steps first. Then the steps below will be easier
to follow.
Step 1 - Score the drywall 1/2" to 1" on each
side of the width of the tape as shown in
this
picture.
Step 2 - Use a putty knife or an old wide
chisel (that you don't mind dulling a bit more) to lift off the old
tape. Once you get it started, it peels up in a nice continuous sheet
as shown
here.
Step 3 - Use the chisel of putty knife to
remove the surface mud out to the score marks. You want a little
more width than the tape so you can properly imbed the tape. Get as
close to the original paper surface as you can. If you take off
a little of the original drywall paper this is not a problem.
Here is a
picture of the recessed area after it has been cleaned out.
Step 4 - Cut a piece of tape for the new
joint that is about 1/8" shorter than the joint. Place some mud in a
clean mud pan and thin it slightly. To thin it, wet the 4 inch
knife down in water and mix it into the mud. Do not pour water
directly into the mud. Place a layer of mud on the entire
recessed area
as shown here. Run your tape strip through a bucket of water or
under a running faucet briefly. Shake excess water off the strip.
Place the strip onto the mud - it should adhere firmly without any air
gaps. Use a 4 inch knife to press down firmly on the tape, squeezing
the mud out the sides. You may need to hold the tape at the top
with one hand.
In this
picture, you can see that the tape is tight to the wall and most
of the mud is pressed out the sides and removed. When this tape dries,
it will be well below the painted surface of you wall and can be
coated and finished level with the wall.
Step 5 - After the tape of step 4 is
thoroughly dry, use a taping knife to knock off any ridges that may be
present that will prevent you from smoothly drawing off the mud in the
next coat. You will have something that
looks like
this. Then,
place a coat
of very slightly thinned mud over the tape. Use a
10-inch knife
to draw the mud off so it is flush with the painted surface
as shown
here. Note: In the picture you may notice a drag mark.
This was due to using some old mud for this patch job. Not a big
deal since you will coat over it and fill it in with the next coat.
Let this dry. You may be tempted to sand this and paint at this
point. Don't! You need to add at least one more
coat over the top since what you have will shrink with time and leave
a well-defined dip in the wall.
Step 6 - When the previous coat is thoroughly
dry, scrape off any high spots or bumps of drywall with your taping
knife as
shown here. (Don't SAND!) Then add a coat that overlaps the
recess by an inch or so on each side
as shown
here. Firmly draw this coat down with a wet-down 10-inch
knife. At this point you have filled in the recess fairly well (see
this pic) but you may wish to add one more coat (as
shown here) over the top just to make sure to account for
shrinkage. Here
is a picture of the final coat after being drawn down.
Step 7 - After the coat is dry, knock off any
high spots. Sand very lightly only as needed, prime, and paint
or repeat Step 6 and with a coat that overlaps the previous coat if
needed. Take care not to sand much (if at all) in the joint area
or you will very quickly sand out a depression.
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