Masking Ceiling Board Joints
The internal ceilings in my BISF house all seem to be plasterboard panels or similar, with the join between boards covered in some kind of tape before being overpainted. Some of this ‘tape’ needs replacing and, as having the ceilings plastered to hide the boards and tape is beyond my budget, I need to find a source for it. Would B&Q’s NDC Plasterboard Joint Tape Kraft 75m × 50mm be suitable?
Any help would be appreciated. I’m working all this out as I go!
Peter
The promised update: in the end I didn’t use any replacement tape at all. I just peeled off the loose tape, filled in any noticeable gaps with flexible caulking, and overpainted. For the most part it all looks fine. Only one tape line has cracked where the house has expanded in the recent sunshine. I refilled this and overpainted and it cracked again, so there’s obviously little I can do about this.
Much more noticeable are the expansion-related cracks around the ceiling/wall joints in the upstairs rooms. Despite all being generously filled with caulking and overpainted, these reappeared as soon as the sun started to shine. I’m considering using a bathroom and kitchens non-overpaintable filler as these have more flexibility. The fact that they’re white and so are my ceilings is a bit of a bonus. I think I need to run a test in one room and wait a couple of months to see what happens.
Hi Pete, in my house the downstairs ceilings are plasterboard and the upstairs low density fibreboard (a light, soft, spongy board). They were both originally taped at the joins with paper tape before being painted.
I would use the paper joint tape that is usually used to cover joins before applying lining paper as that is the sort of thing that was used originally. You could put lining paper on top, I have tried it but I found it a very difficult and frustrating job!
I’m not sure what glue would be best and it would depend if you’re sticking to the bare boards or to painted boards.
Ed
Hi Ed and Site Admin
Apologies for taking a few days to get back to you.
Ed, judging by their thickness I’d say that the ceilings in my house are the same as yours, plasterboard downstairs and fibreboard upstairs. All rooms have tape over the joins, but this is only loose in one room – the master bedroom, where I think I need to replace all of it to ensure the best finish. I can imagine that adding lining paper would be extremely frustrating, especially as I would have to do it on my own, so for now at least I think a fresh application of tape and then a fresh coat of paint to all the ceilings will have to do (and to be honest, the finish will be more than okay for several years, at least until my budget recovers enough from moving in).
The plasterboard tape I mentioned seem to be specifically meant for the job and it has a good review on the B&Q site, so I think I’ll give that a try. If it’s easy to apply and paints over well enough then I’ll be happy.
I’ll report back with the results, but it may take a while!
Peter
Pete, the problem here is the porosity of the boards that you are taping to. If they are fibreboard they do have a habit of sucking up moisture and not all tapes stick very well particularly when the room is heated. From Memory the original tape was paper based and over painted as you describe. I’m not familiar with that particular tape that you refer too but if I were you and the tapes are failing I would paper the ceilings over with a thick inexpensive lining paper between 1700 and 200 grade. It’s pretty quick to do and makes the ceiling look a lot better because no matter what tape you use, the edges will show and they can look unsightly.
Pete if your getting the celing plastered and the joint tape is poor,the plaster should tape make it all sound before he starts.On the other hand if he takes a few quid off do it your self.Just make sure you get a decent scrim as cheap stuff not stick to well. Good luck Chris
No plastering, Chris. It’s beyond my limited budget. Instead, I need to replace some loose tape and then repaint all ceilings as they are. I just need to confirm a suitable tape that can be overpainted.
Peter