I was 22, fresh off a job framing houses, and this older fella named Don took me under his wing on a site in Saskatoon. He watched me fight with a corner for 20 minutes, then just said 'you're working the knife, not the mud' and took over. Finished it clean in about 4 passes with a 6-inch blade. I still think about that whenever I hit a tricky inside corner. Any of you guys have a mentor moment that stuck with you like that?
I have been doing drywall for about 6 years now and I always fought with outside corners. I used the paper faced metal bead and I would get air bubbles or it would just not line up right. Last week I was working on a basement in Red Deer and I spent 3 hours trying to get one corner to look decent. My buddy came over and watched me for a minute and said why are you not using a corner float. I thought they were just a gimmick for the big crews. He let me borrow his and I finished that whole room in like 40 minutes. The mud went on smooth and even and I did not have to sand hardly anything. I have been wasting so much time and money on sandpaper. Has anyone else been sleeping on simple tools like that and felt dumb after?
I was fighting with a bullnose corner bead on a job in Columbus for 3 hours, trying to get the paper to lay flat without bubbling. Turns out a quick spray of water and a 10 minute wait before mudding does the trick. Anyone else find a small thing that saves them hours on site?
I had to do a patch job on a ceiling last week in an old house built in 2003. Mixed up some all purpose compound like I used to back when I started in 2008, and it barely shrunk at all. These new lightweight formulas from the last 5 or 6 years shrink way more on the second coat. Has anyone else had to adjust their mudding technique for the newer stuff?
I was working on a basement remodel in Boulder last Tuesday and hit this corner bead that just wouldn't sit flush no matter what I did. Tried shimming it with cardboard, used extra screws, even grabbed a fresh piece of bead from the truck. After 4 hours of fighting it I finally realized the stud was bowed out about a quarter inch near the middle. Has anyone else wasted a whole day on a single piece of trim like that?
I was working on a 12x14 bedroom in a house off Hawthorne last Tuesday. Got the first coat down smooth on the old ceiling, then about 20 minutes later big bubbles started popping up all over. Turns out I forgot to prime the old paint before skimming. That oil based paint just rejected the mud. Had to scrape it all off while it was still wet, took me an extra 3 hours. I ended up using a shellac based primer and redoing it the next day and it stuck perfect. Anyone else run into this with older painted ceilings?
Had a guy named Frank who's been doing this since the 70s tell me to mix a tiny bit of water into my bucket of all purpose before using it. Said it helps with the shrinkage on butt joints. I thought he was full of it but I tried it on a job last week in a big living room and dang if the mud didn't lay down flatter. Less cracking too. Anyone else ever try that or is Frank just crazy like a fox?
I swear I've been called back to three different houses this month alone because somebody used 1-5/8 drywall screws to fasten baseboard returns. The heads just pop right through the mdf after a couple seasons of humidity changes. I pulled one out last Tuesday in a house near Springfield where the homeowner was furious about gaps showing up. Use trim screws or at least some 16 gauge finish nails like we all know works. How are so many guys skipping this basic step and making me clean up their mess?
I was working on a ceiling repair last Tuesday over in Phoenix and the dust was absolutely killing me. My helper kept coughing up a storm so I finally grabbed a spray bottle and tried wet sanding the mud on a butt joint. Man it was so much smoother and zero dust clouds everywhere. I used a sponge with a bit of water and the finish came out way cleaner than I expected. Has anyone else tried wet sanding on a bigger job or does it just slow you down too much?
I did a side by side test on my garage ceiling last month - one half with 20 minute hot mud and the other with standard all purpose taping mud. The hot mud sagged like crazy on me and was a nightmare to sand, while the taping mud went on smooth and barely needed any sanding. Any of you guys stick with one for ceilings specifically or is it all the same to you?
I keep seeing guys on job sites using mesh tape for inside corners because it's faster. But I've been doing this for 12 years and every time I come back to fix a crack, it's on a corner that used mesh. Paper tape bonds way better with compound and actually folds to hold the mud. Mesh might save you 5 minutes but you'll pay for it later. Anyone else notice this or am I the only one still rolling paper?
Bought a $12 plastic mud pan from a big box store and it warped after two days of using it on a kitchen job in Akron... Ended up having to stop mid-project and drive 30 minutes round trip for a steel one that actually held up. Has anyone else had a tool fail on them right when you needed it most?
I used to spend forever trying to get my corner bead nails to hold in metal trims around my area in Cleveland. Last week I saw this older framer zipping them in with a dab of hot glue before his final screw pass. Tried it on a closet job Tuesday and it saved me like 20 minutes of fighting with slipping beads. Has anyone else used hot glue to hold tricky corner bead in place?
I was just walking down the aisle looking at corner bead and suddenly a big sheet of ceiling drywall came crashing down like 10 feet from me. Nobody was hurt but the whole store went silent for a second and then an employee just walked over and stared at it. Has anyone else run into shoddy drywall work in a big box store like that or was this a one off thing?
The motor literally smoked halfway through hanging 12 sheets in a basement remodel, so has anyone else had better luck with the Makita or is it just bad luck with these budget models?
He said if I'm spending more than 10 minutes per joint on the finish coat I'm working against the paper, not with it. Has anyone else had to slow down and unlearn bad habits to actually speed up?
Was at a job in Austin last month and a seasoned taper watched me scoop mud and just shook his head. He said "You're drowning your knife, keep it half full and work cleaner." Anybody else get called out like that mid-job?
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?
Been fighting with hot mud that sets up in like 10 minutes on a job outside Chicago last week because the building heat was cranked. My taping knife kept dragging gunk. Anybody else deal with this or am I just mixing wrong?
Last Wednesday I was hanging a 12-foot ceiling board in a basement remodel and my old metal lift just buckled halfway up. The locking pin sheared clean off and the board crashed down, took out a bucket of mud and bent the frame pretty bad. Anybody else got a favorite jack that's held up through the years, or should I just grab one of those newer aluminum ones?
Spent an hour fighting a corner that was 8 degrees off plumb on my last basement remodel, so I grabbed my square and marked the studs for shimming, and the whole sheet sat flush first try no gaps has anyone else found a use for the square beyond cutting board?
Paper tape kept bubbling on me at a remodel in Portland last month so I grabbed a roll of mesh on a whim and now I'm mad at myself for all those extra hours I wasted fixing bubbles has anyone else made the switch and never looked back?