That's All! 
I Suck At Finishing Drywall
- Thread starter turbocruiser
- Start date
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Now I know for sure you are not a Mexican
I would rather clean toilets at Yankee Stadium.
The pros make it look easy too...
The pros make it look easy too...
It's not that hard with a little practice and the right tools.
Which stages? Taping? Texture?
Taping is a PITA. A banjo helps but takes practice. The right knives are worth their weight in gold. A wide silicone finishing knife will really help but try not to build up any excess with each pass. Sanding is the WORST!! I try to float everything without leaving any excess and pretty much don't sand at all unless I have a crack or bad joint that needs attention.
Use a good texture machine and don't be afraid to wipe it off and start over. The consistency of the mud makes all the difference. Make sure your wife is not slacking on the job!
Taping is a PITA. A banjo helps but takes practice. The right knives are worth their weight in gold. A wide silicone finishing knife will really help but try not to build up any excess with each pass. Sanding is the WORST!! I try to float everything without leaving any excess and pretty much don't sand at all unless I have a crack or bad joint that needs attention.
Use a good texture machine and don't be afraid to wipe it off and start over. The consistency of the mud makes all the difference. Make sure your wife is not slacking on the job!
- Thread starter
- #6
Haha! Awesome responses, well except for batcon's! 
Yea I'm at taping and finishing. My results look really alright but it takes me foooorrrrever to get it good. Funny, I've basically helped build 4 houses in my time from the foundation up including rough carpentry and finish carpentry, I am pretty proficient with almost anything around the house and with almost anything around the garage, I restore classic cars, I love to metalwork and woodwork, even do some foo foo stuff like stained glass and etched glass artwork ... yet I suck at finishing drywall.
I've got a six inch knife and ten inch knife and I followed the format in my Home Depot 1,2,3 book to start tape and then build up by layer, etc etc etc. But I'm mudding hours at a time to get it "just right" then I'm sanding hours at a time to get it "just right" then I'm redoing all that again to get it "just right". I mean I'd have to improve significantly to say I sucked !!!
Anyways, thanks for the moral support. Any tricks to this trade I'm missing? Thanks.
Edit: Where does one get a good "silicone" knife? All I see is standard steel stuff at the Home Depot.
Yea I'm at taping and finishing. My results look really alright but it takes me foooorrrrever to get it good. Funny, I've basically helped build 4 houses in my time from the foundation up including rough carpentry and finish carpentry, I am pretty proficient with almost anything around the house and with almost anything around the garage, I restore classic cars, I love to metalwork and woodwork, even do some foo foo stuff like stained glass and etched glass artwork ... yet I suck at finishing drywall. I've got a six inch knife and ten inch knife and I followed the format in my Home Depot 1,2,3 book to start tape and then build up by layer, etc etc etc. But I'm mudding hours at a time to get it "just right" then I'm sanding hours at a time to get it "just right" then I'm redoing all that again to get it "just right". I mean I'd have to improve significantly to say I sucked !!!
Anyways, thanks for the moral support. Any tricks to this trade I'm missing? Thanks.
Edit: Where does one get a good "silicone" knife? All I see is standard steel stuff at the Home Depot.
Try allwall.com - i think that is where I've picked up some better stuff. any pro level shop will carry much better stuff than the homo depot. I think it is silicone, might be rubber but you could probably search and find a couple.
Myron Ferguson has an excellent book out by Taunton Press and Finehomebuilding.com is a good website for some of his tips.
I hate sanding with a passion and taping ceilings is by far the worst. I am trying to get the ambition to hang the rock in my basment this month. at least the material is already down there and I have a lift. Just need the gumption and a couple of weak minded friends. I burned most of those out by building the rest of the house though.
Myron Ferguson has an excellent book out by Taunton Press and Finehomebuilding.com is a good website for some of his tips.
I hate sanding with a passion and taping ceilings is by far the worst. I am trying to get the ambition to hang the rock in my basment this month. at least the material is already down there and I have a lift. Just need the gumption and a couple of weak minded friends. I burned most of those out by building the rest of the house though.
Iagree on the consistency of the mud. It makes all the difference in the world. I guess I hit a nerve with the practice comment Good luck.
