When renovating walls or ceilings, plastering the surfaces to prepare them for painting is crucial. This step will produce a perfectly smooth substrate, free of irregularities and ready to showcase the paint. For a flawless result, you should also take care when plastering the joint tapes.
To save time while maximising the quality of the work, professionals applying joint tapes can make use of various tools and thus avoid the tedium of manual application. Among these tools, the bazooka proves particularly formidable.
What is the bazooka for sticking joint tapes?
To master the bonding of joint tapes with a bazooka, it is essential to understand what this tool is. The bazooka is a device that greatly simplifies the process of applying compound to joint tapes. It consists mainly of a compound reservoir, a pump to deliver the compound to the head and a nozzle for applying it to the surface to be treated. In essence, an automatic taper – sometimes nicknamed a “bazooka” – is used to apply joint compound and tape to wall and ceiling joints at the same time.
Like the banjo, the bazooka combines two steps in one by laying the tape on the substrate directly with the compound, which saturates the tape simultaneously. One advantage of the bazooka over the banjo is that it cuts the tape at the same time, whereas the professional must cut it manually when using a banjo. The bazooka also has a larger reservoir and can therefore cover larger areas. It is also the perfect ally for tackling surfaces considered difficult, such as ceilings.
Before you start using the bazooka, it is essential to prepare the equipment properly. Start by choosing the right type of compound; ready-mixed compounds are generally recommended because they are better suited to mechanical application. Then prepare the product according to the manufacturer’s instructions. It is often advisable to dilute the compound with water until you achieve the right consistency for it to flow well through the bazooka.
The bazooka itself must be completely clean before use; no trace of compound should remain in any part of the tool. You must also ensure that every moving part of the device is properly lubricated for smooth operation. Take care, too, to prepare the joint tape by making sure that no dust or dirt is present. The tape must be perfectly positioned to receive the compound and then be applied to the substrate.
Once these checks have been completed, the professional can fill the bazooka’s reservoir using a pump and then proceed with the application.
The bazooka: an ideal technique for large surfaces
Applying compound to joint tapes with a bazooka has many advantages. It saves time and greatly reduces operator fatigue by shortening the work time and avoiding the repetitive movements that can cause musculoskeletal disorders.
However, using a bazooka to coat joint tapes is not necessarily intuitive. You need to know the right technique if you want to achieve quality results. For perfect application, hold the bazooka at an angle of about 45 degrees to the surface being treated. Check carefully that the compound is applied evenly; if not, you will need to adjust the settings before continuing.
After taping, the operator still has to perform two steps: the fill coat and the finish. To do this, it is advisable to use a joint knife to press down the tape, repeating the motion until a perfect finish is achieved. In total, three steps are therefore required to bond joint tapes with the bazooka: taping, filling and finishing.
Tips to know, pitfalls to avoid
The bazooka is a very effective tool for bonding joint tapes quickly and neatly. It offers the same advantages as the banjo, but it can go even faster thanks to its tape-cutting function and the fact that it allows you to work at ground level. As a result, it is possible to run all the tapes in a room or on a ceiling and only afterwards finish with a 12 cm knife to press the tapes.
There are a few drawbacks, however. First, the bazooka is bulkier than the banjo and heavier to carry because its compound reservoir is larger. This makes it more cumbersome to transport and manoeuvre. And because it is better suited to larger projects, the bazooka is more appropriate for seasoned professionals with a larger budget to devote to it.
Moreover, cleaning it is more complex and requires greater care. Whereas cleaning a banjo takes less than ten minutes, cleaning a bazooka takes about fifteen minutes on average. That is because every trace of compound must be removed from each part of the device, and there are many parts. There is no room for approximation: if a part is not properly cleaned, it could jam the next time you use it. Fortunately, with practice and experience these procedures become more straightforward, and the bazooka can then reveal its full potential.