Tried 20-minute mud vs 90-minute mud on a 40-board ceiling job last month

I always used 20-minute mud because it sets fast, but on a big ceiling in a new build near Portland I switched to 90-minute. The 20-minute stuff forced me to rush and I ended up with visible knife marks I had to sand down. The 90-minute gave me time to actually feather my edges clean, and the whole ceiling looked better with less sanding. Has anyone else made the switch on larger jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim_johnson516d ago

That "sanding is the worst part" line from @nancy817 hits home. A buddy of mine runs a crew that only uses 90-minute for ceilings because they can backroll all their edges before anything sets up, which cuts sanding time in half. The extra work time pays off big when you're not fighting the clock on finish quality.

felix_black6d ago

Well, 20 minutes is fine if you enjoy sanding your mistakes instead of stepping away for coffee!

nancy8176d ago

Huh, you know what, I used to think taking a break was wasting time. Sanding is the worst part of any project. But then I rushed a cutting board and had to sand for an hour fixing my dumb mistake. You're right, 20 minutes for coffee is way better than that.