How to get a flat drywall butt joint with fiberglass mesh tape

This particular project is a Melbourne Beach, Florida bedroom ceiling that had water damage and a air conditioning contractor also had had stepped down on the plaster ceiling while working on the duct work in the attic. The homeowners tore out the entire old plaster ceiling before I got there since it was about to fall down anyways.

So the first thing I needed to do was add some extra furring strips and installed 5 sheets of new drywall to the ceiling.

Next, I taped all of the drywall seams with a self adhering fiberglass mess drywall tape. When using fiberglass tape it’s recommended to use a setting type joint compound. This type of joint compound comes in a powder form and with different setting times like 20 minute, 45 minute or 90 minute. I used 20 minute mud which means the mud will be set up in 20 minutes and ready for second coating. You have to work fast but the setting type compounds are a lot stronger than the premixed all purpose joint compound that comes in 5 gallon buckets at your local big box home improvement stores or hardware stores.
Then I applied two coats of the 20 minute mud and did my final coat of mud using USG green lid all purpose joint compound to all of the new ceilings drywall joints and fasteners.

Butt joints are one of the hardest things to get right when it comes to drywall finishing!

I used a 12″ drywall taping knife and mud pan on all three coats of joint compound

I made this short video for anyone that wants to try and do their own drywall finishing on a do it yourself remodel or a drywall repair instead of hiring a drywall professional. Hopefully you can learn from my How to get a flat drywall butt joint video that you can try it out yourself and see if you can get a flat drywall butt joint on your drywall project.

Butt joints seem to give a lot of contractors,tradesmen, handymen, and DIY’ers the most trouble when drywall finishing. With these easy tips and tricks you should be able to get a flat butt joint when your drywall finishing or doing a drywall repair project. I use the same drywall finishing on butt joints for walls and ceilings. New drywall, ceiling repairs and wall repairs.

When using fiberglass tape it’s recommended to use a setting type joint compound that comes in a powder form that has to be mixed with water and not the premixed joint compound that comes in the 5 gallon buckets.