# FibaFuse Drywall Tape is great for repairs!



## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

*FibaFuse Drywall Tape (Video) is great for repairs!*

Here's my latest video where I demonstrate how to use FibaFuse on a ceiling hole repair:


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I have used Fiba Tape on many occasions and like the way it almost disappears with setting compound on the first swipe. Not much edge bump.


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## JLawrence08648 (Mar 1, 2019)

I just stared using it after a post a month or so ago I saw. Right now I'm only using it for certain situations such as repairs, wide gaps, where strength is needed. I don't see how it can be used for corners since it doesn't hold a bend in the middle.


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

Sure makes it nice (nicer) on a butt joint.


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

JLawrence08648 said:


> I just stared using it after a post a month or so ago I saw. Right now I'm only using it for certain situations such as repairs, wide gaps, where strength is needed. I don't see how it can be used for corners since it doesn't hold a bend in the middle.


Totally agree about the inside angles!

Why I use FibaFuse Drywall Tape for Repairs vs Paper Tape for Corners


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

JLawrence08648 said:


> I just stared using it after a post a month or so ago I saw. Right now I'm only using it for certain situations such as repairs, wide gaps, where strength is needed. I don't see how it can be used for corners since it doesn't hold a bend in the middle.



It can be used in corners, however in practice only a corner knife will work with it. Standard flat knives will cut it far too often.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

chandler48 said:


> I have used Fiba Tape on many occasions



This is definitely NOT FibaTape. The dinstinction is very important.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

FibaFuse is great stuff. I use it for all patches and standard drywall butt and tapered joints. I prefer paper for corners. It is stronger than mesh (as strong or possibly even stronger than paper) and can be used with standard premixed drywall mud, as opposed to fiberglass mesh tape which requires powdered setting compound (although 95% of the hacks who use mesh tape use standard premixed compound - hence a lot of the cracks you see in their jobs a year later.)

One nice benefit of FibaFuse is that it sands well. We'd all like to think our perfect drywall jobs don't expose any tape when sanding, but we know eventually it does. Mesh tape basically doesn't sand at all. Paper tape just fuzzes up. FibaFuse sands very well.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

> This is definitely NOT FibaTape


Always wanting to learn new stuff. Fill me in. What is better with FibaFuse, over FibaTape.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I"ve not had the luck you all have had with Fibafuse. I admit it's easy to work with but I find that it doesn't lay quite flat enough (For me anyway) to avoid humps on repairs. I don't have that issue with fiberglas tape. Also, if you have a crack that's a bit wider than normal, well, I get wrinkling for some reason. I'm sure it's a good bit of operator error, but, I quit using it for the time being.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

chandler48 said:


> Always wanting to learn new stuff. Fill me in. What is better with FibaFuse, over FibaTape.


FibaTape is no different than any other fiberglass mesh tape. Sir MixAlot's video was clearly about FibaFuse, which is a unique product. It probably has a patent and that's why no one else makes it. You can Google for the company's own advertising about it. Here's my quick explanation.



Fiberglass mesh tape is not strong. A lot of people use it for convenience - it's sticky backed, and you can put it in place before putting any joint compound on. Then, the joint compound just flows through it, so you really are not likely to get any bubbles, like are so common with paper tape.

Well, of course joint compound flows easily through it - it's all air! It's got big holes and is quite weak. In fact, that's why you're only supposed to use it with powdered setting compound. Well, if you have to mix up your own compound instead of using premixed, where is the convenience? So most people use it with premixed compound for the convenience, thereby making a bunch of weak, likely to crack joints.


FibaFuse is much different. It is a sort of mesh, but with much more material. It is used with premixed compound, because it's much stronger than a joint made with mesh tape. But at the same time, you can force joint compound through it, unlike paper tape, so there's your elimination of the dreaded tape bubble. Also, it sands really well. It does not do as well in corners unless you're careful with it and use a corner knife, which for some reason pros don't like to use. For basically all other applications, everyone should probably be using it.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Gymschu said:


> I"ve not had the luck you all have had with Fibafuse. I admit it's easy to work with but I find that it doesn't lay quite flat enough (For me anyway) to avoid humps on repairs.



