# Unheated Garages



## wnybassman

I have noticed some hairline cracking in some of the garages we have finished over the years. Mainly in the long tapered joints and mostly in unheated garages. I know board expands an contracts with temperature fluctuations. What special precautions do you guys take in this situation? I have been thinking about taping with Durabond 90, but not sure if this will help or not. BTW, we use paper tape.


----------



## rebel20

You run out of Vario I used it for my dads garage had no problems that was 2 years ago.


----------



## wnybassman

rebel20 said:


> You run out of Vario I used it for my dads garage had no problems that was 2 years ago.


Hmmm, that might be the perfect test spot.


----------



## wnybassman

Any additional insight on this?


----------



## mudslingercor

Are you using taping compound mud or all purpose,finish? What brand. Is is the same builders garages all the time with the same floor plan? (Structural issues) Paper tape I hope not mesh right. Taped in adequate weather? are the bevels tight or gaped?


----------



## ryanh

the main word is unheated.. contraction/expansion. anything that seems to drop below freezing point where somewhere some structure is going to shift a bit is going to cause a minor crack, no?


----------



## wnybassman

mudslingercor said:


> Are you using taping compound mud or all purpose,finish? What brand. Is is the same builders garages all the time with the same floor plan? (Structural issues) Paper tape I hope not mesh right. Taped in adequate weather? are the bevels tight or gaped?


Sheetrock green top mostly, all different garages, paper tape, good weather and bevels are generally tight (if not they got prefilled)

Seems like expansion and contraction of extreme temps both ways takes its toll and leaves cracks in the tapers eventually.


----------



## Quality1st

*That,s Right*

Any structure be it a garage or castle, need to be heated prior to drywall being finished, and kept from dropping below freezing, for the life of said structure. PERIOD :yes:


----------



## mudslingercor

Sheetrock green is all purpose compound. So for starters I would recommend using a joint compound for install of tape and bead. Joint has more glue in it. I personally use Synco and stand by it as for Sheetrock never used it. I have taped many garages that the min they are dry heat is pulled and they sit for I don't who knows before reheated and never ran into a cracking problem. True,temp should be maintained. But doesn't always happen. Even if you heat the garage but it has no insulation in the ceiling or walls you can have some major problems if the temp drops. If that is the case probably your reason for cracks.


----------



## wnybassman

We did a project a couple winters ago where we hung and finished duplexes one after the other. Those little one car garages also got drywall, but zero insulation in walls or ceiling. Not heated obviously. We advised against it, but that's what the owner of the units wanted. My grandfather always said "do what the customer wants even if it is upside down". Needless to say those seams were cracking before we even got to sand it out. It was a cold winter that year, lots of temps in the single digits. Never seemed to faze him, and we got paid, plus we warned him exactly what it was going to do.

Last summer we drywalled a garage in a 30 year old house. That one was insulated, but no heat at times. We recently did another job there and I noticed hairline cracks in a couple seams.

A few years ago I did my mom's garage. Zero heat, but that one took a couple years to show evidence of cracking, but that one is also a pole structure attached to the house. Also not a good combo.

Most jobs we never see again, so I imagine there have been others that have cracked. I know it's the nature of the beast, but was wondering about any tricks to help reduce it. Maybe Vario it is.

I don't know of any suppliers in my local area that carry a "taping compound". To be honest, I didn't know there was such a thing until I started visiting this site.


----------



## Kiwiman

Over here garage ceilings don't have to be insulated, so it is more exposed to the extra heat in the roof space, and thats the only area that I have cracking problems (using papertape and hot mud), never had a problem on a garage that was insulated, and I can't recall having to repair one when I changed to Mesh and hot mud....And NO, I'm not trying to change the subject to a Mesh vs Paper debate :sneaky2:.


----------



## mudslingercor

Kiwiman what debate mesh is for people addicted to crack!:no: or figured out a way to be payed to fix crack.


----------



## Kiwiman

mudslingercor said:


> Kiwiman what debate mesh is for people addicted to crack!:no: or figured out a way to be payed to fix crack.


 :lol: you Crack me up.

wnybassman - Getting back to the original question, another option is to glue drywall off cuts to the back of the join but I suppose thats not an option if you're only finishing it.


----------



## Yeffay

I let the builders or owners know that the garage will probably crack if unheated. Heated or unheated, most garages are big and require expansion joints. I offer the option of installing expansion joints as needed for a modest price.


----------



## moore

Tape fell off.. angles /seams/butts ..all it needed was a tug then fell to the floor ..Garage is 30 years old ..


----------



## boco

Its pretty tough to stop cracks in a ceiling without heat. Durabond wont really much matter. The thing I do is to eliminate the butts by adding an expansion joints every 12 ft.


----------



## eazyrizla

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters


----------



## moore

eazyrizla said:


> let the board sit for 3 weeks. so it becomes climatized. just like hard wood or anything like that.


 NO..


----------



## eazyrizla

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters


----------



## eazyrizla

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters


----------



## Mudshark

Looking at that bucket of old tapes Moore pulled off, it looks like there was not a very good bond at all. I would suspect the type of mud used was poor. Perhaps an All Purpose or worse yet a Topping mud was used. Good Taping mud with good glues would not have looked like that I think. Just my opinion.


----------



## moore

eazyrizla said:


> oh ya why not?


 IT's A f/n garage ..cement board is your best bet...drywall WILL NOT HOLD UP in garages ..hell !! It won't hold up that well in the house it self ..go back and look at a home you finshed out 20 years ago...I dare ya!


----------



## moore

Mudshark said:


> Looking at that bucket of old tapes Moore pulled off, it looks like there was not a very good bond at all. I would suspect the type of mud used was poor. Perhaps an All Purpose or worse yet a Topping mud was used. Good Taping mud with good glues would not have looked like that I think. Just my opinion.


 The original tape job was a cluster yes..But since asbestos was taken from the mix .. finished rock will not last outside...Garages are outside!:yes:


----------



## eazyrizla

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 4 characters


----------



## boco

I actually repainted last month my first house I taped on my own. Actually looked better then some of the houses i did 3 or 4 years ago. This bull**** rock we get nowdays FN sucks. Proroc and USG lite will make any taper cringe once the house settles. Whilwe working at 1st job. I was reminising about the good old days where durabond only came in a brown bag and primer that used to get you high as a kite.


----------

