LETS GET STARTED

SCREW HEADS TOO HIGH OR LOW?

Check all the screw heads to make sure they are below the surface by passing a knife over them. If you hear a “click” sound, then that screw head is too high and needs to be tightened.

The paper surface of the drywall sheet is where it gets its strength. If you penetrate the paper surface with the screw head or nail, that area will be weak and could move later. Put in another screw near it always using a “dimplier” screw head driver on you drill. Remove any screws that missed the stud or it may work its way out later.

PLEASE READ ALL SPECIAL NOTES:

The Fast Lil” Taper is not a general purpose knife!  Using it as such may damage it for future taping jobs and will void the Warranty!  Its intended use is for “Taping ONLY”

Go over the entire area to tape with your general purpose knife to lightly scrape and remove any high spots that may create a “bump” under your applied tape.

FILL IN ANY LARGE GAPS

If there are any missing edges, damaged pieces, or gaps larger than 3/16”, Pre-Fill them in with a 20 or 40 minute chemical “Fast Setting” powder mix filler that won’t shrink. Then sponge off smooth any excess around the joint and let it dry before taping. If you use Taping or All-purpose compound it will shrink when it dries and leave a dent in the joint which may have to be filled in. It also may require up to 24 hours do dry, and then ‘shrink’ anyway. Just use a “Fast Setting” filler and you will be ready to work in about 1hour.

MOVEMENT IN THE JOINTS, AND REPAIRS OF ANY BRAKES OR HOLES

CHECK FOR MOVEMENT: It is critical that there is no movement in any of the drywall joints no matter how small, or you will create a tear spot in the tape once the job is done if the wall moves. So 1st let’s look for the lack of fasteners or support backing on the perimeter of all joints and intersections to make sure there are enough support to prevent movement later. Screw   spacing generally speaking should be 8” apart on the edges, and 10” to 12” apart in the field of the sheet for proper support. . Check local Building Code. Every edge needs backing support.  

Fix any large broken or missing pieces of the sheet now while you are doing repairs. You may have to cut out damaged pieces and replace them with a large patch. It is very important that the patch has support behind it before you tape. Which means you may have to use a small piece of wood on the inside attached to the surrounding sheet area to back up the patch.

 SMOOTH OUT BUTT JOINTS (FLT DENT TOOL)

When you cut drywall and mount one cut next to another cut, that’s called a “Butt Joint”. 

If there is any frayed paper, remove it with a sharp box knife. Next, use the handle end of your Fast LIL Taper to smash down any rough joined edges and smooth them out. There are 4 corners on the handle end, use one to press into the joint. The fins are to rest your thumb while dragging one of the knife corners in the joint to dent it in smoother.

NOW YOU ARE READY TO TAPE USING THE FAST LIL’ TAPER (FLT)

The first thing we must do is to mix up the compound “MUD” in a shallow bucket for easier handling on the job site. Mud comes in large boxes or buckets. Transfer enough from it to fill ¾ of your small bucket, add a little water. Using a small mixer dilute it down to the consistency of “Sour Cream”, NOT RUNNY. You can place it on the floor to mix. Then on a upside down 5 gal. bucket or milk create for easier reach. Use “Taping or General All Purpose” compounds only! They have a higher glue content to better bind the tape and drywall together .   

DO NOT USE FAST SETTING MUD TO TAPE, OR TO TAPE WITH THE FAST LIL’TAPER!

YOUR BONUS: THE FAST LIL’TAPER DRYWALL AND MASKING TAPE REEL HOLDER AT YOU SIDE.

Clip the tape Reel Holder to your belt and mount a 250 foot roll of paper drywall tape on it.

We recommend not using the 500 foot roll of tape, it’s is too hard to work with. CREASE then tear off up to 4 feet of tape at a time for better control after you load the tape with mud.

NOTE: You can use your reel holder for other jobs that require masking tape, like plastic sheeting for doors and windows to protect them from sanding dust or sprayed wall textured.

THE 3 PARTS OF USING THE FAST LIL’ TAPER

1) FEEDING TAPE INTO THE FAST LIL’ TAPER

Holding the FLT in your right hand and with up to 4 feet of tape in your left, feed and guide the tape past the fingers and through the fence about ¾ inch. Hold the tape against the fence with your right thumb. You may now let go of the tape with your left hand. Drape the tape over the edge of the bucket, and now you are ready to coat the tape.

 2) SUBMERGING AND COATING THE TAPE

Submerge the tape about ¾ inch past the tips of the two fingers. That will be enough to coat the bottom of the tape which is all you need cover with compound. It is NOT necessary to go beyond that depth. Now with your left hand grab the tape under your right thumb, and slowly pull it through. Check the coverage, if you see a gap or bear spots you’re pulling it through too fast, or the compound is mixed to dry. If so, slow down, or add a little water and remix it.

