Now, do tell- do you or any of you other mudders here, prep your mud in some fashion to reduce the appearance of bubbles/pockets in the applied shpackle? When I was in construction full time, guys around here would say "Use Dawn dish soap" or don't over mix with a "paddle" mixer... Any thoughts?
Just a couple of observations from someone who's done quite a bit of remodeling... Drywall is pretty inexpensive. Buy full sheets and only butt the tapered edges together if possible. It will be much easier to tape, especially if you've never done it before. Stagger the butt joints, to avoid cracking. Try to avoid putting seams right at the corner of a door or window. You will get cracks if you do that. Use paper tape. It is tempting, but Do not use the mesh tape. Cracks will telegraph right through the mesh. I've tried it and it just doesn't work as well as the paper tape. Make sure to mud under the tape, then stick the tape in the mud (make sure there is no air bubbles) then put more mud on top of the tape. Then use your knife to scrape off the excess. I buy the 50 lb. (?) boxes. I dump them in a five gallon bucket, then add a couple inches of water, and mix well with a paddle mixer. It is too thick straight out of the box, and much easier to spread if thinned a little. When you're done for the day, scrape the excess off the sides of the bucket, add a little layer of water on top, and put the lid on. Next time you use it, remix with a paddle mixer. Don't work straight out of the bucket. Use a tray, or a scrap piece of plywood (or even drywall). Try to keep chunks of dried joint compound out of the new stuff (the main reason for no. 8). It's very hard to spread it smoothly when there's chucks of dried up stuff floating around in it. When reloading your tray with mud, Clean off your knife before dipping it back in the bucket. Good luck with your project!
Waiting for the last of the touchup mud to dry, texturing tomorrow. Got our garfunkles hung so I could patch any holes from mishangs-- have two little screw holes to patch.
Great progress!! PS, we are still laying flooring, moving furniture and stuff from one part of the room to the other, pia for us....
I feel your pain. Rearranaged the furniture in here about 15 times this weekend. That was half the point of getting the garfunkles back on the wall is so we wouldn;t have to trip over them.
And I believe I'm done mudding. Just sanded down my third coat, made two small patches and one bigger one where things got kind of wavy. Only minimal sanding will be needed and by this time tomorrow the walls will be textured.
I'll try that with my 3rd coat of mud on my basement walls. Except that 50 pound box thing - I can't possibly use that much for my project. I am proud to say that I used paper tape instead of the mesh - first time I've ever used it and it came out much better than I expected (I did have one small seam that I messed up and had to remove the tape and re-do, but that is minor). Hey, some people say to use a second layer of tape for the 3rd coat in the corner. Is it worth it? I've never done so, but then again I've never used paper tape either, and I seriously believe this is the 1st corner I have ever done, so I'm obviously capable of learning new tricks.
There are very few things I hire out, but finishing drywall is one of them. I suck at it. I don't envy that project.
This will be the worst room to do-- the only room that it's particularly hard to relocate stuff into another room, so we have to keep moving stuff around. The only other tough one will be the bedroom, but I think we will be moving the bed into the living room for that project. Dining room will be next and then the kitchen. Those projects also come with some opening of walls and will kind of run into each other.
I hire out big projects, but smaller ones I can do myself. PITA for sure, but not the worst thing I've ever done.
The only things I have hired out is my roof and my car. The last time I hired out for a mechanic was when there was a $50 difference between parts and just having the mechanic change the head gasket-- so I let him have at it.
Well, it always takes way more than you think it will, and if you keep it in a bucket with a lid, you can save it for the next project. Just add some water to the top and seal it up. I've never double taped the corners, but I'm not a professional drywaller. The last time I hired a guy to do it for me, de definitely only did one layer of tape.
Since I needed to get more anyway, I got one of the big buckets. So this will be the 3rd type on that wall, and the 3rd type of mud texture I'll need to get used to working with. Yeah, I'm a spaz and switching between muds/joint compounds weirds out my already poor technique
