Naturally, this means that paper tape also takes a good deal of time to apply, since you have to first do the adhesive layer, embed the tape, wait a few hours for the adhesive layer to dry, and then apply a second coat of mud. This process also takes considerable practice to master and if you aren’t careful to embed the tape perfectly, you’ll end up with air bubbles under the tape that will weaken the joint. That said, a perfectly finished paper tape joint will have less movement – and thus less potential to form cracks – than a mesh tape joint, thanks to that extra mud coupled with the nonelastic nature of paper.
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Fiberglass tape, on the other hand, is comparatively easy to work with. It is self-adhesive, so it can be applied to all the joints in one go and then mudded over in a single pass, skipping the first layer of mud entirely. As an added bonus, because it skips the adhesive layer, you don’t need to worry about air bubbles causing problems down the road. All this makes mesh tape easier to work with, especially if you’re not an expert. It can also save you time and is particularly well suited to patch jobs where the strength of the finished joint is slightly less important. The downsides of mesh tape, though, are that it is much more difficult to apply by hand (it can easily get crooked without an applicator and needs a different, special applicator for inside corners) and that you’ll need to finish it with setting-type compound (rather than standard compound), so you’ll need some extra supplies. The setting compound protects against cracks that can develop from mesh tape’s comparatively high elasticity, which can otherwise give joints more movement than they would have with paper tape.
Bottom line: paper tape is a perfectly good choice which leaves a slightly stronger joint thanks to the additional steps it requires, but those extra steps take time, practice, and patience. Mesh tape has a much shallower learning curve and can save you significant time on the job but you’ll need some extra tools and materials to work with it and it can leave a slightly weaker joint even though the material itself is stronger than paper.
Like many aspects of drywall, it's all depends on your skill & knowledge. I've been in drywall over 30 years, and have run my own business for about 15 of those years, (www.mrpatchdrywall.com). I specialize in drywall repairs and mesh tape is absolutely the best tape to use, for my application. And I've NEVER had a call back because of tape failure, joint cracks, etc. Does that mean it can never crack, of course not, any tape can crack, and I've fixed THOUSANDS of cracks, and have seen both types of tape crack.
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The big advantages to Mesh tape are you can apply it to the joint, and immediately coat it, which brings it to the taped, then coated step when using paper. With paper, it takes 2 days to get to that same point. If you use fast setting joint compound, (ie hotmud), you gain the added benefit of almost no shrinkage, allowing you to finish the work faster, plus you can apply multiple coats in one day with hotmud. The other big advantage is you can't get blisters with hotmud, something that plagues MOST all amateurs.
I have no problem whatsoever in coating it and making it not show, but again, that's because I'm the best at what I do, with tons of experience. You as an amateur will not be able to achieve the same quality I can, BUT, with a little extra work, you can get close enough to suit you in most cases.
I recommend checking out my YouTube channel at www.thatkiltedguy.com where I actually have a video discussing just this subject, as well as numerous others that should help you all out a lot.
Thanks, Guy, That Kilted Guy.com
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