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?
I've been hanging and taping drywall for about 12 years now and always thought those automatic taper and banjo setups were just expensive gimmicks for rookies. Last month I borrowed my buddy's tape gun and bazooka on a 30-room hotel job in Nashville and finished the tapered joints in half my usual time with way less mud waste. Has anyone else made the switch later in their career and found it worth the investment for smaller residential jobs?
I finally realized last month that I've been putting up drywall perpendicular to the studs on ceilings for my whole career. A younger guy from a crew in Nashville pointed out the sag in my work and showed me the manufacturer's spec sheet. Any of you ever had a basic habit get busted wide open after decades?
Spent 3 hours on a ceiling patch that should have taken 45 minutes because the mud wouldn't push through the tape right. Anybody else had trouble with mesh tape pulling away when your mud mix is off?
Honestly, I used to think automatic tapers were just for lazy guys who couldn't handle a banjo. Then I picked up a used one for $75 off a guy in Austin, mostly to shut up my foreman who kept pushing it. First job with it was a 2,000 square foot basement, and I knocked out the taping in half the time I normally would. Still prefer hand finishing for the corners and small patches though. Anyone else find a specific job where the auto taper just doesn't cut it?
I picked up a new lift from Home Depot for $280 last month, thinking it would save me time on ceilings. The hinge where the crossbar folds just gave out completely while I was holding a 12 foot sheet up. Had to rig a 2x4 under it to finish the room, and now I'm wondering if I should just weld it myself or send it back. Anyone else had bad luck with the cheaper aluminum lifts holding up?
I grabbed this fancy self-leveling compound from a big box store near Portland last month because it promised no mixing. Figured I'd save time on a 300 sq ft basement floor. Well, it clumped up and left these weird divots everywhere, so I had to chip it all out and start over with the regular stuff. Anyone else get burned by a product that supposedly does the work for you?
I got so tired of my tape sticking to the blade after like 3 cuts. Tried a different knife and it still gummed up. Finally just dipped a sponge in water and ran it along the blade before each cut. The tape glides off clean and I didn't have to scrape junk off every 5 minutes. Has anyone else tried this or got a better trick for keeping blades clean?
I was struggling with bubbles in my tape joints for months. Every job I did, I'd come back a day later and find air pockets. My neighbor who's been hanging rock since the 80s watched me mud one afternoon. He said "you're not pushing the mud through the tape, you're just laying it on top." Soon as he showed me how to really press it into the bed with a 6 inch knife it clicked. Haven't had a bubble problem since. Anyone else have a simple trick like that take years to figure out?
Guy named Dave I worked with at a tract home site swore up and down you didn't need adhesive behind the board if you screwed every 8 inches. I tried it on a 12 foot ceiling job last month and now there's a wavy seam right down the middle of the living room wall. How do you fix a popped seam without tearing out the whole sheet?
My guy was pushing me to use mesh for speed, but I went with paper tape instead. The ceiling had a weird texture and I figured paper would bond better with the compound on that old paint job. Took an extra 20 minutes to embed it right, but no cracks showed up when I came back to sand today. Anyone else ever stick with paper on a tough ceiling just to be safe?
I used to sand everything down to glass before prime. Guy I worked with for a week in Tulsa said I was wasting time, just needs to be flat not polished. Tried his way and cut my sanding time by about 40 percent. Anybody else get feedback that changed their whole process?
I used to always backroll my mud after taping, thought it made corners smoother. Then a old timer named Mike watched me do it on a job in El Paso and just shook his head, said I was crushing the tape into the corner instead of bedding it. He showed me how to just wipe it once with the knife and leave it alone, and my corners came out way flatter. Anyone else ever get set straight by a older guy on something they had been doing wrong forever?
Got called out by an older guy on a job in Nashville last week who showed me I was bearing down way too hard with the pole sander instead of just letting the weight of the tool do the work, now my shoulders don't ache and I'm getting smoother joints in half the time anyone else deal with overworking the mud?
Spent an extra hour cleaning up after that mess in a basement job near Cleveland, and now I’m back to my 4 inch knife for touch ups, anyone else find a faster method?
He swore by it for saving time on big flat walls, I mixed up a bucket at 7 AM and by noon I was done with two coats on the living room, has anyone else had luck with fast-set mud for full rooms or am I just getting lucky?
I was smoothing out a butt joint on a ceiling in a condo near downtown and my 12-inch stainless taping knife just snapped right at the handle. The blade flew off and hit the floor, leaving me with a useless handle and a mess of mud on the ceiling. I had to drive 20 minutes to grab a new one from the supply house, which killed my whole morning. Has anyone else had a tool fail on them out of nowhere like that?
I keep seeing guys on job sites who swear by taping inside corners by hand (you know, the old school method with a knife and tape). But then there's the other crew who uses a corner trowel and swears it's faster and cleaner. I've been doing this for about 8 years in Tulsa and I go back and forth. Hand taping gives me better control on uneven corners, but a trowel saves me like 20 minutes per room. Which way do you guys lean and why? Seen anyone mess up hard one way or the other?