Walked into a new build in Austin last week and saw taping bubbles on every single seam

The finishers were using 20 minute mud right out of the bucket without mixing it, and now the homeowner is gonna see those craters through the paint in 6 months, has anyone else run into crews skipping the mix step just to save 5 bucks?

2 comments

2 Comments

skylerg174d ago

Didn't someone from the Drywall Finishers Council put out a report saying most taping bubbles come from pushing mud too fast through the knife, not from mixing? I saw that floating around a trade site a few months back. If the crew is flying through a new build on a tight schedule, bubbles are gonna happen regardless of what's in the bucket.

ryanprice5d ago

Respectfully, gonna push back on this one a little. That 20 minute mud straight out of the bucket thing is actually pretty common on production jobs (not saying it's right) and honestly the bubbles aren't from skipping the mix step. They're from the finishers not letting the tape fully embed before the mud skims over, or from pushing too hard on the knife and trapping air underneath. Pre-mixed or not, if you're working that fast on a new build schedule you're gonna get bubbles no matter what's in the bucket. The real issue is nobody is taking the time to back-roll the tape or wait for each coat to fully set before sanding. Seen crews use fresh bucket mud with perfect results because they actually knew what they were doing. It's a speed problem, not a mixing problem.