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I'm working on converting a stone barn into a house. Some of the stone walls I'm leaving exposes, some I'm covering to insulate better.

In some locations, I have a 90° interior corner where drywall will meet uneven stonework.

How does someone normally finish such a corner? (the drywall will attach to the wood studs pictured)

enter image description here

isherwood
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Jamin Grey
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  • Do you have hot mud? – Questor Mar 24 '23 at 17:12
  • @questor I normally use premixed mud in a bucket, but am certainly capable of mixing something else instead. I've done mortar twice, and concrete dozens of times. – Jamin Grey Mar 24 '23 at 21:02
  • hot mud is basically plaster of paris... Just add water, it hardens quickly producing heat as it does so and is suitable for filling larger gaps then mud. – Questor Mar 24 '23 at 21:04
  • Thanks for whomever pointed at the duplicate question; it has good info in it! It's not a complete duplicate, as mine is drywall-specific which means some other possible solutions are available. – Jamin Grey Mar 24 '23 at 21:05

4 Answers4

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Given that drywall mud and/or paint on the stone will look ugly, scribing a piece of wooden trim is one approach (set the trim plumb, set dividers to the widest gap, drag the dividers along to make a mark for where to cut the trim to fit the wall profile.)

You can also scribe the edge of the drywall itself, and then caulk it neatly at the joint. Neatly is the trick. You can add wood trim as above on top of the drywall if not-neatly doesn't extend more than the thickness of the wood.

Ecnerwal
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  • Use a jig saw or a coping saw. – JACK Mar 23 '23 at 16:40
  • Thank you, this is what I'll do, trying first to neatly caulk the sheetrock, and then covering it with trim if I somehow botch it. I'll use gray caulk so I don't have to be as meticulous when painting. – Jamin Grey Mar 24 '23 at 13:19
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    See my advice at https://diy.stackexchange.com/a/203695/35141. Sometimes straight lines draw less attention to a troublesome situation. – isherwood Mar 24 '23 at 16:07
  • @isherwood That's actually really good advice, thank you. I'll give this more thought. I have another couple corners that are kitchen cabinet veneer meeting the same stone; I guess I could do the veener to a straight edge corner or straight edge trim, and fill in the gaps. – Jamin Grey Mar 24 '23 at 20:50
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You can use a tear-away bead to provide a clean finish to the drywall edge. It’s quick to install and also protects the stone/brick from getting mud and paint on it. Afterward, you can decide if you like the finished look; if not, you can scribe a piece of trim or caulk the gap.

Here's a YouTube video on installing it: Vancouver Carpenter

enter image description here

pdd
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  • I saw these, but because of the waviness of the stone, I am worried it would leave too large a gap. – Jamin Grey Mar 24 '23 at 13:13
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    A variation of this is an exposed corner bead, like brass or aluminum or colored vinyl, that is not tear-away, and then use caulk in a matching color. If the gap is large you fill it first with foam. Or use black caulk or a very dark variant of the brick color, so it won't draw attention even in a large gap. One way or another you have to protect the edge of the drywall and fill the gap. IMO scribing trim creates an overly finished look next to an exposed brick wall i.e. they don't belong together. – jay613 Mar 24 '23 at 15:30
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    If you haven’t already put up the drywall, you can paint the last stud next to the stone black. This should provide a shadow reveal. You might be surprised by how good it looks. If you’re unhappy with the effect, you can caulk the gap. – pdd Mar 24 '23 at 16:07
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I am extremely lazy, and the other suggestions sound like a lot of work.

I would put the drywall close to the wall, leave a 1/8" - 1/4" gap. Then carefully fill the gap with caulk of your choice. Preferably paintable. Wipe away any excess.

If you like how that looks.. Then call it a day. It is quick, easy, and cheap. It also looks nice (in my opinion).

Questor
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  • For some reason I had it stuck in my mind that caulk doesn't adhere to sheetrock. What is the purpose of leaving a 1/4" gap? For the caulk to fill? – Jamin Grey Mar 24 '23 at 13:13
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    @JaminGrey caulk adheres to pretty much anything, generally. Any material you're likely to use, anyway. The purpose of the gap is to allow the caulk to fill it. Depending on how uneven the stone is, you may need to chip at the drywall to get the gap in the 1-8-1/4" range all up and down. Caulk can't fill large gaps—I'd shoot for closer to 1/8". You'd probably also want to tape the stone before you caulk, so you get a nice even line. – Huesmann Mar 24 '23 at 14:37
  • Caulk does not adhere to raw gypsum, which is what's exposed with such a gap. You're left bonding to the thin edge of the surface paper and the masonry. – isherwood Mar 24 '23 at 15:43
  • It sticks to the surface paper pretty well.... I have done this

    @Huesmann you are right.. Going for an 1/8" gap is better. But you don't have to scribe the drywall... You can fill really large gaps with caulking... If you gradually fill it. start filling the gap a little deep with the caulking and let it dry... Then add more. I have filled gaps of about 1" this way.

     – Questor Mar 24 '23 at 16:16
  • @isherwood... That's why you don't scribe the drywall. and it depends on how you put up the piece... If you place the drywall vertically, you will have paper on the side for the caulking to stick to. – Questor Mar 24 '23 at 16:19
  • Fair enough, but no home of mine will have "really large gaps" filled with caulk. That simply doesn't hold up well, even if it's done well to begin with (which is easier said than done considering shrinkage, etc.). – isherwood Mar 24 '23 at 16:21
  • @Questor, if I ghetto-scribe the drywall, I only have to deal with caulk once—taping, cleanup. If I have to bridge wide gaps and layer the caulk, it's more work and more time that I could be using for other projects. – Huesmann Mar 25 '23 at 13:16
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There's a special gauge, looking somewhat like a many-toothed comb, which can be offered to the wall, and its profile transferred to the board. Then it's just a matter of drawing round that profile, and cutting it with a craft knife, or jigsaw. Again, there's a special tool, with magnets, which will cut both sides around weird shapes, for a neat finish. Then caulk it if you like.

The poor man's way would be to painstakingly cut the profile from a piece of card, and use that as the template.

Tim
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  • "Profile gauge". – isherwood Mar 24 '23 at 15:44
  • @isherwood - my dad used to work with gauges and tools, and he taught me there was a difference. Hence the inverted commas. Gauges measure, tools make work easier, in my view. – Tim Mar 24 '23 at 16:11
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    @isherwood - being totally pedantic, they were inverted commas, not quotation marks - I use each in their correct place! We'll have to agree to differ, but dad's business was called 'gauge and tool', so there was a perceived difference, for him and his customers, at least! – Tim Mar 24 '23 at 16:28
  • @isherwood - well, I thought a comma was on the line, so inverting it puts it above the letters. Like an apostrophe, but I don't use it as such. Maybe I'm just using licence. I'm here to learn! To me, double inverted commas are speech marks, which would be inappropriate used as I do. – Tim Mar 24 '23 at 18:34
  • @isherwood - I say potato, you say tomato... I guess the twain will never meet! – Tim Mar 24 '23 at 19:20