c/drywall-installers

2

jordan653•17d ago

The debate that never ends: pre-filling gaps before taping or just mud over everything?

I still think about an old timer named Rick in a supply house in Denver who spent 15 minutes yelling at me about pre-filling every gap before taping. He said if you tape over a 1/4 inch gap without filling it first, you're making a crack that'll show up in 6 months. But my buddy swears it's faster to just jam mud in the tape and let it puff out. Who’s right here, and what do you do for gaps bigger than a 1/4 inch?

14

sean_foster52•17d ago

Old timer showed me a trick for blending fresh mud into dried patches

I always thought you had to sand the whole area down smooth before adding more mud, but a guy I work with in Omaha told me to just wet the edge of the dried patch with a spray bottle and feather the new mud into it while it's still damp. Tried it on a ceiling repair last Tuesday and it blended way better than my usual method with barely any sanding needed. Has anyone else had luck with wet-feathering or is this just something that works on certain types of drywall compound?

9

noahcampbell•19d ago

That time I bought a $200 automatic taper and hated it

Saw a used automatic taper on Craigslist for $200 back in 2018. Thought it would save me time on a big basement job. First day with it I spent 3 hours cleaning mud clogs and fixing the tape feed. Ended up finishing the job by hand and sold that thing for $50 a month later. Anyone else get burned on a tool that looked good on paper?

37

stellafisher•19d ago

Stopped by a Home Depot in Phoenix and noticed something weird about their drywall section

Honestly, I was picking up some 5/8 fire-rated board for a commercial job last Tuesday and saw they had the pallets stacked directly on the concrete floor. I lived in a humid area before and that's a sure way to get moisture wicking into the bottom sheets. Has anyone else seen warehouses doing this and had issues with warped boards later?

5

the_seth•20d ago

Am I the only one who stopped pre-filling nail holes on butt joints?

I spent 3 years dimpling every dang nail on butt joints until a 30-year veteran on a job site in Denver told me to just set the nails flush and let the mud do the work. Has anyone else noticed less cracking since they quit pre-filling?

20

jamesmason•21d ago

Found a report saying 60% of drywall waste in landfills comes from cutoffs under 2 feet, where'd that stat come from and does that mean we should be saving scraps more or is the math just off?

Read that in a construction waste study from Oregon last week and I'm torn because saving all those small pieces for patches seems smart but then you're hauling around a truck full of tiny boards that might never get used.

28

ben436•22d ago

Watch out for self-tapping screws on steel studs

I spent 45 minutes fighting a screw that kept stripping out on a metal frame job last week. Turned out I was using fine-thread screws meant for wood instead of the right self-tappers for steel. Anyone else made that mistake and wasted half a day?

26

alexlewis•23d ago

Thought my cheap corner tool was saving me money. Nope, lost $200 on a hotel job in Nashville.

I bought a $15 plastic corner trowel from a discount store thinking it'd do the same thing as a good one. First day on this hotel hallway in Nashville, the blade popped off halfway through the second corner. Had to scrape off the mud and redo it, which ate up about 3 hours of my time. Then the next day the handle cracked and I had to buy a $30 steel one anyway. Wasted $15 on the first one plus the extra time cost me around $200 on the job. Anyone else get burned by cheap tools thinking you're being smart?

0

angela_coleman•24d ago

Had a foreman in Austin yell at me for using too much mud on my first taper job

I was fresh off the apprenticeship, maybe 2 months in. This old foreman, Rick, watched me load up my first butt joint. He walked over, grabbed my hawk, and dumped half the mud back in the bucket. Told me "You're not buttering bread, kid." I was using too much mud on the taper. It was slowing me down and making extra sanding. He showed me a lighter hand with the knife, just a thin coat. Has anyone else had a boss save them from bad habits early on?

16

amygonzalez•26d ago

Taped my first ceiling with 45 minute mud instead of 90

I was short on time for a small bathroom ceiling and grabbed the 45 minute stuff on a whim. The pan set up WAY faster than I expected and I almost ruined a batch because I mixed too much at once. Has anyone else switched to fast-set for ceilings or am I just asking for trouble?

23

the_luna•26d ago

Skip the self-tapping screws on metal studs

Bought a box of Grabber self-tappers last month for a commercial job. Third screw snapped and the tip flew into my arm. Stick with quality zip screws like the Jet Blacks. Anyone else have a brand they trust for steel framing?

3

spencer_ross•26d ago

Walked into a new build last Tuesday and saw the worst corner bead install I've ever seen

The guy used paper faced bead on all the outside corners and didn't even bother to wipe down the mud before it dried. It was cracking and peeling before the painter even showed up. Has anyone else seen this kind of shortcut on a big job and had to redo the whole thing?

18

sean_murray•28d ago

The electrician who tried to tell me how to hang board in Columbus

I was on a job in Columbus last year and this electrician kept telling me to stagger my joints wrong. He said I was wasting time by not butting them tight to the studs on a 12 foot wall. I looked him straight in the eye and asked him how many tape jobs he had mudded up in his life. He shut up real quick after that. Anyone else deal with other trades trying to boss you around on site?

