Was talking to this older drywaller named Dave at a supply yard in Denver last week. He said to pre-drill and fill your screw holes with a dab of mud before you tape, stops bubbles from forming behind the tape. Tried it on a 12x12 ceiling job and it cut my sanding time by like half. Any of you guys do this or is Dave just a wizard?
I got sick of breaking those 25 foot standard tapes on every other job so I finally bought a Milwaukee magnetic power return tape for like $30 on sale. Best money I ever spent on a tool honestly. But what really got me was the $200 I dropped on a laser level last year thinking it would be a game changer for hanging ceilings. The thing is accurate sure but it eats batteries like crazy and it takes me longer to set it up than to just snap a chalk line. I ended up going back to the old school method most days. That laser just sits in my truck now collecting dust. Has anyone else found that some expensive tools just dont work out for actual install work?
I just crossed 500 sheets of drywall hung by myself over the last 8 months. Started tracking after I messed up a measurement on some 12-footers and had to redo three sheets in a row. That number surprised me because I never thought I'd be that fast alone, but it also made me realize how many small mistakes I made early on that I don't make now. Any other solo hangers hit a milestone that caught them off guard?
I was at a supply house in Akron yesterday and heard a guy telling the counter person he didn't need dust control because the homeowner said it was fine. Man, that's a setup for a disaster. After 8 years in this trade, I know that stuff gets everywhere and can ruin a floor or get into HVAC systems. Has anyone else had a customer brush off dust protection and then regret it later?
I was hanging board in a basement in Decatur last month and figured I'd grab some premixed compound from the big box store to speed things up. Thought it would save me the hassle of mixing my own hot mud. Turned out it was way too thin straight out the bucket and kept sagging on me, so I had to scrape it all off and start over with a fresh batch of 45 minute powder. Has anyone else had bad luck with those premixed buckets on wallboard joints?
I always use paper tape for corners but decided to test fiberglass mesh on a flat ceiling patch last week. The mesh was way easier to bed and didn't bubble up like paper sometimes does. Anyone else switch to mesh for ceilings or stick with paper?
Watched a guy at a jobsite in Austin last Tuesday try to tape right over a dozen unfilled nail pops and then act surprised when the mud cracked two days later, has anyone else dealt with this kind of laziness messing up your finish work?
I was sitting at my kitchen table last night adding up my job logs for 2023 and got to 1,847 sheets of drywall lifted off the truck and onto walls. That's like 37 tons of board just from my hands alone in 12 months. How many sheets do you guys figure you handle in a busy year?
I was doing a 1,200 square foot ceiling in a new build outside of Akron and couldn't decide. Paper tape is stronger but slower, mesh is faster but prone to cracking in big spans. I went with mesh because of time pressure and now I'm seeing tiny hairline cracks along the seams. Should have just stuck with what I know. Anyone else run into this on bigger flat ceilings?
Caught myself on a job last Tuesday in Portland when a guy saw my roll and asked why I was using 3-inch tape on a standard corner bead, has anyone else had an old-timer call out a bad habit you didn't even know you had?
Picked up a used $5 corner trowel from a guy selling his dad's old tools near me. First two jobs it worked fine, then on a third one the handle just snapped clean off mid-swipe. Anybody else have luck with used tools or is it better to just buy new?
I was on a site in Denver last month and saw a guy using a mud pan with a curved bottom. He said it cuts down on air bubbles because you get a smoother pull. I tried it the next day on a 12 foot ceiling and got way fewer dimples. Has anyone else switched to a curved pan or is it just a gimmick?
Had a guy in El Paso last winter tell me I was doing it all wrong because I was using regular drywall screws with a dimpler bit on 25 gauge studs. He said self-tappers save time and hold better. But I've stripped out more self-tappers in one afternoon than regular screws in a month. They snap off halfway in or spin loose before I can get the board tight. This old timer with 30 years experience insisted I was the problem and walked off shaking his head. Anybody else find self-tapping screws overrated for light gauge steel?
I was on a site in Tacoma yesterday and counted 12 screw pops on a brand new ceiling. The guy before me just drove them flush with the paper and called it good. That’s going to bubble up in a month when the humidity hits and you’ll be back for free touch-ups. This is basic stuff but I keep seeing it on new builds around here. Has anyone else noticed crews skipping the dimple step just to save 30 seconds per sheet?
I used to always do my flat panels first and then come back to tape my corners at the end. Thought I was saving time by getting the big areas out of the way. Then last week I was on a job over near the old mill district and this old timer who was doing the finishing stopped me and said I was making extra work for myself. He showed me how if you run your corner tape first the whole wall muds flatter because you're not fighting against the compound drying in different stages. I tried it on a small bathroom job I had and honestly I cut about 45 minutes off the whole taping process. Has anyone else had a crew lead show them a simple workflow change that made a big difference?
I was taping a 14-room house in Phoenix last week and noticed the all-purpose mud felt a little off from the get-go. It wasn't mixing smooth and had these little lumps that wouldn't break up. By the third room, the tape was bubbling bad and I had to scrape it all off and start over. The batch had been sitting in the warehouse too long and went bad. Has anyone else run into bad mud straight from the bucket?
I was fighting with corner bead on a long hallway ceiling at a house near Springfield last Thursday. Spent over an hour trying to get it straight before I said screw it and used paper tape with a heavy bed of hot mud instead. That quick fix held up perfect and I finished the whole room in half the time. Has anyone else junked the metal bead for tricky spots like that?
I was at a supply house last week and saw a guy carrying a bucket of pre-mixed. Made me think about the early 2000s mixing 5 bags of powder a day. My arms got stronger but my wrist paid the price. Anybody else's joints thank the invention of good pre-mix?
I was working on a vaulted ceiling in a split-level home last Tuesday. Got the board up, screws in, but the seam right at the peak started cracking as I was taping it. Turned out the framing had a slight bow I missed because I was rushing. Had to cut out a 2 foot section, shim the stud, and patch it with a new strip. Took an extra 45 minutes and I was cussing the whole time. Any of you guys run into this when the house isn't square?
I've been installing drywall in Phoenix for about 8 years now. On a garage job last month I pre-filled every single dimple before the finisher showed up, and he said it saved him 2 hours. But my old foreman always said never touch the mud because finishers have their own system and you'll mess up their process. What do you guys do on commercial jobs where time is money?
I was grabbing coffee near the jobsite on 5th Ave last Tuesday and heard a foreman tell a new guy that 2 minutes of mixing is plenty for any compound. Has anyone else run into problems with air bubbles or clumps from under-mixing, or is it just me being too picky?
Told him it would sag like crazy but he wanted to save $12 a sheet and sure enough 3 weeks later I was back cutting out 16 feet of bowed drywall in that new subdivision outside Phoenix, anybody else deal with builders who ignore the span ratings?
There were like eight different brands of metal and paper corner bead and I stood there for ten minutes trying to figure out which one the old guy running the place would yell at me for picking wrong, has anyone else run into a store that stocks way too many choices for one thing?
I keep seeing guys on job sites in Portland using self-adhesive mesh tape for inside corners and it's driving me nuts. Mesh tape is fine for flat seams but it bubbles up in corners every time because it can't fold tight like paper tape can. I've had to tear out three corners this month alone on a 12 unit apartment complex because the mud cracked behind it. Are you guys running into this too or is it just me?