I grabbed a roll of extruded corner bead from the hardware store without checking the corner angle first. Turns out my 45 degree bay window needed special bullnose bead, and now I got this useless roll sitting in my truck. Anyone else get burned by assuming all corner bead is the same?
Last spring I decided I was tired of borrowing my buddy's old metal stilts and bought a pair of those lightweight carbon fiber ones from a tool store by the highway. They cost me $200 and I figured they'd last forever. But after about a month the straps started slipping and I nearly ate it off a 12 foot ladder in a half-finished basement in Akron. The foam pads also wore down way faster than I expected. I ended up going back to a $60 aluminum pair from the big box store and they've been solid for 7 months now. Anyone else find that the expensive gear is sometimes more trouble than it's worth?
I was out in the driveway last Saturday cleaning my hawk and trowel when old Mr. Henderson from two doors down walked over. He saw my tools and said he used to hang rock back in the 70s for a living. I asked him about finishing and he told me he never used a banjo or even a corner trowel, just a 6 inch knife and a lot of patience. He showed me how he would feather his edges by eye and said the key was keeping your mud a little looser than most guys do. I tried it on a small repair yesterday and honestly the finish came out smoother than when I use my fancy tools. Has anyone else had luck ditching the gadgets and going old school?
I hung 30 sheets of 5/8 in a basement in Minneapolis last week and the mud on the seams looked perfect until I came back after the weekend and there's hairline cracks running along probably 8 joints. The heat was set to 65 the whole time, could the dry air from the furnace have pulled moisture out too fast? Any tricks to keep this from happening again on the next cold weather job?
I started out in the late 90s and we'd spend an hour just taping and mudding a single closet with paper tape and a knife. Now I grab my bazooka and knock out three rooms before lunch, but I swear the finish isn't as smooth. Anybody else think the old way looked better even if it took twice as long?
Been using a 14 inch knife with a 10 inch pan for 6 years and after trying a 12 inch knife with a 12 inch pan yesterday the finish on my butt joints came out way flatter with way less cleanup - has anyone else found that matching the sizes actually makes that big a difference?
Watched a crew out in Phoenix put premixed all-purpose on their taper's box for a level 4 finish. That stuff shrinks like crazy and you'll be back filling nail pops in 3 months. I learned this the hard way back in 2017 when a whole living room ceiling needed re-tapping. Has anyone else seen crews using the wrong compound for the job?
I was at Drywall Supply in Portland last month and the guy behind the counter kept pushing this no-name plastic corner bead roller for $8. I told him no way my $45 USG one stripped out on me last year. He let me test it on a scrap piece and I swear it rolled the bead on smoother and didn't skip. Has anyone else found a random tool that beat out the big brand stuff?
I fought using it for six months on jobs in Denver, thinking it was just marketing hype. What made it click was doing a 12-foot ceiling with it and cutting my sanding time by almost half. Anybody else have that one tool they dismissed at first and now swear by?
We were finishing up a bedroom ceiling and the whole middle section gave way, took out a light fixture and everything. Turns out the previous crew used 1 inch screws instead of the right ones for double layer board. Has anyone else run into shady short cuts on remodels?
I must have been mudding for like 6 years before it clicked. Always used those vinyl no-coat corners and they'd pop loose after a few months, drove me crazy. Last summer I was working a basement in Hudson and the old timer GC walked by, took one look and said 'you aint putting enough mud behind the nose.' He was right, I was just skimming the edges. Soon as I started loading up the center of the bead with hot mud first everything locked in solid. Has anyone else had a total facepalm moment with something basic like that?
I was cleaning out my truck yesterday and decided to weigh an old 14-inch mud pan full of dried compound. That thing was almost 8 pounds. I do two of those per room plus the tape and corner beads. I did the math - I am hauling around an extra 40 to 50 pounds of mud per job just in the pan alone. No wonder my left arm is bigger than my right after 10 years of this. Anyone else ever weigh their gear and get surprised?
I was struggling with mud drying too fast on a big ceiling job in Austin last spring when this guy in his 60s walks over and tells me to keep a damp rag handy and wipe my blade between every single pass. Has anyone else picked up a weird little habit from a random drywaller on site that actually made a huge difference?
Was about 3 feet into a long ceiling seam at a house in Oak Park when the handle just cracked clean off. Old 6 inch knife I'd been using for like 5 years, never thought it'd give out like that. Had to borrow a buddy's knife from his truck to finish the run, but the mud was already starting to crust up on me. Anyone else had a tool break at the worst possible time?
I bought one of those battery powered automatic taper tools from a guy on Facebook Marketplace last month. He said it was barely used and had all the parts. Got it home and started a job in a new construction house in Cedar Rapids. The thing jammed up on the third joint and would not feed right no matter what I tried. I spent the whole afternoon taking it apart and putting it back together. Ended up having to hand tape the whole 1,200 square foot basement anyway. Has anyone else had bad luck with used drywall tools off of marketplace?
I used a 4 inch knife for years but switched to a 6 inch last month and my inside corners went from pitted to smooth in half the time, anyone else have a size change that fixed their finish?
He told me to pre-drill all my screw holes into studs to avoid cracking, so I spent 4 hours on a single 4x8 sheet. Turns out he was thinking of tile backer board, not drywall, and I looked like a fool on my first job site in Dayton.
I kept having issues with corner bead bulging out on a job in Eugene last week. Tried everything to get it to sit flat but it kept popping back. Finally a guy on another crew told me to use a drywall screw with a washer on the bead instead of just a nail. Worked perfect and saved me from having to rip out and re-tape a whole 12 foot corner. Has anyone else tried this when nails just won't hold?
Picked up a fancy new stillson from the big box store last week cause my old one finally gave out. Took it to a job in Brookhaven yesterday and that thing slipped off every pipe fitting I touched. The teeth just wouldnt bite into the steel at all. Anyone else run into wrenches that are basically useless right out of the package?
Had 40 sheets to hang in a basement in Cleveland last month. Thought I'd save time by just wiping dust and going straight to the second coat. Ended up with bubbles everywhere and had to redo two full walls. Anyone else tried skipping sand and regretted it?
This old timer in St. Louis told me I was wasting time using too much tape on butt joints. He showed me his method with just one pass and a 6 inch knife. Made me realize I've been overcomplicating things for years just because that's how I was taught. Anyone else have a moment where some random guy on a job site completely changed your approach?
I used to swear by the pre-mixed all-purpose stuff from the big box stores. Thought it was easier since you don't have to mix it up yourself. Then last month I had a job in a basement with no AC and the pre-mixed stuff was actually sweating water on me while I was trying to tape. Pushed me to finally grab a bag of hot mud and a paddle mixer. After about 3 tries I figured out the right consistency and man what a difference. It sets up in like 30 minutes and you dont have to wait overnight for it to dry. The dust is a bit annoying when mixing but the time savings is huge. Has anyone else made the switch and stuck with it or did you go back to pre-mixed?