# Wide Gap in seam of Drywall-Ceiling



## nykevins (Jan 18, 2009)

Hey all.. I recently bought an old Cape and the master bedroom ceiling had some wooden grid on it. When I ripped it down, I realized why they did that.. They didn't want to tape and plaster the drywall joints. Now I am left with some joints that are about 1/2 inch wide at most. So what I think I am going to do is fill these "gaps" with a sliver of sheetrock, put some mud, let it dry then tape with some fiberglass tape, mud, sand, etc as normal. Does this sound right or can I just throw some joint compound in that seam let it dry, sand and paint? I attached a pic to help explain...


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## Sammy (Mar 11, 2007)

Is that blue/green stuff drywall also?

Might be easier to overlay it with some 3/8" drywall than to try to fix the gaps. Depends on how big the room is and how flat the ceiling is.


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## ponch37300 (Nov 27, 2007)

Your not going to be able to fill the gaps with sheetrock, it will break and you won't be able to screw it. If you don't want to cover the whole ceiling with new rock you should be able to pre fill the cracks with easy sand and let dry and then tape and mud like normal.


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## nykevins (Jan 18, 2009)

The Blue/Green stuff is paint.... The wooden strips were installed then painted over a few times.. I was thinking about laying some compound in the cracks, really wedging in some sheetrock, then putting compound over it... bad idea?


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## Brik (Jan 16, 2007)

Go with ponch37300's advice plus this
I would sand FIRST - You want to knock down the edge of the paint. Also make sure nails are down at least flush, a couple look a little proud of the surface. Then fill/sand/tape... u get the idea.


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

I would recommend another layer of 1/4" over the top of what you have. It looks like the joints are not staggered and all run together, a pretty tough finishing job for DIY'er if you're not pretty proficient. May get away with it if you're going to texture rather than "slick". It is possible to cut small "plugs" of drywall, but 1/2" is probably the smallest and you need to have a FRESH piece of rock that hasn't been sitting around absorbing humidity/moisture. You have to cut BOTH sides and carefully break the piece off. It's best to cut the long side, not the 4' side. And the piece will break here and there, but can still be nailed in just for backing IF you have something to nail to. If you're going to try to just pre-fill with compound, use a setting type. Mix it fairly dry to keep it from "sagging" before it dries. I would recommend paper tape rather than mesh in this situation. As ponch mentioned, scrape/sand the old paint/caulk edges as best you can........


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