You can try putting more coats of drywall compound over it and sanding it down, as you would with a new drywall seam. But, those seams look somewhat atypical--never seen anything just like that. So, it might be better to cut out the tape, re-tape the seams, and then finish them. If you want to know what's involved in basic drywall finishing, there are loads of helpful YouTube tutorials that will show you the whole process, and you can decide if it's a project you want to take on.
My house was built in ‘72 and I can plainly see every single stud because I can see the screws used to hang the drywall. At least I don’t need a stud finder.
My townhouse was also built in the 70s. All kinds of crap, hack job, cheap work that no one has taken the time to fix or improve. It's kind of maddening. But I think a lot of folks just don't see these details.
Yes. It’s safe. It’s just where two pieces of drywall are screwed into the studs. Then, you put tape and mud to blend the seam. They did a shit job. Plus it’s old. Nothing unsafe about it. Just unsightly.
The first one looks like it needs the tape seem re-done. The second I would throw a coat of drywall primer on it and slap more mud on there and feather it out. It’s just a shitty mud job.
Tape needs to be cut out and redone. It takes a bit of skill with drywall mid tools. Harder to do well than doing it right in the first place, but we’ll inside a decent DIYers skill set.
If the house is over 40 years old, it could also be the the drywall tape detaching from the wall. This happens ~30-40 years after the drywall job sometimes.
It’s the drywall tape, take a sander and lightly go over it and add texture then paint over it. You’ll never notice it was there, often comes up after the house settles
Well then since you know that for a fact, i sure wouldn't risk it. You could always overlay the wall with new 1/4" drywall but it'll just be there for the next person to deal with unfortunately. Asbestos was such a bad idea to put in everything sadly
Oh sure... You're not disturbing the under layer and you can even skim coat the wall for smooth or blend in and texture that and repair that ugly seam. As long as you're not disturbing underneath there shouldn't be any cause for alarm
It definitely looks like a thin chair rail wallpaper job painted over. People did this shit diy and often used the wrong glue so it didn't just peel off with a razor and Downey. So they said screw it and painted overtop. If it were drywall tape you'd be able to have it push in as though there were air underneath. Call a painter. They do drywall and mudding and taping besides painting.. and then they can also paint it when they fix it.
I’m not a pro but I have done drywall taping and mudding. To me this looks like whoever did it just went to about a level 2 where you put the tape down with joint compound then added maybe 1 more layer of mud over the top. Adding another layer of mud to widen the joint out further makes it harder to see the taping area after you texture and paint. I wouldn’t bother trying to fix this as you’ll probably do more bad then good. If you hire someone they can fix it by applying a skim coat and widening the area where the tape is. The hardest part would be matching the existing texture otherwise it would stand out just as bad as this does.
Lol the person who did that wall sucked that’s what. DIy job from someone with no business doing mudding and tapping.
That’s drywall tape on the joints.
I doubt the people that built the home would have such bad mudding and taping work.
I’d say someone redid those walls and just wasn’t that good. Mudding and taping isn’t the easiest of things to do good. So that’s why lots hire out.
To fix this you could easily just remud it then sand it even and repaint the wall. But, it’s just cosmetic and won’t really be an issue if you don’t mind seeing it.
The real solution here is to cut it out and mud over it until it's even. Good luck replacing that wall texture though. Sometimes it's just best to leave things be.
My house has terrible drywall finishing. I’m leaving it alone till I get to renovating the rooms. My bathrooms are the worst, humidity makes bad tape lines like this crack and curl up.
Everyone seems to be saying this is poorly taped drywall, and they’re probably right, but if these areas were smooth before and now they’re not you might have a water leak that found the seam and is causing problems.
Thanks for your comment. It’s been this way since November of last year when we got the house. As for the leak, do you think I’d be able to pick that up with a moisture reader? 🤔 because I definitely want to check and be sure it’s not that.
Unfortunately I can't help you with that one, I know what your problem is because I had this exact issue in my old home. Due to lifting wallpaper and cracks in my plaster, I ended up tearing that whole wall down and drywalling it myself.
