c/drywall-installers

4

gonzalez.anna•17h ago

My foreman swore by using joint compound straight from the bucket with no mixing

I got on a crew last summer where the foreman told us to just scoop and go with the joint compound, no water no mixing. After three days, every flat box I did had pinholes and bubbles like crazy. He said it saves time, but I ended up redoing 200 feet of tape on a basement ceiling in Des Moines. Has anyone else dealt with a boss pushing shortcuts that just make more work later?

11

valwest•23h ago

My uncle swore by using a wet sponge on drywall tape, what a mess

My Uncle Rick, been doing drywall since before I was born, told me to dip my paper tape in water before bedding it. He said it would make it stick better and prevent bubbles. So last week on a basement job in Medford, I tried it. Soaked the tape in a bucket for like 10 seconds then slapped it on. It turned into a soggy mess that wrinkled like an accordion. I spent the next 2 hours peeling it off and redoing the whole corner. Turns out he was pulling my leg because he thought I was too cocky. Has anyone else ever gotten bogus advice from a seasoned guy that backfired hard?

27

carr.willow•1d ago

Mesh tape or paper tape for corners... which side are you on?

I used paper tape on my last job and got a nice flat finish but a buddy swears by mesh for strength, so after three houses I'm still torn on what to use for the next one, what do you all prefer for inside corners?

27

faith_lopez48•2d ago

Almost lost a ceiling job last month because of a bad batch of compound

Three years ago I had a job in Austin where the mud came out of the bucket looking fine, but after I hung 40 boards and taped them, the whole thing bubbled up like a snake belly by morning, has anyone else run into compound that went bad from a heatwave in the warehouse?

13

jakewhite•3d ago

Took me 4 years to give up my drywall T-square for a laser level

Last week on a job in Phoenix, I was lining up cuts on a 12-foot ceiling patch and my T-square slipped for the third time. A younger guy on the crew, Mark, handed me his laser level and said "try this, old school." I fought it at first. Been using a T-square since I started. But after I squared up that ceiling in half the time with zero mistakes, I admitted it. Bought my own that same day. It's just faster and I was being stubborn. Has anyone else switched tools after years of thinking the old way was better?

4

the_dylan•19d ago

Just found a faster way to cut outlet boxes after mudding

I was trimming out a whole basement remodel last week and spent 30 minutes cleaning mud out of every outlet hole. Then one of the old timers showed me to slice the paper with a utility knife before the mud dries, and tap the box with a hammer to pop it clean. Anyone else do something like this or got a better method?

1

william917•20d ago

Found that using a 6 inch knife for the second coat on butt joints saves me about 20 minutes per room.

I was struggling with too many passes on butt joints in a house near Tacoma last month, but switching to a wider knife spread the mud flatter and cut my sanding time way down, has anyone else tried going bigger on those joints?

6

river182•22d ago

Had to choose between paper tape and mesh tape on a big ceiling job

I was finishing up a 2000 square foot ceiling last month in a house near Austin. The GC wanted me to use paper tape because he said it holds better on flat seams, but I usually grab mesh tape for speed. I went with paper tape and honestly it took longer but the finish came out way smoother with less bubbling. Has anyone else had a rough switch like that mid job?

19

jordan653•22d ago

PSA: That cheap corner bead tool I swore by is actually trash

Ngl, I was all about those $10 no-coat plastic corner beads for years. Then last Wednesday on a big job in Austin, the second one I taped up started bubbling behind the mud after 30 minutes. Had to tear it out and redo the whole corner. Anyone else ditched those for the metal ones?

22

leo238•22d ago

Vent: Spent 3 years over-taping corners before a 20-year vet called me out

I was at a job in Cleveland last month and this old timer watched me tape an inside corner with three coats of compound and said I was wasting a full hour per room. Turns out one coat and a proper crease is all you need, has anyone else been doing it the hard way too?

6

the_david•23d ago

Switched from manual sanding to a dustless system and I'm never going back

I've been hanging and finishing drywall for about 12 years now, always used a pole sander with paper. Last month I finally bought a Mirka LEROS sander with a vac setup. The difference in dust control alone at a job near Portland made me wonder why I waited so long. Anyone else made the switch and feel the same way?

1

ivan211•24d ago

Hit a joist box hidden behind old plaster last month out in Tacoma

Punched straight through into a metal junction box that was buried under three layers of lathe and mud on a remodel job. Blew up my brand new 6-inch bit and sparked like crazy - has anyone else run into random electrical boxes behind old walls?

4

jessicamiller•25d ago

I thought my buddy was crazy about sanding drywall compound between coats but he was right

My friend Mike (works for a crew in Dallas) kept telling me to sand after every coat instead of just the final one. I ignored him for like a year and always ended up with rough spots I had to redo. Has anyone else found that sanding between coats actually saves you time in the long run?

