Tried a fiberglass mesh tape on a ceiling repair and it totally let me down

So last week I had to patch a water damaged spot in my own kitchen ceiling, like a 2x2 foot area. I usually use paper tape for everything, but I figured I'd give the mesh stuff a shot since I had a roll sitting around. Big mistake. The mud just crumbled right through the holes and I had to scrape it all off after it dried lopsided. I spent an extra 3 hours redoing the whole thing with paper tape and it came out smooth as glass. Has anyone else had mesh tape fail on ceilings or did I just get a bad batch?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan7051mo ago

I actually had the opposite problem with mesh tape on a vertical wall patch once, but for ceilings I've been told by a few old school drywall guys that the weight of the mud can make it sag before it sets. One dude said he only uses paper tape on ceilings because the mesh will never give you that flat finish no matter how good you are. I think your issue might be less about the tape being bad and more about gravity working against the open weave on a horizontal surface.

drew9651mo ago

Man that old timer was probably also using a hawk and trowel while yelling at clouds... sounds like he's got some strong opinions about mesh tape.

ryan_ellis20d ago

Paper tape on ceilings, gravity hating mesh" - same reason I stopped using twist ties for light stuff, the wrong tool fights physics every time.