Hey guys and gals,

I'm re-doing our master bath and need some pointers on spreading mud on all the drywall joints. I'm horrible at it....

Any good tips ?


Thanks in advance !

 

I love working on the hosue, but I suck at drywall. My advise, pay someone for that part.

 

Yoy drywall guys are artists!! I am also re drywalling my whole basement and it gives me a whole new respect for you guys. I figure I should be done in a year or so.

 

It is an art that is true....

Light multiple coats....

It will keep down on sanding. Sanding is the worst, at least for me.. If you try to coat too heavy it will pull on itself and leave a ton of sanding to be done before you can recoat.

Home Depot sells dustless sanding kit which basically sucks the dust into a buck of water. Works pretty good once you screw up. Which I always do.

My uncle is amazing at drywall finishing. He is fast and when he is done there is next to no sanding.

Good luck with it.

 

I did my game room about a year ago. Here is a tip or two.

1. make sure your joining sheets are nice and flush.

2. fill in the "troff" (SP?) and make sure you spread your mud nice and wide. I dont remember the size of the mud knife I used, but it was like 12 inches. I made 2 paths for a total of 24 inches. I kept it smooth and it looks WONDERFUL. The more you mess with it, the easier it gets.


------------------ <---Mud line
============ <---sheetrock edges
------------------ <---Mud line

[EDIT]

I'm not the artist Raoul is, but I hope that lil "pic" helps some of what I was describing.

 

Jamz...you did tape it right? Or did you just mud the gaps

 

Before you start, are all of your nails/screws dimpled?

A good drywall blade is slight contoured, not straight, so it actually leaves something on the wall. Make sure you aren't holding it backwards. If it's backwards, you are removing joint compound (mud) from the middle and building it up on the edges which is the exact opposite effect of what you want.

Use a four inch knife for taping. Use mud as is.
The effect you are after is a six inch wide covering for taping.
With the four inch apply mud about three inches above and one inch below the joint. Then go back and apply three inches below and on inch above. Hard to explain but, you are trying to build a 'Bell Curve' on the wall, where the most mud is over the joint and it tapers of above and below the joint. Lay tape in the mud centered over the joint. Bathrooms have short joints. Hold the paper on onside so it doesn't move, start in the middle and wipe out the excess mud.

After drying, use a 6 inch knife (contoured) to cover the taping.
Cut the mud with a little water so it's thinner.

Final coat the mud gets cut even more.

 

Yes sir. I put a thin layer of mud over the gap, placed my tape at both ends, and then drag the knife over the top of the tape, pushing it into the mud a lil. Then, I floated the gap. Got it smooth, then did some light sanding.

Whalla

 

I did hanging, taping and finishing for five years.

Jamz, 24" wide?

A board is only four feet, at least you didn't have to spot any nails.

(After six months I didn't need to buy anymore sandpaper.

I walked out and the painter walked in. )

 

Like I said...I dont remember the size of the knife I used...I was doing two things at once when I typed that. Dont ya hate it when that happens.

The total spread is about 12".

 

I've been a drywall contractor for 31 years. The first thing is stay away from the fiberglass mesh tape. It is easy for a DIY but it doesn't have the crack protection that paper tape does. If you must use fiber mesh use only a heavy mud such as some all purpose muds. Light weight ready mix and mesh spell disaster- cracked joints. Also if you need corner beads try to get the ones that have mteal and paper on them already-better crack protection too. Thin smooth coats is the key. Also a common mistake I see from DIY's is they use the mud straight from the bucket which is usually but not always to stiff for smooth feathering. Thin with water for better results. Good luck. R81

 

I haven't done it for a living since 1978.
Back then it was $2 a board and $7 a Roll.
ranger81, sounds like we started about the same time.
Nowadays everything seems to be metal stud which I never worked with.

Also, I saw a guy whip out a cordless dremel tool and cut a lightbox in 4 seconds.
I used a keyhole saw and utility kniffe.

 

Thanks Guys !!!! All these tips were put in the old memory bank.

Luckly its a small bathroom and I only have a few seams to tape and mud and one outside corner to bead.

Up to this point everything has been going like clockwork.

NOW for the infamous mud job !!!!

Thanks !!!!!!

 

I have found that my dremel is the most used tool when I am working on projects such as these.

Thats a great tool.

 

I have to agree as well. Drywall finishers, you guys are artists. When we first moved into our new digs here at work they were still doing construction of the top two floors. I watched a finisher blow through hundreds of feet of drywall in just a few days and it was just about damn near perfect.

My hats off to you gents !