Good luck.
- Thread starter
- #9
Iagree on the consistency of the mud. It makes all the difference in the world. I guess I hit a nerve with the practice comment
No worries whatsoever, this is one of those things were you could probably teach me everything you know about finishing drywall and I'd still be stupid!
Seriously though just to try to eliminate the problem of consistency I got the small tubs of compound ready-made / ready-mixed to sort of show me how it handles when properly wet. As I move to more finishing, I'll just get the dry compound and make it / mix it. But, as long as those tubs come with correct wetness, I'm still struggling with it. The funny thing is I haven't even had a chance to try texturing yet! Wait till that wreaks havoc on me!
No worries whatsoever, this is one of those things were you could probably teach me everything you know about finishing drywall and I'd still be stupid!
The funny thing is I haven't even had a chance to try texturing yet! Wait till that wreaks havoc on me!
Just because it says ready mix doesn't mean its right. Some times its dried out alittle from sitting on the shelf. Don't be afraid to add a little water to it. Experiment with your mix. The right mix will make you look like a pro!
Most people fail by trying too hard. As mentioned before, pre-mixed doesn't mean spread-ready, it's usually too thick and definitely needs to be stirred before use, I use a 1/2" drill and paddle mixer. You will probably want it thinner for later coats and finishing. Get it fairly smooth with the knife, let it dry, scrape the ridges off with the knife and put on another coat. You don't need to sand it much if at all, especially the first and second coat. I prefer fiberglass tape, eliminates bubbles and other issues. It's not as fast in a professional's hands, but probably faster and easier for amateurs. Texture is all about the method, when you get that far post up what you want to do.
Yep - I hate drywall finishing. I built my 1400 ft^2 addition from the footer up, but I contracted the drywall. Go with at least a light texture - amazing what that will hide
- Thread starter
- #14
Okay I tried thinning the mud a little and that helped a lot. Couple of questions. .. in terms of the consistency should the mud be able to actually pour or should it stick together? In terms of texturing I found a "texture roller" with little loops all around it, will that work well for a light texture?
Think mayonnaise for taping. The thickness for texturing will vary, roll-on would be thinner than skip-trowel. Knock-down is probably the most popular around my area, along with orange peel. There are several other styles, figure out what you like.
- Thread starter
- #16
Okay I tried thinning the mud a little and that helped a lot. Couple of questions. .. in terms of the consistency should the mud be able to actually pour or should it stick together? In terms of texturing I found a "texture roller" with little loops all around it, will that work well for a light texture?
How big an area are you doing? Home Depot has texture in an aerosol can, but I wouldn't want to use it for more then a small closet. I've used it mostly for patching.
- Thread starter
- #18
Okay, first though my apologies about the duplicate posts done above, I have no hint on how that happened. But, second, the compound in the container was much more like peanut butter than mayonnaise so I think that was part of my overall problem. Third, most of my house is what I would call a heavy orange peel. I think using this special texture roller I got will work well and I'll report back.
To answer Eric's question, this area is way too big to use an aerosol can; I'd have to have dozens of them to finish the project plus in the past when I was using those (for some small touchup things) they constantly clogged on me. I don't know if these are the same but I basically hated them back then. Anyways and again. Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate it.
Now to get from peanut butter to mayonnaise and try this all again in another area.
The heavy orange peel is applied with a hopper gun or blower. You can buy the hopper for under a hundred bucks at Home Depot or rent the blower (from them if you want). I tried that roller thing once. It wasn't pretty. It leaves little points, not orange peel. Rent the blower rig, it's much easier and faster than the hopper. Also, the hopper uses a lot of air, which you have to supply. The blower unit, uh, blows. I mean, it provides the air, all day long, no waiting or differing patterns from differing pressures like you will get with a hopper. Same machine (or hopper) also does knockdown and variations of orange peel, and popcorn ceiling if you're into that.
I mean, it provides the air, all day long, no waiting or differing patterns from differing pressures like you will get with a hopper. Same machine (or hopper) also does knockdown and variations of orange peel, and popcorn ceiling if you're into that.
agomez
Frijoles
lots of mud equals lots of sanding.....
