Drywall finishing sucks!

[Brett K]

being somewhat of a perfectionist and doing your own drywall finishing is a bad mix. What should have taken a week is going on week 3. What a pain in the butt!! Unfortunately, nobody that is good at it wants to do smaller jobs and the pros that do give you a quote, give an outrageous figure. Ugh!

[lspencer534]

Sigh...I'll say it again: Pay someone to do the no-brainer work, do the expensive work yourself. Most people do it the other way around. A pro could finish your sheetrock in 3 days with no dust. (They have hose attachments to their sanders that vents it outside in a tank.)

[Brett K]

Originally Posted by lspencer534

Sigh...I'll say it again: Pay someone to do the no-brainer work, do the expensive work yourself. Most people do it the other way around. A pro could finish your sheetrock in 3 days with no dust. (They have hose attachments to their sanders that vents it outside in a tank.)

Sigh....I'll say it again. The pros don't want smaller jobs and they price the job accordingly.

[FasterTraffic]

Originally Posted by lspencer534

Sigh...I'll say it again: Pay someone to do the no-brainer work, do the expensive work yourself. Most people do it the other way around. A pro could finish your sheetrock in 3 days with no dust. (They have hose attachments to their sanders that vents it outside in a tank.)

The corollary to that is, "Pay someone to do it right or pay someone to do it over."

[Cybercowboy]

Originally Posted by Brett K

Sigh....I'll say it again. The pros don't want smaller jobs and they price the job accordingly.

But it's worth it. Learned my lesson 20 years ago.

[mrvette]

Drywall finishing is shit simple, you can't figger out THAT, you got no 'touch'....

sorry guys....but dat's the truff.....

[lspencer534]

Another thing that makes sheetrocking easier is to use a 12" plastic blade instead of a metal one. It makes all the difference in the world for mudding and feathering. And use plastic paddles for spacking compound instead of a putty knife. Much neater.

[Giraffe (He/Him)]

I did some drywall finishing on a house I owned. NEVER AGAIN. I finished it, but it took 5x longer than a drywall guy would have taken and didn't look half as good.

[lspencer534]

Originally Posted by Thomas

I did some drywall finishing on a house I owned. NEVER AGAIN. I finished it, but it took 5x longer than a drywall guy would have taken and didn't look half as good.

Drywall and mudding are very simple...if you've done it many times before. Pros can mud and feather an 8' long joint in 2 passes. If it takes you 5, 6, 7 passes to "get it right" (or close to right), then you need lots more practice. And you should seriously consider calling in a pro.

[nhra_ta]

Originally Posted by Brett K

being somewhat of a perfectionist and doing your own drywall finishing is a bad mix. What should have taken a week is going on week 3. What a pain in the butt!! Unfortunately, nobody that is good at it wants to do smaller jobs and the pros that do give you a quote, give an outrageous figure. Ugh!

My hubby (Superstreet) is exactly the same way. His walls are perfect when he's finished. After finishing out the entire pole barn and doing all of the work himself he's pretty much burned out on mudding and sanding. I don't blame him, I would be too. I did what I could be trusted with and helped him paint the pole barn.

[lspencer534]

Originally Posted by nhra_ta

My hubby (Superstreet) is exactly the same way. His walls are perfect when he's finished. After finishing out the entire pole barn and doing all of the work himself he's pretty much burned out on mudding and sanding. I don't blame him, I would be too. I did what I could be trusted with and helped him paint the pole barn.

You have drywall in a pole barn? Is it insulated, cooled, and heated?

[Brett K]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Drywall finishing is shit simple, you can't figger out THAT, you got no 'touch'....

sorry guys....but dat's the truff.....

In theory it is simple! But loading a trowel just right and maintaining the proper angle and pressure on the knife while walking down a 2 x 10 for 12 feet doing an inside corner requires a skill. By the time you get it right, you are done. When you do it right, there should be little to no sanding needed, which is what I,m shooting for.

[kingpin]

I learned the trick to mudding is less is more.
And when you think just one more pass over it don't do it.

Thin coats let dry and scrape off the trowel marks quickly. Mud again to 8" wide seam.
Repeat above process and then a 12" knife with the mud thinned out finishes it off nicely.

Also first coat to avoid cracking later use something like a sheetrock 20 or 90. Dries harder.

[DukeAllen]

Originally Posted by Thomas

I did some drywall finishing on a house I owned. NEVER AGAIN. I finished it, but it took 5x longer than a drywall guy would have taken and didn't look half as good.

This. It took me 6 months to re-do our basement, working 5-6 nights a week for 1 or 2 hours.

[CP]

Originally Posted by DukeAllen

This. It took me 6 months to re-do our basement, working 5-6 nights a week for 1 or 2 hours.

Glad I didn't have to pay you by the hour.