My buddy told me my drywall finish looked 'aggressively bad' at my new place

So I just moved into a fixer upper near Tacoma and been doing the drywall myself to save cash. My friend Steve came over last month, took one look at my mud work, and goes 'dude, that looks like a cat threw up on the wall and you spread it around.' I was kinda offended at first lol but then I looked closer and yeah, the edges were all bumpy and I was using way too much compound. He showed me how to use a 12 inch knife and do these light feathering passes instead of just slapping it on thick. I redid the whole living room over two weekends and it actually looks flat now, no joke. Cost me like $30 for the bigger knife and some sanding screens. Has anyone else gotten a reality check from a friend that totally changed how they work on their own house?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinb9724d ago

Wait did you have to skim coat the whole thing or just feather out the edges? I made the same mistake on my first house, globbing it on thick because I thought more mud meant less sanding, but it just meant more cracking. The 12 inch knife is where it's at though, once you get the hang of holding it at the right angle and keeping your wrist loose, the compound practically self levels.

smith.anna24d ago

Life's just a series of learning not to use too much of anything.

robinf5124d ago

The real hidden danger nobody mentions is that thick mud jobs can trap moisture behind the tape and cause mold down the line, especially in a damp climate like ours. Had a buddy in Seattle have to rip out half his garage wall six months after moving in because of that exact problem.