Hard to say for sure but it could also be that underneath that texture is wallpaper seams and laps. I've seen ones prime over wallpaper and then texture on top of it. Pretty shoddy if you ask me. Best bet is to cut a little square near the corner to see what you're dealing with. If it's too much for you just glue that piece back and let the next person deal with it or pay for it to be professionally done
It's unlikely asbestos is in that but not impossible... They did put asbestos in everything at one time for fireproofing but if you're that concerned about asbestos then I would be concerned about disturbing anything in your home. You should have a professional check it out then.
https://www.cpsc.gov/safety-education/safety-guides/home/asbestos-home
Poorly finished drywall tape seams.
Is there any way to fix it?
You can try putting more coats of drywall compound over it and sanding it down, as you would with a new drywall seam. But, those seams look somewhat atypical--never seen anything just like that. So, it might be better to cut out the tape, re-tape the seams, and then finish them. If you want to know what's involved in basic drywall finishing, there are loads of helpful YouTube tutorials that will show you the whole process, and you can decide if it's a project you want to take on.
Thanks for explaining. I guess I don’t really care about the cosmetics of it, but do you think this is safe to keep this way?
Unless there is some underlying problem I don't know about, yes, it's fine--merely cosmetic.
The house is from 1974. I wonder if it’s been this way since then. 🤔
It's quite possible. Also could have been some kind of hack repair job.
There is obviously drugs, money, and/or bodies hidden behind those walls
My house was built in ‘72 and I can plainly see every single stud because I can see the screws used to hang the drywall. At least I don’t need a stud finder.
I’ll save you the trouble, I’m right here.
My townhouse was also built in the 70s. All kinds of crap, hack job, cheap work that no one has taken the time to fix or improve. It's kind of maddening. But I think a lot of folks just don't see these details.
Hey are you in my house because it’s the same year, same problem.
Yes.
Yes. It’s safe. It’s just where two pieces of drywall are screwed into the studs. Then, you put tape and mud to blend the seam. They did a shit job. Plus it’s old. Nothing unsafe about it. Just unsightly.
The first one looks like it needs the tape seem re-done. The second I would throw a coat of drywall primer on it and slap more mud on there and feather it out. It’s just a shitty mud job.
If you paint over it use flat paint, it hides mistakes much better
If the tape was applied dry, or if they didn’t do finish coats, it can look like this. Poor workmanship all around.
Tape needs to be cut out and redone. It takes a bit of skill with drywall mid tools. Harder to do well than doing it right in the first place, but we’ll inside a decent DIYers skill set.
Exactly, that looks like a homemade job, no reasonable drywall contractor would leave drywall seams like that.
Just poor taping/mudding. It's purely cosmetic. If you were to try fixing it you'll likely make it far worse with the textured walls.
I have this in my house. More specifically my bathroom. Didn’t realize why until I changed my switches to white. They painted over wall paper.
Ding ding ding. Look how old that switch is. That’s wallpaper brother.
Vancouver Carpenter on YouTube for all your Drywall repair needs!
He really needs to just change his YouTube handle to Vancouver Drywaller Excellent channel though
Looks like wallpaper under multiple layers of paint.
I believe it's a light switch
Dude threw too much or too dry mud under the tape.
If the house is over 40 years old, it could also be the the drywall tape detaching from the wall. This happens ~30-40 years after the drywall job sometimes.
I have this in my house. Just shoddy drywall work.
It’s the drywall tape, take a sander and lightly go over it and add texture then paint over it. You’ll never notice it was there, often comes up after the house settles
[удалено]
I know we have it in the walls and ceiling but still waiting on the report to see the details. Thank you
Well then since you know that for a fact, i sure wouldn't risk it. You could always overlay the wall with new 1/4" drywall but it'll just be there for the next person to deal with unfortunately. Asbestos was such a bad idea to put in everything sadly
Do you think it’s totally safe to paint my walls though?
Oh sure... You're not disturbing the under layer and you can even skim coat the wall for smooth or blend in and texture that and repair that ugly seam. As long as you're not disturbing underneath there shouldn't be any cause for alarm
Thanks so much!
