Drywall sheets are the most popular material used in the repair process of premises. They sheathe partitions, level the walls, with their help create multi-level ceilings, niches and boxes for water pipes. The material has high technical characteristics and a long service life. But these indicators are saved only if the installation of the sheets was performed correctly.
So that products from gypsum boards for a long time do not lose their original appearance, the seams between the sheets are glued with a reinforcing tape. About how to glue a sickle on drywall, read our article.
Features of sheet building material
Drywall itself is a fairly strong material, but if the sheet loses its integrity, it begins to crumble and quickly becomes worthless. For this reason, the most vulnerable spot of gypsum boards is corners and seams. Over time, they can diverge, crack and break.
If the structure is used in damp conditions, the joints of the boards can absorb moisture and swell. Metal fasteners and self-tapping screws can begin to rust over time, as a result, red spots appear through the finish and the owners will have to do the repair again. To prevent this from happening, the seams and corners of drywall are glued with a reinforcing tape. But before gluing a sickle on drywall, the joints of the plates are treated in a special way.
Serpyanka selection criteria
The reinforcing mesh (sickle) is made of fiberglass and can have different densities and sizes. The main purpose of the tape is the restoration and strengthening of corners, walls and ceiling. The material has an adhesive side, which makes it easy and efficient to use.
Serpyanka does not allow old cracks to grow and form new ones. It perfectly prevents the destruction of joints and corners made of drywall sheets.
Before gluing a sickle on drywall, you should familiarize yourself with the varieties of material and the scope of each option. So, for indoor work, a tape is made with a width of 3.5 to 5 cm. The length of the roll can reach 10 meters.
The tape for exterior decoration is much denser than the previous variety and does not have an adhesive side. It is used in facade work, more often fixed in plaster. If the dimensions of a sickle for drywall (for seams) do not exceed 5 cm, then the facade varieties are much wider. Such products are produced in rolls of 20 meters. The maximum width of the sickle is 25 cm.
What you need to know before using a sickle
Fiberglass tape is used due to several advantages. These include:
- low cost;
- resistance to aggressive climate;
- high strength characteristics;
- good adhesion to the base;
- resistance to mechanical stress.
Understanding the question of how to properly glue a sickle on drywall, one should also know its negative qualities. One of them is the weakness of the adhesive layer. In most cases, the tape has to be further secured. If you stick it on a dusty surface, there is a high probability that the material will fall off even before the putty is applied.
If you compare a sickle with a paper tape, then it is less convenient when working in the area of internal corners. Masking tape in such places lays much better, therefore, experienced specialists use fiberglass material only on the outer sections of the sheet and at the joints of the plates.
What tools and materials are needed to process drywall joints?
The reliability of joints and corners of gypsum sheets directly depends on the correctness of their processing. Simple sealing of drywall seams with a serpentine will not improve the strength of the product, problem areas need to be prepared and processed beforehand.
In the process of work you will need:
- putty knife;
- gypsum-based plaster;
- primer;
- paint brush;
- stationery knife;
- serpyanka.
As a puttying composition, you can choose any finishing mixture. Specialists recommend giving preference to the Knauf company and its Fugen putty. It is very resistant to cracking, which makes it an ideal product for sealing joints.
When working with drywall joints, a sickle with a width of 50 mm is most often used. Products of large parameters for these works are not used.
When choosing a primer, give preference to acrylic varieties. They provide maximum putty adhesion to the surface.
As for the spatula, it is better if you get 2 tools: one narrow (10 cm) for distributing the composition over the working spatula, and the other - wide (25 cm) - for the direct filling of joints.
Drywall preparation for work
Before sticking a sickle on drywall, carefully inspect the assembled structure. Check the seams: there should be a distance of about 1-2 mm between the two sheets. This is necessary so that in case of surface deformation the structure does not lose its former appearance.
Pay particular attention to fasteners. Hats of self-tapping screws should not rise above the surface of the sheet, but it is also not recommended to drive them too deep. The ideal option is when the fastener does not protrude beyond the sheet, but its head does not yet touch the gypsum layer.
If there are scuffs or burrs on the surface of corners and seams, all defects are cleaned with a construction knife. The final stage of preparing drywall for work is the treatment of its entire surface with a primer. Pre-clean the sheets from dust with a broom or sponge, and then go over them with a mowl soaked in acrylic liquid.
