3
Old timer told me my mud was too wet after 15 years on the job
This retired guy watched me tape a whole ceiling and just said 'you're fighting it son, let the mud do the work.' Thinned my hot mud way down the next day and my taping knife practically floated across the joints - have any of you seasoned guys got a trick that made you feel dumb for not figuring it out sooner?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
caseyclark21d ago
That bit about "let the mud do the work" is the kind of advice that saves you years of frustration. For me it was learning to backroll instead of wiping the same spot over and over. Once I started laying it on, giving it one clean pass, and leaving it alone, my joints came out way smoother with less sanding. Also switched to a 14 inch trowel for flats and that alone cut my time by a third.
6
caseyclark21d ago
Man that "let the mud do the work" line hits different. For me it was realizing I was pressing way too hard on the knife. I used to think tight pressure meant a smoother finish, but I was just scraping half the mud off. Soon as I backed off and let the blade just glide, the mud laid down flat without those weird thin spots. Also stopped trying to feather everything out in one swipe. Giving it two light passes, first to fill, second to clean, saved me so much sanding time.
4
river35118d ago
That "let the mud do the work" thing is basically life in a nutshell. Same as cooking. Used to stir every two seconds because I thought it would help. Nope. Just made everything take longer and stick to the pan. Same with parenting. You hover and fix everything, kids never figure it out themselves. Back off, let them struggle a bit, they actually learn. Hardest part is just getting out of your own way.
4