# Butt end to tapered end?



## Oxymoron

Finishing basement walls and trying to have as few butt joints as possible....looks like I'll have one. Question is which is a better choice for finishing....butt against tapered or butt to butt?


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## diykc

No, rolled edge(tapered) against rolled edge and butt to butt but never butt to tapered. Maybe a little more rock to use but filling is very difficult.


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## diykc

No, rolled edge(tapered) against rolled edge and butt to butt but never butt to tapered. Maybe a little more rock to use but filling is very difficult.


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## amakarevic

is it really not possible to seam a butt edge to a tapered edge? why not just fill the hole in the butt side with more mud?

thanks


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## joecaption

Unless you remove the paper to make room for the thickness of the tape on the untapered edge your going to end up with a hump and a really wide joint to blend it in.


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## amakarevic

joecaption said:


> Unless you remove the paper to make room for the thickness of the tape on the untapered edge your going to end up with a hump and a really wide joint to blend it in.


how come you don't get a tape hump when you join two butt ends?


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## joecaption

Because the tapes sitting in the low area so there only enough mud used to fill in the low area where the taper is, not all over the wall board.

If the taps sitting on the wall board there has to be a tapered out area to cover the tape.


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## RayGee

joecaption said:


> Because the tapes sitting in the low area so there only enough mud used to fill in the low area where the taper is, not all over the wall board.
> 
> If the taps sitting on the wall board there has to be a tapered out area to cover the tape.


I believe his question was taping joints butt end to butt end vs. tapered to tapered.


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## Seattle2k

Oxymoron said:


> Finishing basement walls and trying to have as few butt joints as possible....looks like I'll have one. Question is which is a better choice for finishing....butt against tapered or butt to butt?


 
You can certainly make a butt-to-taper work. First, fill the tapered side with joint compound, using an 8 or 10-inch knife. Once this is dried, you'll essentially be left with a butt-to-butt joint. Then, lay mud, to bed your tape and finish as usual.



amakarevic said:


> is it really not possible to seam a butt edge to a tapered edge? why not just fill the hole in the butt side with more mud?
> 
> thanks


 
You have the right idea. For whatever reason, I ended up with a joint like this recently and I was able to hide it without much trouble.


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## stradt03

Seattle2k said:


> You can certainly make a butt-to-taper work. First, fill the tapered side with joint compound, using an 8 or 10-inch knife. Once this is dried, you'll essentially be left with a butt-to-butt joint. Then, lay mud, to bed your tape and finish as usual.
> 
> Bingo, I have 2 butt-taper joints in my basement and I think they might be two of the best seams in the whole basement.


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## bjbatlanta

There are many situations in hanging drywall where there is NO option but to put a tapered edge to a non-tapered edge. I've hung many houses with rooms where the ceiling joists change direction and there's no choice. A professional finisher has no issues with these joints. A DIY'er can finish them too. Just take a little more time and effort. And removing the paper from the drywall will compromise the integrity of the board. You DON'T want to do that.....


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## princelake

i do tapered to butts all the time. basements floods where the bottom 2' of drywall is cut out in the entire basements. i can fiber tape or paper tape it. its fairly simple and you cant even tell there was a joint even there.


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## revchris

Thanks Seattle2k. Great tip on joining butt and tapered ends!


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## Dorado

I think pre-filling is good practice for all joints. If pre-filled, butt to taper would be stronger than butt to butt.


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## ToolSeeker

Dorado said:


> I think pre-filling is good practice for all joints. If pre-filled, butt to taper would be stronger than butt to butt.


Butt to taper would not be stronger unless the pre-fill was dura bond. The taper would be too wide to cover with tape and just joint compound does't have that much strength.


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## stigedis

SO i will revive this thread. Against my better judgment, I allowed my neighbor to talk me into having long side of sheedtrock tapered edge against butt edge. (4 ft on top of wall, 4 ft on bottom and 2 foot in the middle where one edge is tapered to tapered and one is tapered to butt. I allowed him to talk me into it along 2 walls of the garage as those will be mostly covered in peg board and other coverings.
But what is the best method to perform this joint properly? 
I was thinking.
#1 2-3 layers of hot mud to tapered "space" to bring it up to butt edge height. Then tape and finish with top light coats.
#2 1 thick layer of hot mud and the same to finish as above.
#3 thick layer of hot mud AND paper tape. Essentially treat it as a butt joint right from the get go. 

#2 seems the best but should I be concerned for cracking with that thick of coat?
#3 seems to be the worst or more difficult.
#1 ?

I knew I shouldnt have let him talk me into it when he was helping. He said now you wont have to get a ladder to tape the top seam......which sort of made sense.......
Anyways.......any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance....


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## bjbatlanta

I would tape the "offset" joint with setting compound. Then just finish as usual. Easier to use several thinner coats than "pile" a bunch of mud on and have to do a lot of sanding afterwords. Putting a joint in the middle is quite common, or you could have put the joint at the top, or used 10' sheets and stood it up. No right or wrong.....


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## mako1

Just prefill the joint with hot mud .Bed the tape with hot mud and carry on with one more coat of hot mud and a topping.


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## Tytryon

bjbatlanta said:


> There are many situations in hanging drywall where there is NO option but to put a tapered edge to a non-tapered edge. I've hung many houses with rooms where the ceiling joists change direction and there's no choice. A professional finisher has no issues with these joints. A DIY'er can finish them too. Just take a little more time and effort. And removing the paper from the drywall will compromise the integrity of the board. You DON'T want to do that.....


I can honestly say, after drywalling well over 5,000 homes, I've never needed to do what you suggest is normal.

Many rooms have changing trusses due to roof design but the last place you want a joint in the drywall is where the trusses change.


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## Tytryon

stigedis said:


> SO i will revive this thread. Against my better judgment, I allowed my neighbor to talk me into having long side of sheedtrock tapered edge against butt edge. (4 ft on top of wall, 4 ft on bottom and 2 foot in the middle where one edge is tapered to tapered and one is tapered to butt. I allowed him to talk me into it along 2 walls of the garage as those will be mostly covered in peg board and other coverings.
> But what is the best method to perform this joint properly?
> I was thinking.
> #1 2-3 layers of hot mud to tapered "space" to bring it up to butt edge height. Then tape and finish with top light coats.
> #2 1 thick layer of hot mud and the same to finish as above.
> #3 thick layer of hot mud AND paper tape. Essentially treat it as a butt joint right from the get go.
> 
> #2 seems the best but should I be concerned for cracking with that thick of coat?
> #3 seems to be the worst or more difficult.
> #1 ?
> 
> I knew I shouldnt have let him talk me into it when he was helping. He said now you wont have to get a ladder to tape the top seam......which sort of made sense.......
> Anyways.......any suggestions would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks in advance....


Next time.... Start with your 2 ft strip on top, cut edge against ceiling, tapered edge down. Next your full sheet (tapered edge to tapered edge) and then another full sheet on the bottom (tapered edge to tapered edge)

And get new neighbors


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## ToolSeeker

Those are called belly bands and are done a lot in Florida. It's when the contractor doesn't want to use 54" drywall or the ceiling is over 9'. The easiest way and the best way is since you have not mudded yet, is remove the 1/2" band and replace it using 3/8" drywall. This will give you a much neater and cleaner joint. And it's a lot easier to mud and tap.


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