paintingtaping
I have read that one should apply painter's tape in single, one-foot sections instead of a long strip. The reason given is that when it is applied in one, long strip, the tape is stretched and won’t lay flat or stick properly, resulting in paint bleeding underneath the tape.
I just taped 70% of a 14' x 22' foot room with long strips. Is it worth re-taping?
On the plus side, the people who did your ductwork made an attempt to seal it! On the minus side, they used tape instead of mastic. Tape can come off, as you've discovered. If you really want to do an A+ job, seal those joints with a generous application of mastic. It's basically a sort of putty-like substance intended for duct sealing.
If you are sanding the paper tape, you definitely need more mud. So put on more mud.
Removing it would not really help, it would just make more of a mess you have to mud over.
I suggest 3-4", 6-8" and 12" for a progression in drywall "knives" (a coat with the small one, knock off only the high points, a coat with the medium one, knock off only the high points, a coat with the big one, if there are significant divots when sanding after that (there should not be), stop and recoat to fill the divots.
Best Answer
I'd argue it's not worth taping in the first place. Learn to 'cut in' with a brush and you'll save yourself all sorts of headaches in the future.
As for the advice, I have a hunch they don't mean literally tear off 1' sections of tapes, but apply it as-you-go foot by foot. Meaning, expose a foot of tape, rub it down good, expose more tape, rub that section down, repeat.