Had a talk with my neighbor about drywall mud - feel like an idiot now

He saw me using the pre-mixed buckets from the box store two weeks ago. Told me I was wasting $12 a bucket and getting worse results. Said he mixes his own from powder for like half the cost. I watched him do a patch job and the finish was way smoother. Tried it myself on my basement project in Cleveland. Now I'm kicking myself for all those years of lumpy bucket mud. Any of you guys actually mix your own or am I the only slow learner?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith1162mo ago

Wait, your neighbor actually showed you how to do it? That's pretty cool, not gonna lie. I had a buddy from Akron try to teach me once, and he ended up with a cloud of dust in his face and powder all over his jeans. He said the powder was way cheaper but made such a mess in his garage that his wife banned him from mixing it inside, lol. He still swears by it for big jobs though, just does it outside now with a mask on.

amymiller2mo ago

Wait, he's been paying $12 less per bucket this whole time and getting better results? That's wild! I seriously need to switch over, I've been fighting with those lumpy buckets in my garage for way too long.

knight.oscar1mo ago

My cousin Dave tried switching over last year and he ended up with this weird greenish tint on his driveway for a week. He kept saying it was "character" but I think he just messed up the mix ratio, you know? @amymiller you gotta watch out for that stuff if you make the switch, because the $12 savings doesn't mean much if you have to redo the whole job. Dave also forgot to wear gloves and his hands looked like a Smurf for three days, which was honestly pretty funny. He finally figured it out after watching like 40 YouTube videos, and now his garage floor looks better than my kitchen counter, I swear.