Restore your arch to its former beauty.
Drywall panels, composed of highly compressed gypsum particles and covered with a smooth paper finish, are suitable for cutting and taping to form arched doorways or other arched interior elements. Damage to a drywall arch, such as cracking or shifting, may loosen the plaster used in forming the arch, but you can fix it with basic drywall tools and supplies.
Instructions
1. Cut away any loose drywall paper from the damaged area with a utility knife and scrape any crumbling gypsum from the crack.
2. Cut out any warped, loose or bulging sections of flexible corner bead. This is a nailing strip, made to fit over the under and outer edge of a drywall arch. This is what gives your arch a smooth, even look when taped out. If it's coming loose, you need to cut the damaged section and pull it off.
3. Pull out any nails left behind if you remove a section of corner bead, or use a nail set to drive them beneath the surface of the drywall.
4. Cut a section of new flexible corner bead about 2 inches shorter than the edge and coax it into place smoothly, taking care not to overlap the old bead. Nail the corner bead into place. If you're not replacing any corner bead, skip to the next step.
5. Apply premixed joint compound with a 6-inch taping knife to the underside and wall side of the arch. Smooth the mixture into the holes of the corner bead and form an even curved surface on the underside of the arch.
6. Switch to the 10-inch drywall taping knife and feather out the edges of the joint compound on the wall side of the arch. Keep the application of joint compound very thin. It's okay if you can see the corner bead beneath the compound.
7. Let the joint compound dry completely and then sand away rough and uneven spots with a drywall sander. This type of sander features replaceable nylon screens that attach to a sanding pad. A drywall sander will not scratch your wall the way sandpaper will.
8. Apply another thin coat of joint compound to the underside and the wall side of the arch. Joint compound, called "mud," shrinks as it dries, so you'll get the best results by applying two or more very thin coats instead of one thick coat.
9. Sand the arch after the final coat of joint compound dries, using care along the edge of the arch to form a smooth line.
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