Automatic drywall taping tools are specially designed to reduce the time it takes to conceal drywall joints. Instead of using the manual method of applying compound with an application knife and smoothing on paper or mesh tape, automatic drywall taping tools combine several of these steps into one smooth operation.
Automatic Drywall Taping tools vs. Manual Drywall Taping Tools
Just take a quick glance at all the steps involved in manual drywall taping (significantly reduced with automatic drywall taping tools):
- Place the finishing compound on the wall firmly (but gently)
- Run the blade of your application knife down the tape as you press it onto the finishing compound from top to bottom
- Apply a steady and even pressure will ensure a smooth finish
- Cover the tape with a thin coat of even more joint finishing compound.
- Use the same knife to remove any excess.
Those steps are similar to the steps required to manually tape corners (again, significantly reduced with automatic drywall taping tools):
- Apply an ample amount of finishing compound to both sides of a corner.
- Fill in the joints with finishing compound
- Spread the finishing compound out no more than 1-1/2 to 2 inches out from the centers of these joints.
- Keep the tape centered and crease it down the middle.
- Apply a thin coat of joint finishing compound on the corner tape.
How Automatic Drywall Taping Tools Facilitate Your Tasks
You don’t need to worry about creasing tape for corners with automatic drywall taping tools because they come with a corner roller. And you don’t need to stop working every five minutes just to scoop up the finishing compound because these nifty tools come with an automatic finishing compound dispenser! Because they come in a wide range of sizes, you can use any one (or more) of them for any sized room.
Even though automatic drywall taping tools decrease the amount of time and energy spent taping drywall, you’ve still got to make sure that the areas you’re going to tape don’t contain any projecting items, like nails or screw heads.
You can easily check for protruding objects by running an application knife down an area that you’ve nailed. If you find some, drive them in with a small hammer. When it’s time to use automatic drywall taping tools, it’s better to have indents from hammering than it is to have projections from nail heads.
Prepping an area for taping may take a while, but when you use automatic drywall taping tools, the whole process flies by much faster than if you had to do this taping manually.