22

sean_foster52•28d ago

The weirdest thing I saw at a Home Depot drywall aisle

Stopped by Home Depot in Phoenix last week. Some guy was trying to return a single sheet of drywall that had a huge boot print right in the middle. Cashier just stared at him for a solid 10 seconds. Has anyone else seen people try to return obviously wrecked materials?

21

aarons36•1mo ago

Bought a $90 automatic taper off Facebook Marketplace. Junk.

Guy swore it worked fine. Got it home, the tape wheel doesn't even spin straight. Tried to fix it myself for two hours, gave up. Now it's sitting in my garage taking up space. Anyone else get burned on used tools like that?

1

felix_thomas73•1mo ago

Old timer vs my method on finishing... which way is right?

I was on a job in Nashville last week and this guy with 30 years in the game watched me tape and mud for a bit. He said I was working too fast and not letting the first coat dry enough before the second. I always thought you can push it a little and save time, but he swore it leads to cracks later. Now I'm wondering if he's right and I've been cutting corners for 5 years. Has anyone else had an old timer challenge their whole approach like that? Usually I get 3 coats in a day, but maybe I need to slow down and do 2 coats over 2 days.

6

rose_hart31•1mo ago

Warning: tape and mud vs mesh tape on a ceiling corner

I was patching a ceiling corner in a rental last week and grabbed mesh tape out of habit. After the first coat dried, I could see cracks forming right through the mesh. I ripped it off and switched to regular paper tape with all-purpose mud, pressing it in firm. Three days and two coats later, no cracks at all. Paper tape just holds better on those tricky inside corners, am I wrong about that?

17

lisa839•1mo ago

Picked between wide knifes and a banjo for my first big house job

Had 2,000 sq ft of new construction drywall in Phoenix last month. Used a 12 inch knife for the first two rooms, but my wrist was killing me. Switched to a banjo for the rest and got it done in half the time. Any of you guys use the banjo full time or just for big flats?

22

valwest•1mo ago

Tried using a 6-inch knife for butt joints on a big ceiling job in Austin last month...

I thought a wider knife would save time on the flat spots, but I ended up with way more sanding than usual. Learned that a 10-inch really is better for keeping those long seams smooth. Anybody else find that narrower blades throw off your finish on ceilings?

7

anthony127•1mo ago

Debate: is that $200 automatic taper really worth it or just a gimmick?

I dropped $220 on a tape-and-banjo tool last month hoping it would speed up my flat work. First week it saved me maybe an hour, but the compound kept drying out in the hopper and I spent more time cleaning it. Has anyone else had mixed luck with these things or am I just using it wrong?

3

richard_hall•1mo ago

That time I got a call to fix a ceiling collapse in a downtown loft

Last Tuesday I walked into a $2 million loft unit downtown and the entire living room ceiling had let go. The builder had hung 5/8 fire rated board on 24 inch centers with the wrong screws. Wound up tearing out 600 square feet and starting fresh with 1/2 inch on 16 inch centers. Who else is seeing guys skip proper screw spacing on big open ceilings?

25

ben436•1mo ago

Just hit 500 square feet of flawless butt joints in one job

Been hanging board for about 3 years now and yesterday I finished up a basement remodel in Fresno where I taped and mudded 500 square feet of flat butt joints without a single bubble or crack showing through. It felt good to see it all come together after spending the whole morning chasing my coffee high. Anyone else get that weird satisfaction from hitting a clean number on a tricky layout?

31

the_anna•1mo ago

Tried pre-filling corners with hot mud instead of taping them first... big mistake

I thought I'd save time on a garage job in Phoenix by filling the inside corners with 5-minute hot mud before laying the tape in. Figured it would bond better and I could skip the pre-fill step. Nope. The mud set up so fast that by the time I got the tape in place, it was already hard and the tape wouldn't embed right. Had to chisel it out and start over, took me twice as long. Anyone else tried shortcuts that backfired like this?

19

palmer.henry•1mo ago

Warning: Stop using mesh tape on inside corners if you want them to last

I've been doing drywall for about 8 years now. Last month I went back to a house I did 3 years ago to fix some cracks. Every inside corner I used mesh tape on had a crack running down it. The paper tape corners I did were still solid. I talked to a rep at the supply house and he said mesh has no give when the house settles. Paper stretches a little. Now I only use paper on all my corners. Anyone else notice this or am I just getting unlucky with my mesh jobs?

3

ray_webb6•1mo ago

Switched from hand taping to a bazooka taper last spring on a big hotel job

I used to tape everything by hand for 8 years, thought those big bazooka tapers were just for crews doing warehouse ceilings. Then a buddy let me borrow his for a 40 room hotel corridor job in Denver, and I did 3,000 feet of tape in half a day by myself. Messed up the first few corners pretty bad figuring out the angle, but once I got the mud consistency right it was smooth sailing. Anyone else hold out on a tool forever then finally try it and kick yourself for waiting?