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Talked to a drywall finisher from the 70s who changed how I look at mud
I was on a job in Austin last month and this older guy, maybe 65, was finishing a ceiling in the next room. He stopped for a smoke and we got talking. He said he never uses a taping knife wider than 10 inches for the first coat, just lets the mud do the work instead of forcing it. I always thought wider was better to save time, but he showed me how his corners came out with almost no sanding needed. Has anyone else tried sticking to a smaller knife for the first pass?
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ryanburns6d ago
Nah I'm gonna push back on this one. A 10 inch knife for the first coat sounds like a good way to waste time and get frustrated. The whole point of a wider blade is to bridge those butt joints and get a flat surface without having to come back with a second coat that still needs sanding. If you're good with a 12 or even a 14 inch knife you can lay down mud that's just as clean as his corners, you just have to know how to feather it out right. I've been doing this 15 years and I've never seen an old timer's method that actually saves time in the long run, it's usually just them being stuck in their ways. His corners might look good but I bet he's still out there doing three coats when two would do the same job with the right technique.
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That whole 'two coats do the same job' line sounds good on paper but I've fixed enough of those jobs to know better. A 14 inch knife on a first coat is asking for air bubbles and delamination where the mud's too thin on the edges. The old guy's method works because he's laying down a consistent bead that actually bonds to the paper instead of skimming it on there. I'd rather spend an extra 10 minutes on coat one than chase fisheyes with a sanding sponge later.
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