Is it necessary to prepare the seam itself?
The question of how to properly glue a sickle on drywall raises conflicting opinions. Some experts say that the joints of the sheets should be pre-stitched, while others - that this should not be done. How to act inexperienced masters?
The technology for the processing of drywall seams has two options. In the first case, the sheets really need to be embroidered, but this only applies to those situations when two cut edges of the sheet are located in the seam area.
In this case, the master should arm himself with a sharp construction knife and chamfer at each such connection. The knife is located at an angle of 45 degrees, the blade is deepened by 5 mm deep into the material. Thus, the edge is cut from each sheet. As a result, you should get a small seam, the width of which does not exceed 5 mm. After preparation, all joints are re-treated with a primer.
If you have purchased a concentrated composition, pre-dilute it with water in the proportions indicated on the package. Ready-to-use working fluid can be applied immediately.
Similar work is performed only on slices. If you have factory edges at the joints of the plates, you do not need to embroider such a connection.
Embroidered Suture Processing
If you had to embroider most of the joints between the drywall sheets, then the resulting recesses should be puttied. This must be done before gluing a sickle on drywall.
Pre-prepare the working mixture. Read the manufacturer's instructions for preparing putty, prepare a container and drill with a mixer nozzle. First, water is poured into the bucket, and already a powder mixture is poured into it.
Do not knead putty in large quantities, as it quickly sets and in the future it is very difficult to work with it. Prepare a volume of the mixture that you can use within 1 hour.
Then proceed according to the following technology:
- Fill the embroidered seams between the sheets with the finished mixture. To do this, put a putty with a narrow spatula, apply it on the edges of a wide tool. Apply the composition in transverse movements, pressing it into the resulting grooves.
- When all the joints are filled with putty, place the spatula along the joint and begin alignment on a plane. To smooth the embroidered joint, putty should be applied in a wide layer (approximately 150 mm to each side of the joint).
- After the composition dries, the surface is smoothed using sandpaper and a sanding block.
At this stage, process not only the seams, but also the attachment points of the screws. Fill all the recesses with putty and, before processing the joints of drywall with a sickle, smooth the entire surface.
The process of sticking tape
When the putty is completely dry, the surface must be primed again. If the factory edges are located at the seams, you can not pre-putty them first. In this case, we immediately proceed to the installation of the tape. On the treated seams, fiberglass tape is fastened with primers for drying the primer.
How to glue a sickle on the seams of drywall? To do this, take a skein of tape, place it at the top edge of the seam, fix the tip of the tape on the surface and gradually unwind the roll, moving to the bottom edge of the seam. During work, press the tape with the adhesive side to the surface of the sheet.
Repeat the resulting seam with putty and smooth with sandpaper. The resulting base does not need further processing, you can proceed to the direct decoration of the walls.
How to handle corners?
Now we will understand the question of how to glue a sickle on drywall in the corners. Similar processing is performed on the outer corner joints of the sheets. It is very difficult to glue the internal corners with such a tape, because if at some point the sickle moves away from the surface, the appearance of the wall will deteriorate greatly.
A wide serpyanka (100 mm) is used to process the outer corners. It allows you to make the surface as durable as possible, does not allow cracks to form in complex areas.
To gently stick the grid at an angle, rewind a piece of short length and place part of the tape at one corner. Then gently move the rest of the strip to another part of the corner and press the tape to the base.
Further processing takes place using putty. To make the plot as smooth as possible, get a special corner spatula. With it, you can quickly fill out problem areas with minimal time.
Useful Tips
For the work to be done efficiently, pay attention to some nuances that affect the final result. Namely:
- In the process of sticking the tape, try to avoid layering and unevenness. The voids arising under the net lead to cracking of these areas, so try to press the tape firmly against the seam.
- Gently cut the tape. There should be no protruding threads at the seams. If they are, treat the edges of the sickle with a lighter.
- When sanding walls, store skeins of tape in tight bags. Dust that gets into the skein leads to damage to the adhesive layer, which will negatively affect the quality of work.
When purchasing a sickle, give preference to certified products. Its density should be equal to 150 g / m 2 , and the cell size should correspond to the parameter 5 x 5 mm.
Conclusion
It’s easy to guess how to use drywall for drywall. However, simply sticking the tape is not enough. Be sure to process the seams properly, and only then glue them with a mesh. This will protect your structures from cracking and premature failure.