7

sage_perry•26d ago

Stopped using a mud mixer after talking to a 30-year taper last week

I was dead set on using a power mixer for every batch of joint compound until I ran into this old timer at a supply house in Columbus. He said the air bubbles from fast mixing cause more pinholes than anything else and he's been hand mixing with a paddle for 20 years with zero callbacks. Makes me wonder how many hours I've wasted on sanding those tiny craters, anyone else ditch their drill for hand mixing?

11

anthony_fox90•27d ago

Tried using hot mud for the first coat on a big ceiling job...

I had a 1,200 square foot ceiling in a new build over in Elmwood last month and figured I'd save time by using 5-minute mud for the first coat. Mixed it up, slapped it on, and by the time I got the trowel back to the bucket it was already setting up in there. Ended up wasting half a bucket and had to race like crazy to get it flat. Has anyone else had hot mud go off way faster than the bag says on a warm day?

9

gonzalez.anna•28d ago

I was wrong about using a banjo for finishing coats

For years I only used a trowel for my finish coats, figured a banjo was for beginners who couldn't handle a blade. Then last month on a big job in a new subdivision outside Raleigh, my partner twisted his wrist and I had to pick up the pace. Grabbed his banjo out of the truck and honestly, it laid on a super smooth finish over 40 sheets in half the time. Made me wonder how many other stubborn older guys out there have had to eat their words about a tool they swore they'd never use?

7

taylorcarr•28d ago

Wasted $80 on a cheap mud pan that rusted in 2 weeks

Tbh I thought I was being smart grabbing a no-name mud pan from a hardware store downtown for $20 less than the stainless ones. After one job with compound left on it overnight the corners started rusting. Day 10 the rust was flaking into my mud and messing up my finish. Had to toss it and buy the good one anyway. Anyone else learn this the hard way or am I the only one who tried to save a few bucks?

16

the_seth•29d ago

Old timer told me to skip mesh tape on corners, now I got cracks everywhere

Was talking to this guy at the supply house last month, said he's been doing drywall since the 80s. He swore paper tape is all you need and mesh is a waste of money for inside corners. So I tried it on a bedroom job in Phoenix. Two weeks later, the corner where the hallway meets the living room has a hairline crack running down it. Shoulda stuck with mesh. Anyone else had old school advice backfire like this?

18

the_anna•1mo ago

TIL that using a drywall lift for ceiling panels saves way more time than I thought

I fought using a lift for years. Always thought it was faster to just prop panels up with a T-brace and muscle them into place. Last week I had to do a 12x12 ceiling by myself and borrowed my buddy's lift. Got the whole ceiling hung in about 3 hours instead of the usual 6. The lift paid for itself in one job. Anyone else have a tool they were stubborn about using?

0

the_sarah•1mo ago

Showerthought: The one day I forgot my taping knives at home turned into the smoothest ceiling finish I've ever done

I showed up to a job site in Phoenix last Thursday without any of my tools, had to borrow a beat-up 6-inch knife from a buddy who does stucco, and somehow managed to mud a whole living room ceiling better than I have in 10 years - has anyone else ever had a disaster turn into your best work for no reason?

22

foster.wade•1mo ago

PSA: Check your drywall screws for coating defects before you start a big job

So last Tuesday I started hanging board on a 2,000 square foot house in Austin and about halfway through the first wall I noticed rust spots showing up on the screws. Turns out the batch I grabbed from the supply house had a bad phosphate coating. Had to pull every single screw and swap to a different box. Cost me like 3 hours and made me look sloppy to the homeowner who was walking through. Has anyone else run into a bad batch of screws from a major brand lately?

20

verab28•1mo ago

Taper vs. flat box on butt joints which one actually saves time?

I've been going back and forth on this for a while now. Ran a job in Tucson last month where I used a 12-inch taper box for all the butt joints, and the next house I used a flat box with a shim setup. The taper box definitely gave me a smoother finish with less sanding, but the flat box was way faster on the first coat maybe 30 minutes quicker per room. Is the extra sanding time worth the speed upfront? What do you guys prefer for production work vs. custom homes?

24

fiona502•1mo ago

I finally hit 10,000 square feet of drywall hung in a single day last Thursday

Been doing this 12 years and never thought I'd see that number, but we had a crew of four on a warehouse job in Portland and everything just clicked. Anybody else ever break a personal record like that and wonder how you pulled it off?

2

dylan_green58•1mo ago

Watched a crew in Nashville tape a whole house in 3 hours flat

I stopped by a job site last month in Nashville where a four-man crew was finishing a 2,500 square foot house. They were using that mesh tape and a pump sprayer for joint compound instead of the normal mud pan. Anyone here tried that spray method or am I just late to the party?

27

julia843•1mo ago

The switch from hand taping to banjo taping changed my pace completely

I used to hand tape every joint for years, thinking it gave me better control on ceilings. Then I borrowed a friend's banjo on a 2,000 square foot house in Detroit and finished the whole job in 4 hours instead of 8. Has anyone else found the learning curve worth it for the speed gain?