The debate that never ends: pre-filling gaps before taping or just mud over everything?

I still think about an old timer named Rick in a supply house in Denver who spent 15 minutes yelling at me about pre-filling every gap before taping. He said if you tape over a 1/4 inch gap without filling it first, you're making a crack that'll show up in 6 months. But my buddy swears it's faster to just jam mud in the tape and let it puff out. Who’s right here, and what do you do for gaps bigger than a 1/4 inch?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesleyjohnson13d ago

Rick had a stroke mid rant once and still finished the sentence about pre-filling.

margaretf4013d ago

Pre-filling a quarter inch gap is like putting a bandaid on a broken leg, but hey, some people like the thrill of watching cracks bloom later. Rick sounds like he was born with a drywall knife in his hand and a grudge in his heart, but honestly, he wasn't wrong about the math. For anything bigger than a quarter inch, you better fill it first or prepare for a fun round of "guess where that line came from" in six months.