Old timer showed me a trick for butt joints in Phoenix last summer

I was working a commercial build in Phoenix last August, and this guy in his 60s comes over while I'm mudding. He watched me for a minute, then said "you're working too hard on those butt joints." He showed me how to pre-fill the gap with a thin layer of hot mud before taping, let it set for 10 minutes, then tape over it. Cuts down on bubbles and air pockets way better than any technique I'd seen before. I tried it on the next joint and the finish was way smoother with less sanding needed. Anyone else use this pre-fill method or do you just tape and mud like normal?

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ryanprice3mo ago

Honestly, I tried something similar with topping compound on a ceiling patch once and it worked way better than I expected. Ngl, now I almost always pre-fill big gaps before taping just to save myself the headache later.

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