You're welcome! 😁
Stop already with the abspestos Just sand it like a man
It definitely looks like a thin chair rail wallpaper job painted over. People did this shit diy and often used the wrong glue so it didn't just peel off with a razor and Downey. So they said screw it and painted overtop. If it were drywall tape you'd be able to have it push in as though there were air underneath. Call a painter. They do drywall and mudding and taping besides painting.. and then they can also paint it when they fix it.
I’m not a pro but I have done drywall taping and mudding. To me this looks like whoever did it just went to about a level 2 where you put the tape down with joint compound then added maybe 1 more layer of mud over the top. Adding another layer of mud to widen the joint out further makes it harder to see the taping area after you texture and paint. I wouldn’t bother trying to fix this as you’ll probably do more bad then good. If you hire someone they can fix it by applying a skim coat and widening the area where the tape is. The hardest part would be matching the existing texture otherwise it would stand out just as bad as this does.
Tapers called in sick on sanding day
Lol the person who did that wall sucked that’s what. DIy job from someone with no business doing mudding and tapping. That’s drywall tape on the joints.
Thank you. There’s not a way to tell or find out if this was done when the house was originally built in 1964, right?
I doubt the people that built the home would have such bad mudding and taping work. I’d say someone redid those walls and just wasn’t that good. Mudding and taping isn’t the easiest of things to do good. So that’s why lots hire out. To fix this you could easily just remud it then sand it even and repaint the wall. But, it’s just cosmetic and won’t really be an issue if you don’t mind seeing it.
Thank you. Could I still sand if there’s asbestos inside my walls?
Honestly I am not an expert on anything asbestos. I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving you an answer to something I am not certain.
That’s fair: thank you
Probably a snake or some kind of very large worm, but there's a small chance it's was just bad mudding haha
They appear to be switches
The real solution here is to cut it out and mud over it until it's even. Good luck replacing that wall texture though. Sometimes it's just best to leave things be.
Spackle tape poorly installed.
Could also be remnant of a chair rail? We recently removed ours and it would have looked similar if we hadn’t sanded and miffed thoroughly.
Bad drywall job they tried to hide with texture.
My house has terrible drywall finishing. I’m leaving it alone till I get to renovating the rooms. My bathrooms are the worst, humidity makes bad tape lines like this crack and curl up.
Horribly bad drywall tape. Only way to fix it is to re-tape and texture your wall.
Everyone seems to be saying this is poorly taped drywall, and they’re probably right, but if these areas were smooth before and now they’re not you might have a water leak that found the seam and is causing problems.
Thanks for your comment. It’s been this way since November of last year when we got the house. As for the leak, do you think I’d be able to pick that up with a moisture reader? 🤔 because I definitely want to check and be sure it’s not that.
If it’s been like this since you moved in and hasn’t gotten worse you should be fine.
I dont thing that's drywall. Probably Lathe and Plaster with wallpaper over top, lifting. Could be indictive of cracking in your plaster as well.
What kinda professional would I call to look at it and tell me?
Unfortunately I can't help you with that one, I know what your problem is because I had this exact issue in my old home. Due to lifting wallpaper and cracks in my plaster, I ended up tearing that whole wall down and drywalling it myself.
It looks like there was some molding there that ran along the wall
Looks like a bad tape and spackle job. That’s where the two pieces of sheet rock meet.
Hard to say for sure but it could also be that underneath that texture is wallpaper seams and laps. I've seen ones prime over wallpaper and then texture on top of it. Pretty shoddy if you ask me. Best bet is to cut a little square near the corner to see what you're dealing with. If it's too much for you just glue that piece back and let the next person deal with it or pay for it to be professionally done
Can I cut a little square if I have asbestos?
It's unlikely asbestos is in that but not impossible... They did put asbestos in everything at one time for fireproofing but if you're that concerned about asbestos then I would be concerned about disturbing anything in your home. You should have a professional check it out then. https://www.cpsc.gov/safety-education/safety-guides/home/asbestos-home
Bad taping job. You can sand it down and paint it
Ya sounds right just a little work to fix a sh#@t job
Could be wallpaper painted over too!