Not sure why this would be, might actually be user error :smile:




Gymschu said:


> I don't have that issue with fiberglas tape.



Well sure, that's because fiberglass mesh is 98% air.




Gymschu said:


> Also, if you have a crack that's a bit wider than normal, well, I get wrinkling for some reason.



Isn't this what you get with paper tape at the same frequency?


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I am going to have to look again, tomorrow. I agree, all the FibaTape I am seeing in ads is basically square hatched fiberglas tape. What I have is striated fibers that is extremely strong and lays super flat. I'll report back, because it definitely is not mesh.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Well FibaTape is also a brand name, made by the same company that makes FibaFuse (Adfors). In fact that's why they used that name. There are many other brands of fiberglass mesh, such as Tool Pro, FiFlexMesh, etc. I'm not sure what you have though 


Where I live, for some strange reason Home Depot doesn't carry FibaFuse, but Lowes does.


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

Gymschu said:


> I"ve not had the luck you all have had with Fibafuse. I admit it's easy to work with but I find that it doesn't lay quite flat enough (For me anyway) to avoid humps on repairs. I don't have that issue with fiberglas tape. Also, if you have a crack that's a bit wider than normal, well, I get wrinkling for some reason. I'm sure it's a good bit of operator error, but, I quit using it for the time being.


Hmm... Do you thin down your joint compound when bedding the FibaFuse?


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Gymschu said:


> Also, if you have a crack that's a bit wider than normal, well, I get wrinkling for some reason.



Speaking of this, when a crack is pretty wide, I usually just muddle through. I wonder if the "proper" solution is actually to use setting compound. I'm not really sure what the maximum crack size is that joint compound manufacturers recommend for premixed compound.


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

chandler48 said:


> I am going to have to look again, tomorrow. I agree, all the FibaTape I am seeing in ads is basically square hatched fiberglas tape. What I have is striated fibers that is extremely strong and lays super flat. I'll report back, because it definitely is not mesh.


Here's a video where I go a little more in depth about the pro's and con's of FibaFuse. I also show the FibaFuse up close where you can see exactly how it looks.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

That's exactly what I have, so maybe I picked up on the wrong name. I LOVE it. Being thin, but strong makes it a perfect flat surface tape. As mentioned it takes a little work to make it do corners well for novices.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

chandler48 said:


> That's exactly what I have, so maybe I picked up on the wrong name. I LOVE it.



OK cool :wink2:


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Nice job on the video Paul. I'll have to check out your other videos on YouTube.


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## JLawrence08648 (Mar 1, 2019)

I used it today on 2 sections of sheetrock. Both I had damaged the sheetrock. One I damaged a anomaly section when I was screwing it in, I had put a nail in the stud to hang my light while working on plumbing and forgot to remove the nail. The other section was in the middle and was creased when I cut it from not being supported well.

If you want a strong joint, FibaFuse is the way to go because the joint compound permeates throughout every fiber of the "tape" rather than using paper tape it hides the joint by acting as a glue to the underside and covering the top. However where do you need a string joint? The screws fasten the sheetrock to the wall. The sheetrock is not moving anywhere. You never get bubbles with FibaFuse, impossible, but I never get bubbles with paper tape because I soak the tape. However you can sand closer to FibaFuse and you will never see the FibaFuse as you have to be careful when using paper tape.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Well if you look at paper under a microscope you'll see that it actually looks a lot like FibaFuse. So compound does to a certain extent permeate into the paper. But that's where FibaFuse improves on paper so much. It's a similar structure, but bigger, which allows to compound to flow through it rather than just into the surface fibers. Paper is very strong for this reason, FibaFuse is probably stronger because the compound gets in deeper, and it's more convenient becuase it gets in easier too.


https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fibers-fine-grained-paper-under-600w-530926204.jpg


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

jeffnc said:


> Nice job on the video Paul. I'll have to check out your other videos on YouTube.


