# why lay flat...?



## forestbhoy (Jun 16, 2013)

You have a 10 foot ceiling, and rather than take a single joint from top to bottom, you lay boards sideways making more work with cross joints. Is this normal and if it is, what are we doing wrong over here....?? Cant think im the first to ask this, but please appease me and tell me why...? Thanks....:thumbsup:


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## fr8train (Jan 20, 2008)

Wood or steel framed?


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

forestbhoy said:


> You have a 10 foot ceiling, and rather than take a single joint from top to bottom, you lay boards sideways making more work with cross joints. Is this normal and if it is, what are we doing wrong over here....?? Cant think im the first to ask this, but please appease me and tell me why...? Thanks....:thumbsup:


Stronger wall!


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## forestbhoy (Jun 16, 2013)

fr8train said:


> Wood or steel framed?


Traditional, block walls and stud internal walls, mostly upstairs.



moore said:


> Stronger wall!


I can see your point, but if that was such a worry why not double board it and have the top layer going top to bottom. If a wall is going to move, one skin, which ever way they are layed, won't stop it imho....


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## forestbhoy (Jun 16, 2013)

Something else i would like to ask , coating cross joints. Unless you got a right pig of one,a lot of vids show them having the boxs run iether side, on all of them. Why do this when a 10 and a 12 will cover it...? Thanks. :thumbsup:


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

moore said:


> Stronger wall!


drywall is not part of structure and I know 1 case when boards broke but joints remained intact


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

forestbhoy said:


> You have a 10 foot ceiling, and rather than take a single joint from top to bottom, you lay boards sideways making more work with cross joints. Is this normal and if it is, what are we doing wrong over here....?? Cant think im the first to ask this, but please appease me and tell me why...? Thanks....:thumbsup:


it's nothing rough with stand ups -all my jobs are in this way- but stopping is more difficult - more likely to see the joints- which means you have to put more time in to get a proper finish otherwise you're  up


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

forestbhoy said:


> Something else i would like to ask , coating cross joints. Unless you got a right pig of one,a lot of vids show them having the boxs run iether side, on all of them. Why do this when a 10 and a 12 will cover it...? Thanks. :thumbsup:


when you put something on a flat surface(in our case paper tape and mud) you loose the flatness and for this you have to create the illusion that it's flat


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## fr8train (Jan 20, 2008)

Generally speaking, the tape on the butts is the high point. When we box on either side, I open the box a few clicks. This puts the mud at or slightly above the tape. Let it temp for awhile, then fill in the middle by hand.


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## fr8train (Jan 20, 2008)

If you open your box and run right over the tape, you've just made your high point higher. I guess it all comes down to how do you hand coat butts. We go 3 wide.


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## forestbhoy (Jun 16, 2013)

Thanks for you replies lads. Cant say its a problem I have been picked up on,except when I started,but we all cock up when we start don't we... We scrim here, and first coat with filler using a 11" trowel,trying to keep the joint as narrow as I can. A good coat from the 10" box and finished with a tight 12" box. Like I said, some times you just got to go wide to help it disappear, but normally no probs......you got me paranoid now......


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

Checking all joints, cross joints, and bead with a new 12" knife is a good idea. normally I check as I go but if anything is suspect after sanding I check it with a stait edge. For instance today while sanding my bead was to full in the center. Extra sanding was needed. That and its time for me to get a new knife or at least file my old one. To me taping is more about leveling then anything else. Checking your work as you go helps with mudd placement and is the best way to acheive flat walls.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

keke said:


> drywall is not part of structure and I know 1 case when boards broke but joints remained intact


It has a grain...Stand-ups are weak! That Was my point blank keke. 

drywall is not part of structure .. ? Drywall goes to chit sooner than later no matter how good you are at it...It took the place of plaster when it should have not! Go back and look at a job you did 20 years ago! The old plasters never had a callback a year after much less 20 years after... Drywall Is a poor mans wall!


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## boco (Oct 29, 2010)

I hate stand ups. Everytime I use paper tape i end up doubling 80% of my seams. Add some light gauge steel and a few new sheetrockers and bust out the darby. Its all fun and games till they turn the lights on.


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## mudslingr (Jul 18, 2010)

I used to hate stand ups when I first started because they ended up looking like butts most of the time. Then I learned that you need to wipe down on the tape from the top. Wiping up from the bottom causes a gravity shift with the mud behind the tape thus causing a hump and basically creating a butt. 

But then let's say you have a 13' wall. I prefer one 13' flat and two butts over three stand ups any day. A lot easier to hide in well lit areas.:yes:


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

boco said:


> I hate stand ups. Everytime I use paper tape i end up doubling 80% of my seams. Add some light gauge steel and a few new sheetrockers and bust out the darby. Its all fun and games till they turn the lights on.


the lights are on and no problems and never had one


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