Knauf drywall tape: types and their characteristics

To create indoors smooth and smooth walls at the construction stage of apartment buildings, plasterboard sheets are used. The level of moisture resistance and fire resistance of the coating depends on their quality. Therefore, professionals prefer gypsum sheets produced by the famous German company Knauf.

After finishing the room with such material, a space with perfect walls is obtained. But the joy of the work done can spoil the unsightly look of the joints between the sheets. The cause may be oblique cuts along the edges of the material.

There is a simple way out of this situation - to plaster the surface of the sheets with mixtures intended for the joints of the gypsum board and to use a reinforcing tape.

Proper design of the joints formed during the installation of plasterboard sheets, guarantees not only aesthetics, but also the strength of the structure, because any damage can cause small holes that are dangerous for the construction but cracks.

If the putty of the walls is made without reinforcement, after a while due to temperature fluctuations the plaster at the points of contact between the sheets will crack. In the future, these gaps will only increase, which will lead to the need for a new, better repair.

That is why it is necessary to use a reinforcing tape for drywall. In addition, the use of this material contributes to the formation of a smooth and even surface.

Recently, builders prefer several types of tapes.

Perforated paper tape - very reliable fiberglass-reinforced paper.In order to provide the best grip, manufacturers have made the adhesive side rough, i.e. perforated. To make the sizing of the corners more convenient, the material was equipped with a depressed fold in the middle, so the tape is used as an angle-forming one.

Knauf can also offer special angle protection tape. Knauf-aluxwhich is made of special paper with metal inserts. Such a tape will be able to withstand both stretching and creasing. It can be called sealing, as it is often used to strengthen and increase the strength of structures. Such a tape is sold in rolls of 50 m, 75 m or 153 m.

However, this material has some minor drawbacks. The process of mounting paper tape is quite time-consuming. If you do not have experience in using such material, air bubbles may form at the stage of gluing seams under the tape. The reason may be an insufficient amount of putty under the tape. Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly coat all joints with a joint compound. It is also better to choose micro-perforated paper tape.

Self-adhesive serpyanka - mesh, produced in strips of 45 or 50 millimeters wide.No special formulations are required for the gluing of this material, since it already has an adhesive base. Serpyanka is made of fiberglass fibers, characterized by special reliability, rolls of length 20, 45 and 90 meters.

Reinforcing glass fiber tape can be a great example of serpyanka. Knauf-fireboard for plates and various joints.

In addition to the advantages Serpyanka has several disadvantages:

• less durability than paper tape;
• the importance of choosing a solution that is absolutely suitable for serpyanka;
• the need for thorough cleansing of the joints (otherwise “wrinkles” may form);
• the need to track the uniform distribution of the layer of putty throughout the joint.

When using self-adhesive serpyanka at the end of work, it is better to pack the remaining part of the tape in a plastic bag. Otherwise, the glue will dry out over time, and the material will later be unsuitable for use.

If you need to put drywall on the floor, then for successful installation will need a damper or waterproofing tape. It is made of polyethylene foam that has the ability to taper. This provides the material with the ability to significantly compensate for the expansion of drywall floors.

This solution has a lot of advantages:

1. Installation is done on a dry floor. This makes it possible to eliminate the constant humidity in the rooms.
2. Installation can be done quickly and easily by yourself.
3. Drywall does not load overlapping plates, as the material has a small mass.
4. The low price of drywall sheets is a nice bonus.
5. The material is easily and simply processed.
6. Sheets of gypsum plasterboard reinforce sound and heat insulation.

However, drywall sheets are very porous. Moisture easily penetrates into them, causing them to swell. Therefore, between the wall and drywall, you must lay a special waterproofing tape, for example, Knauf Flehendihtband, designed for waterproofing joints of walls and ceilings.

For Knauf drywall, it is better to choose sealing materials of the same manufacturer. For example, you can purchase tape Knauf-kurt in rolls of 25 m. or paper tape 52x150xS. The latter is made of special white paper, which includes reinforcing synthetic fibers.

Installation of paper tape is carried out in a certain sequence:

• At first it is necessary to put a thin layer of putty, but only on the joint, which it was decided to close up at the moment. Putty can not be applied immediately to everything, otherwise the mixture will dry and become useless, and the work will be more difficult due to the likely occurrence of air bubbles.
• The grid is regulated by two seams in the center. You need to keep her constantly stretched. Applying a little effort, you need to pin the tape to the layer of putty. The ends of the material need to overlap.
• Then you need to smooth the tape with two spatulas, strictly following from the center to the sides of the seams. It is important to apply enough effort to securely adhere the material to the joint, and an excessive amount of mortar squeezed out. About 0.8 millimeters of the mixture should be under the edge of the paper, and about 2 millimeters should be under the central part.It is important to note that if the mixture is squeezed out too much, then the tape will not be able to stick.

• After successful completion of all manipulations, it is necessary to remove excess putty from the edges.
• After some time, you need to finally smooth the seam with a wide-blade spatula (more than 100 millimeters). It is important that the seam does not go beyond the drywall plane.
• At the end of work it is necessary to sand the layer well.

Installation of self-adhesive mesh requires much less time. This is due to the lack of risk of air bubbles. The process itself is also divided into several stages:

• Before installation, you should prepare the putty solution and apply it with a thin layer on the joint, using a spatula with a width of 40 to 50 millimeters.
• Then, without delay, you need to attach the edge of the mesh to the upper edge of the seam and slightly press it to the plaster. At the same time it is impossible to press hard. This can provoke the appearance of “wrinkles” on the grid or lead to tape damage from strong mechanical impact.
• The roll should be unwound to the bottom, sticking tape along the gypsum and smoothing it with a spatula.

• The floor grid must be cut.
• Then you should again “walk” on the grid, smoothing out the creases.
• Top serpyanka need to be covered with another layer of plaster and leave to dry completely.

Self-adhesive serpyanka can simply be fixed on a dry surface, and covered with a thin layer of plaster on top.

Installation of the damper tape is necessary to produce slightly above the level of the floor screed. Usually when laying plasterboard on the floor, the builders leave a small gap about 1 centimeter wide, into which the waterproofing tape is then laid and glued into the gap between the wall and the floor. After that, the tape is filled with dry powder for installation.

Reviews about the company Knauf exclusively enthusiastic. This is natural, because the reinforcement tapes produced by the company are of high quality.

All these characteristics are also confirmed by satisfied customers who use reinforcing tapes suitable for it to Knauf drywall.

For the benefits of the Knauf drywall reinforcement tape, see below.