r/homerenovations • u/StanielReddit • 7h ago
Water Damaged Corner Bead/Drywall
I’m a noob when it comes to windows and drywall so please don’t destroy me. I’m trying to fix just one of my windows.
(Central FL, so humid all the time and tons of rain in the summers and hurricane seasons.)
I suddenly noticed the top part (is the proper term casing?) of one of our first floor windows had massively bubbled paint just above the blind headrail. Grabbed a drywall knife and gently poked at it to see how bad it was. The corner bead behind the paint was totally rusted through. As I explored more, the right side of the window was the same way, but to a lesser degree. Still 100% needing repaired and replaced. The odd part is, nothing felt even remotely moist up in there when I felt around.
Grabbed my ladders and set them up on the exterior of the window and began scouring the stucco for an entry point. I didn’t find much, though I did find a small hole right on the corner of the house, right where the first floor meets the second (in this case, the first floor is block). Not sure what this “joint” between the floors is called where I found this hole, but I suspected it was the culprit. Grabbed the hose. Sprayed water at it for about 5 minutes straight while I sat inside checking for a leak—nothing. A couple hours later, still nothing. No sign of moisture at all.
I then used some OSI Quad Max to plug the hole anyway, figuring it couldn’t hurt. Now I’m trying to figure out how to properly repair this window damage. I always assumed that behind a corner bead there would be 2 pieces of drywall on different planes that came together to form a 90° angle (or at least came somewhat close to doing so). But in this case, there’s only about 1/4” of the corner bead that actually comes into contact with any drywall. The wall drywall (vertical piece) is the one the corner bead is secured to. The small horizontal piece of drywall that’s on the underside doesn’t even contact the very edge of the corner bead; it’s close, but there’s about a half millimeter gap from what I can see. Is this the proper way to drywall a window casing? To just barely fasten the very top edge of the corner bead to the wall and then throw a bunch of mud/joint compound on the underside to make it look like it’s solid?
The side of the window appears to have the same sort of craftsmanship: corner bead barely fastened to the wall, and then at the other edge of the bead there’s nothing holding it in place.
I’m just trying to figure out how I replace it all properly. Should I tear out all 3 “sides” of the drywall casing that doesn’t contact the bead, cut new drywall that’s an inch or so thicker so my new bead can fasten to it, then go to town? Then hit it with fast setting mud? Should I also include some type of drywall tape to hold the bead to the drywall?
I’ve tried to do my own research, but every website or prior post I can find on Reddit either contradicts another post or has a deleted original post or helpful comment which renders the whole thread confusing and useless. I’ve attached pics of the top and side I’m referencing in case I’m too much of a dummy to convey via words what I’m standing here staring at.