I’m currently refurbishing some plaster walls. Nothing major, however I do have two inside corners where the plaster has basically fallen apart leaving a long vertical channel from floor to ceiling that is anywhere from 1/4″ to 1/2″ in width. The surrounding plaster is sound as well as the lath below. In preparation for this repair, after cleaning and backcutting I’ve stuffed the void with Durock 90 and tooled it with a v-trowel in order to get a base to which I can put a finish coat. I planned on taping and finishing just as you would any inside corner but am now wondering if that is necessary as the Durock seems to have filled the void nicely. One thing I like about the Durock is that it seems to be almost as hard as the plaster. Would you still go ahead and tape this underlying “scratch coat” and finish as usual or do you think it could be finished simply as if it were real plaster, and not worry about the tape?
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I'd use the fiberglass mesh..belt and suspenders.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I don't think the issue is the relative strength of the Durock vs. plaster. Obviously, the plaster failed in the corner too. I like the tape. If you still get small cracks in that corner later, consider filling them with caulk for flex.
Fiberglass tape just to make sure.But don't use your tape knife to pressure the tape in order to form the corner.Use a plastic (el cheepo) because you will cut the fiberglass and you will not even know.
The best way is to open the corner and apply a 1/4 bit of phenoseal before the tape.
YCF
What is phenoseal?
Phenoseal is the name brand of a good quality caulking.
But you can use any other brand. Just stay away from the cheep painters caulking and the silicons or rubber types. I have found the Phenoseal to be the easiest to use and the best for your money.
YCF Dino
Thanks