Old timer told me to quit wiping my joints with a wet sponge

I was on a job in Portland last month and this guy Jerry who's been hanging board since the 80s walked over and said my mud was turning to soup because I was over-wetting my tape joints. He told me to just use the knife and let the mud do the work. Cut my finish time on a 1500 sq ft basement by about 3 hours after I switched. Anybody else get told to change a basic habit like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

lindal1322d ago

Funny you mention Portland, my brother in law swears by using a drywall saw to stir his mud, says it gets the air bubbles out better than anything. Told me that after I spent an hour picking grit out of a finish coat once.

barbarah1922d ago

Ugh lindal13 picking grit out of a finish coat is the worst, I feel your pain on that. I mean, I'd rather deal with some air bubbles than have to fish out random bits of debris from a smooth coat. Sounds like your brother in law has a method though, maybe he's onto something with the saw.

josepha3221d ago

Yeah but air bubbles can be just as annoying as grit if you ask me. At least with grit you can pick it out, but air bubbles pop up and leave those little craters that are a pain to fix. And honestly I think that saw trick from @lindal13's brother in law might be stirring in more air than it takes out. I've seen guys do that and the mud gets all frothy, then you gotta wait for it to settle. Seems like more trouble than just mixing it slow and steady with a paddle.