3) REMOVE EXCESS COMPOUND FROM BLADE

After pulling the tape through and holding the tape in your left hand, scrape off most of the  mud left on the blade with the rim of the bucket. Do this on both the front and back of the blade. That’s 3 cleaning strokes total, 1 on the back and 2 on the front. If you leave mud on the blade it may fall on the floor. Keep the FLT in your right hand, while at the same time grab the other end of coated tape you are holding in your left hand, and approach the wall joint to be taped.

NOTE: The end of the tape that comes out first does not have any mud on the first 3 inches. You must use the completely coated end of the tape for all intersecting walls joints.

Because you can’t get your right hand into intersecting walls when the FLT is in it to squeeze out the mud and coat under the last 3 inches of the dry end. (That is perpendicular walls, walls to ceilings, or walls to floors.) You’ll see after a couple times of use.

NOTE: Tape comes off of the roll with a “crease” down the center. That natural bend allows you to fit the tape into inside corner joints and center it there much easier. When you feed it through the FLT make sure that the “crease is facing down” toward the blade to coat the crease side. 

TAPE INSIDE WALL CORNERS FIRST

Start the taping process on the top inside corners of the walls with the tape in your left hand.  Attach it in the corner center while “finger walking” it down and centering it as you go with your left fingers. Continue to hold and guide it into the center of the joint with you right hand. Once the entire length is attached, use your knife and start at the top to smooth it out, 1 foot on the left, and then 1 foot on the right until you are at the end. Repeat the same procedure for coating the tape and applying it to the next section of the corner. DO NOT OVERLAP THE TAPE PIECES, rather Butt them up to each other. On the bottom piece start the application from the floor and work up toward the ceiling.

NOTE: RINSE CLEAN IN WATER WHILE WORKING:

About every 7 or 8 pieces of tape you run through the FLT, the fingered fence may build up with compound. It might be difficult to run the tape through the teeth, especially in warmer weather. You should have a bucket of clean water on the job just for cleaning things up. Dunk and swish the FLT around in the bucket of water about ten times. That’s usually enough to clean off any build up of compound. If not use a toothbrush and re-rinse.

OUTSIDE CORNER BEADS

Outside corners have a 90 degree metal edge and may run 8 feet from ceiling to floor. Start at the top. Place the tape coated end next to the little ridge of the corner bead, but not on top of the ridge. Use the same procedure of coating the tape with the FLT as with all joints and embedding it with your fingers. Smooth it out next to the ridge, but not on top of the ridge with your knife. Finish that entire side length, but on the bottom piece start the application from the floor and work up toward the ceiling. It will take about 3 pieces of tape. Then apply the tape to the other side of the corner bead in the same fashion.

 VERTICAL “BUTT JOINTS”

Vertical Butt Joints are usually 4 feet long and should be staggered every few feet when the drywall sheets are attached to the wall horizontally. Use one of the FLT handle corners to crush down any of these rough joints. Coat the tape in the same way. Then apply the tape from the ceiling down toward the center of the wall. Butt Joints on the lower sheet, start taping from the floor and come up to meet the horizontal joint in the center of the sheets. 

HORIZONTAL OR TAPERED JOINTS (Flats)

Horizontal tapered joints are the easiest. Coat the tape in the same way. Start at the left room corner and work toward the right with the largest piece of tape as you can easily handle. Place the coated tape in the joint and walk and guide it into the center of the joint. Then smooth it out with the knife. These joints are “tapered with a trench”. Don’t worry that the tape is not smooth. This is the only joint that you may over lap the tape, as it will get 3 more coats of mud built up on it. Just make sure it’s lower than finished surface of the two sheets after taping.

CEILING OR “LID” WORK

You should start on the left side of the room again and work to the right. If you don’t have a scaffold, a 6 foot ladder with a shelf works great. Use a bungee cord to secure the bucket to the ladder shelf that saves you a lot of ups and downs for more tape. Now you can safely work form it to reach any joint that is safe to reach. Coat the tape in the same way and tape as many joints from one ladder placement as you can. Then just move the ladder to the next joint area. Start with smaller tape pieces to get an idea of working over head.

SPONGE SANDING AND JOINT CLEAN UP

1st Rule of Dry Walling: Whatever extra compound you leave behind, you get to sand off!

Once you have taped an area and smoothed out the compound with the knife much as you can, let the mud set up a while but NOT dry. Use a moist sponge and go over the top of the taped joints to feather out the tape even more. This will give you a much nicer second coat, and save you a lot of sanding. Don’t remove too much mud, you’ll see how well this works and how much to remove. This works on all coats and reduces a lot of dust and work.

How to Mask a Window?

You can use your Tape Reel Holder for other jobs that require masking tape even outside of your drywall project. It is very handy with plastic sheeting for doors or windows to protect them from dust, sprayed wall texture and paints.