How To Fix Lifting Drywall Seam Tape

Walls & Ceilings

What Would Bob Do? Dealing with Bulging Drywall Seams

Jutting drywall seams take a number of possible causes. Read on for the likely culprits and the near constructive solutions.

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Q: Many of the drywall seams on my 40-year-onetime house are jutting. Information technology doesn't appear as if the articulation record is pulling away from the seams, because when I tried to remove some of the tape, it was extremely hard. Also, the drywall appears to exist pretty firmly attached. When I press on both sides of the seam, the drywall doesn't move. Could information technology be that the seams have always looked this way? Could this just exist the result of a poor spackling task when the joint record and compound were applied in the first place? What should I do to make these seams less visible?

A: With the drywall firmly attached, as you say it is, I can think of only three situations in which the seams would bulge, sag, or buckle.

Sometimes, drywall seams go visible when a house has undergone considerable settling.

In your case, unless your geographical area has had unusually dry or wet conditions in recent years, structural problems are probably not at play, given that your home is relatively young at 40 years of age.

If, however, you find any other signs of settling—cracks in the foundation, torn drywall joints, or gaps either forth the baseboards or at the point where walls meet ceilings—hire a foundation skillful to do an inspection.

The most likely culprit is the mode in which your drywall was installed.

For the seam betwixt drywall panels to disappear after painting, that articulation between drywall panels must be covered with compound in a specific fashion—in a series of layers, with each layer wider than the last. Additionally, each layer needs to dry—and, in some cases, should be sanded—before the adjacent layer goes on. For tradesmen, it's a time-consuming process, one that oftentimes requires repeat visits to the task site.

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That beingness the example, it'due south non uncommon for a contractor to use fewer layers than would be ideal, leaving the drywall seam comparatively feathered to the side by side surfaces. Or an inexperienced exercise-it-yourselfer may have done the work, in the procedure making some common mistakes without knowing the error of his means.

Here'south yet another possible cause: When drywall sheets withuncut edges are butted together, a depression forms along the line where they join. That low is meant to conform joint chemical compound and drywall tape. Problem arises only when installers opt to use cutting drywall. Because the edges of these sheets aren't tapered, in that location's no depression when they're paired. As a outcome, the joint compound and drywall tape are practical over the aeroplane of the drywall surface, resulting in a buildup that looks very much like a bulge. Again, the explanation is that either a pro did the piece of work and chose to cut corners, or a DIYer did and so unwittingly.

No matter the cause, the solution to bulging drywall seams is almost always the same.

Call in a contractor to apply a skim coat of chemical compound over the entire wall. That coat fills in the recessed areas, creating a apartment-looking surface. This isn't a job for the average person to do over the weekend; information technology's specialized work that requires a trained hand. If y'all'd rather non spend the money, consider repainting the affected walls in a apartment pigment, as sheens brand it easier to spot imperfections.

Go a pro to practise information technology for y'all

Receive free, no-commitment projection estimates from licensed drywall installation and repair pros well-nigh y'all.