My contractor told me it's much cleaner to use caulking instead of mud/tape on my new ceiling.
He's not talking about the corners. He's talking about where the seam of the drywall sheets meet. I've never heard of this method. Is this acceptable?
Drywall – Is it ok to use caulking instead of tape and mud on the new drywall ceiling
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I've had decent luck not taping inside corners at all. Instead I've use a sanded caulk. The key is to have a nice sharp edge to work with where the two pieces of sheetrock meet.
But if you want to mud and tape, there are tools for that:
They come in various angles, but most can adjust the angle merely by angling the handle yourself.
Typically, drywall sheets hung horizontally are hung with the upper full sheet first against the ceiling, cut bottom sheet last. This is so you will have an indent at the top to tape and mud. Unless your wall is exactly 8 feet tall, the cut of the bottom sheet is at the floor, thus no indent. Even if you have an indent at the very bottom against the floor, it is only about 2 inches wide. Common baseboard is 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 inches wide and will bridge this indent and is nailed mid and high. We have never put mud on the very bottom of a sheet, even it the indent is there. I suppose if your baseboard is very narrow, you may have to ask the mudders to fill that area, but that is very uncommon and would be a special request.
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Best Answer
No no no no and NO. You need to fire this guy immediately. Anyone who even brings this up is beyond reproach as far as incompetency in this area.
However... I have started using caulk for ceiling cracks that keep appearing. It is a good binder for seasonal contraction - but I tape and put joint compound over the caulk!
Edit: I have a small room in my basement to finish in 2-3 months... Thinking about giving the caulk a go. I don't mind the caulking but to get the pictures right I would need to put on a little primer and paint and those steps are a PITA to do over again... I will try to do a couple feet of a seam like this.