I really appreciate that Jeff! Definitely stop by and let me know what you think.:thumbup:


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

jeffnc said:


> https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fibers-fine-grained-paper-under-600w-530926204.jpg



Does any mod know why that link isn't working for me now? Anyone else? If I copy and paste it works.


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

jeffnc said:


> Does any mod know why that link isn't working for me now? Anyone else? If I copy and paste it works.


When I clicked on that link. I was prompted to remove any text that was after the .JPG (see attachment below).


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

JLawrence08648 said:


> I used it today on 2 sections of sheetrock. Both I had damaged the sheetrock. One I damaged a anomaly section when I was screwing it in, I had put a nail in the stud to hang my light while working on plumbing and forgot to remove the nail. The other section was in the middle and was creased when I cut it from not being supported well.
> 
> If you want a strong joint, FibaFuse is the way to go because the joint compound permeates throughout every fiber of the "tape" rather than using paper tape it hides the joint by acting as a glue to the underside and covering the top. However where do you need a string joint? The screws fasten the sheetrock to the wall. The sheetrock is not moving anywhere. You never get bubbles with FibaFuse, impossible, but I never get bubbles with paper tape because I soak the tape. However you can sand closer to FibaFuse and you will never see the FibaFuse as you have to be careful when using paper tape.


Totally agree man!:thumbsup:


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

jeffnc said:


> Well if you look at paper under a microscope you'll see that it actually looks a lot like FibaFuse. So compound does to a certain extent permeate into the paper. But that's where FibaFuse improves on paper so much. It's a similar structure, but bigger, which allows to compound to flow through it rather than just into the surface fibers. Paper is very strong for this reason, FibaFuse is probably stronger because the compound gets in deeper, and it's more convenient becuase it gets in easier too.
> 
> 
> https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fibers-fine-grained-paper-under-600w-530926204.jpg



It seems there's no way to link that, since the website doesn't seem to be able to handle incoming links. Paper looks like this.


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

jeffnc said:


> It seems there's no way to link that, since the website doesn't seem to be able to handle incoming links. Paper looks like this.


 @jeffnc It would be very interesting to see what the FibaFuse looks like under a microscope!:thumbsup:


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## Halehouse (Jan 27, 2021)

I’m fixing a hairline crack from a butt joint that wasn’t filled properly and the installer used mesh tape, I removed the old tape and prefilled with 90 min mud, now I’m getting ready to apply fibafuse. What mud do you suggest? It was suggested to me by a drywaller to use the red total joint compound but I want to make sure I shouldn’t be using 90 again. I’m doing a flat wall finish if that makes a difference in the answer. Any thoughts?


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## Brohoho (Jun 29, 2021)

I want to see a video of someone testing builders paper as a patching material as a substitute for the wide FibaFuse. I once used two rows of paper tape to patch a hole and mudded both sides of the tape for extra stiffness and it worked well.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

5, 20, 45, 90 makes no difference - they're all basically the same strength so it's just a question of how much working time you want. These are setting compounds as opposed to standard drying (premixed) compounds. A setting compound with FibaFuse is going to be very strong. Drying compound with FibaFuze is going to be less strong, but still quite strong.


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## Halehouse (Jan 27, 2021)

jeffnc said:


> 5, 20, 45, 90 makes no difference - they're all basically the same strength so it's just a question of how much working time you want. These are setting compounds as opposed to standard drying (premixed) compounds. A setting compound with FibaFuse is going to be very strong. Drying compound with FibaFuze is going to be less strong, but still quite strong.


Thank you! I went with 90. Hoping this fixes my cracks so I can move onto the other cracks in the room.


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