I sheetrocked and taped the basement of my cabin and taped it using paper tape and standard mud. Sealing it went well, but when I painted it with standard ceiling paint the seams lifted. I removed, retaped, and resealed. Again when I painted it the tape lifted. Any suggestions on what I can do to prevent the lifting? Would the stick on fibrous tape work? Any suggestions? I’m very frustrated. 
Thanks in advance.
Bubbling tape when painting usually means that either you did not get the tape bedded into the mud properly, or you didnt get a bond between the tape and the bed mud.
Did you apply the tape by hand, or with a taping machine or banjo?
Was the tape dry (fresh off the roll)when you tried to bed it?
I put mud in the seam first, wetted the tape in a bucket of water, shook the excess water off, and applied it to the seam with a thin layer of mud over the top and then finished as normal.
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I put mud in the seam first, wetted the tape in a bucket of water, shook the excess water off, and applied it to the seam with a thin layer of mud over the top and then finished as normal.
Is it the majority of the seams, or limited areas? If its limited to an area, possible air leak from the exterior. Can you post a couple pics?
Majority of the seams and some are worse than others so I feel it is something I did. I don’t have any pix at this time, but could get a few in the next week or two. It’s the first time I’ve had a problem using this method, but if I need to change I surely will.
did you topcoat right away after you wiped the tape down?
Sounds like you did everything correctly.
Lightweight mud, or joint compound?
Did you use drywall primer?
If you used lightweight joint compound thats probably the reason, it dosen’t work that well for that. Ive been finishing for 27 years and its usually the amount of water in the compound, that isn’t there. Heres the correct way to do it. You have to put a litte water into the taping mud befor you put it on the joint. Do that and put enough of it in the joint so that the beveled seams and edges are full and level. Pre tear your tape for the length you need for that joint then apply the tape to the seam and knife it in pressing in firmly so the complete tape beds right. One of the most common mistakes is to let the joint compound set too long before the tape is applied. One of the first things a taper and finisher learns is speed is an essence, you don’t have to run but move fairly quickly so the moisture doesen’t evaporate out of the joint compound. You have to press in firmly to seat the tape especially on the butt joints. Always leave enough joint compound on the joint so that when you knife the tape in firmly it squeezes out from under the tape, especially on the squared ends of the sheetrock ends, an 1/8th of an inch on the butt joints is a minimum for do it yourselfers. The black lid Pro-Form bucket is the best for tapeing and textureing but the green bucket works ok too. The black lid is smoother, creamier and has more vinyls and glues in it, its a buck or two more but works better, thats all I use. The lightweight joint compounds are for the first and second topcoats over the tape after that has dried.
Did the bucket of Joint compound freeze because if it did it will loose some of its integrity. Don’t use the webbed tape, the paper tape is much better. The reason why is the paper tape offers more support and is a continous bridge on the joint whereas the webbed tape doesn’t, if the joint moves it will show cracking, I’ve done alot of repair jobs because of the webbed tape because it doesen’t offer any support, I don’t even know why they make it, probably because its easier to use. Send me a PM and we’ll go through what you did and we’ll find out what went on and what to do too correct it.
Good post mossydan! 
thanks. I’ll give it another shot.
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