Finally figured out why my mud was cracking near the vents

Been dealing with cracks around heat registers for years. Last week I was on a job in Portland and the homeowner's HVAC guy was there swapping out a unit. He mentioned the drywall around vents gets way hotter than the rest of the wall and regular mud just can't handle it. Tried using setting-type compound instead of the all-purpose stuff on the last two vents and no cracks after a week. Has anyone else found a specific brand of setting compound that holds up better near heat sources?

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2 Comments

shane_williams4mo ago

Go with quickset 20 and see if it holds up.

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jennifer_murphy534mo ago

Hang on, I gotta push back on this a little. I've been using regular all-purpose mud around heat vents for years and it holds up fine if you do it right. The problem is almost always the prep work, not the mud itself. If you don't tape the joint properly or you put it on too thick, that's what cracks - no matter what compound you use. Setting compound dries so fast you can rush the job and end up with bigger cracks down the road. Honestly, I'd rather take an extra five minutes feathering out the regular stuff than chasing a quick-dry mix that might kick before I get it smoothed right.

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