Ran into a guy at a supply house who swore butted seams hold up better on vaulted ceilings, but tapered joints have saved me hours of sanding on 20 foot high jobs, so what's the real consensus here for high-traffic commercial spaces?
I tried quick-set compound on a ceiling patch last week in Austin and it started setting before I even got it on the knife. I had to scrape it all off and start over with regular mud. Has anybody else had trouble with the fast stuff?
I used to spend like 10 minutes troweling each joint trying to get it perfect, until a guy with 30 years in the trade watched me and said 'you're just pushing it around, let the tape do the work.' Now I do two quick passes per coat and the finish is actually smoother. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit that was just making more work?
Ngl, I dropped $2,800 on a brand new auto-taper last fall thinking it would speed up my jobs, but I've gone back to hand-taping every time because the finish just looks cleaner to me. Anyone else find these things more trouble than they're worth?
Had to finish the rest of that bedroom with a 6 inch knife cause the hardware store was 45 minutes away and the homeowner was watching me like a hawk, anyone else ever lose a tool at the worst possible time?
Turned out the previous guy had nailed the corner bead directly to drywall with no backing, and I had to pull everything down and add blocking anyway, has anyone else run into phantom studs on older houses?
I grabbed one of those automatic flat box sanders from Home Depot in Phoenix last Saturday, thinking it would cut my sanding time in half on a 2,000 sq ft job. The thing vibrated so hard my hand went numb after 20 minutes and I ended up gouging three walls before I shut it off. Anybody else have a tool that sounded good but just made more work?
Had a 5-gallon bucket of all-purpose joint compound fall off my stilts and explode across a freshly painted hallway in a high-rise downtown Milwaukee last Tuesday, so I spent 3 hours scraping and re-coating while the super paced around barking at me about the building inspection coming in the morning - anyone else have a mud disaster that made you want to walk off site?
I keep hearing guys say mesh tape is useless for inside corners, but I switched to it three years ago on a job in Bakersfield and my crack rate dropped to almost zero. The trick is to bed it in all-purpose mud, not the lightweight stuff. Has anyone else found success with mesh in corners or am I the only one?
I always used 20-minute mud because it sets fast, but on a big ceiling in a new build near Portland I switched to 90-minute. The 20-minute stuff forced me to rush and I ended up with visible knife marks I had to sand down. The 90-minute gave me time to actually feather my edges clean, and the whole ceiling looked better with less sanding. Has anyone else made the switch on larger jobs?
He was in the trade back when they still used paper tape and mud you had to mix yourself from powder. Said he never once owned a banjo, just a 6 inch knife and a hawk. Made me wonder if all these fancy self trimmer heads are really saving time or just making more work...
I had to pick one for this apartment reno in Denver last month. Went with the banjo because my guys are used to it and it's faster for big runs. But the finish wasn't as flat as the flat box would've been, especially on the long hallway. Has anyone else switched and regretted it?
I was on a job in Spokane last spring with a crew that swore by automatic taper tools for everything. One old timer, must have been 65, just shook his head and pulled out a hand banjo. He did all the inside corners on a 2,000 square foot house in about 3 hours with zero mess. Said the automatic tool leaves too much mud in the corner for tight angles. I tried it on the next room and got way fewer knife marks. Has anyone else found hand tools beat the auto stuff for certain spots?
Was hanging board in a basement remodel over on Elm Street and couldn't find my 6-foot level anywhere. Looked in every room, checked the other guys' trucks, even called my wife to see if I left it at home. Finally gave up and went to grab my spare from the truck, and there it was sitting right under my tool bag where I left it this morning. Has anyone else wasted that much time looking for something obvious?
An old timer named Mike told me on a job in Phoenix to always pre-fill my corner beads with mud before taping. I thought he was being over careful but I tried it on a tricky archway last month. Those corners came out way straighter with zero bubbling and I barely had to sand. Has anyone else had luck with this method or was that just a fluke?
Had a convo last week with a guy who's been hanging board since the 80s, he said he stopped doing smooth walls in garages after too many callbacks from cracked joints. He pointed out that garages shift and settle way more than living spaces, so all that extra sanding just makes cracks more visible later. Anyone else think we oversell finish levels for garages and basements?
I tried it on a job last month because my utility knife kept breaking. Figured a saw would be faster. Nope. It kicked up SO much dust my helper couldn't see 3 feet in front of him. Plus the edges were all jagged and needed way more sanding. Took me twice as long to finish that room. Anyone else tried something dumb like this and regretted it?
For 8 years I always hand taped my flat boxes because I thought the banjo was too messy and slow to set up. Last month on a big job in Columbus I borrowed a coworker's banjo to try it and finished the same wall in half the time with way less mud waste. Has anyone else made the switch and found a good way to clean the banjo fast between coats?
I was on a job in Portland last month and this guy Jerry who's been hanging board since the 80s walked over and said my mud was turning to soup because I was over-wetting my tape joints. He told me to just use the knife and let the mud do the work. Cut my finish time on a 1500 sq ft basement by about 3 hours after I switched. Anybody else get told to change a basic habit like that?
Was working on a room addition in Wichita last month and a guy I was subbing for watched me mix my mud and just said "you're putting too much water in." I argued with him for a good 5 minutes but he made me try it his way. Half the water, thicker mix, no more bubbles after that first pass. All those years I thought I was just bad at it. Anyone else get a tip that made you feel stupid for not figuring it out sooner?
I was working an old 1920s house in Portland and tried to pre-fill a butt joint with too much mud, ended up with a massive blister that took forever to sand flat. Anyone else ever rush a ceiling tape job and regret it?
I bought this $80 fancy mud mixing paddle last month because the guy at the supply house swore it would cut my time in half. First job with it, the damn thing seized up on me halfway through a 5 gallon bucket of all purpose. Couldn't even get a refund because I tossed the receipt. You guys sticking with the cheapo ones or is there actually a brand that doesn't crap out after two uses?
Bought one of those hydraulic lifters from Home Depot last month hoping it would save my back on ceiling work. Thing was slow to set up, kept drifting down, and I actually got more done just using my old two-by-four T-brace method. Anyone else found those lifters more trouble than they are worth?
I tried pre-taping my inside corners with no mud behind the paper and then hitting them with a quick coat after they dried, and it cut a full 20 minutes off each room I did last week, has anyone else found this trick actually works or am I setting myself up for cracking down the road?