c/drywall-installers

Just broke 500 sheets hung in a month and changed my mind about crew size

I always thought a three person team was the sweet spot but after averaging 167 sheets a week solo for four weeks straight I realized I was the bottleneck all along, anyone else find out they work better alone than they thought?

3 comments

the_jake•3d ago

Watched a guy mud a whole room without a light and it clicked

I was at a job site in Portland last week and saw this older guy taping and mudding a bathroom with basically no light except a tiny LED headlamp. He was getting perfect edges, no shadows, no patchy spots. Made me realize I've been over-reliant on bright lights to catch my mistakes instead of just feeling the mud with my knife. Has anyone else found that using a brighter light actually makes your finish worse?

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fisher.thomas•4d ago

Old timer told me to 'listen for the screw' and it changed my whole day

I was hanging board in a basement last Tuesday, just in a rhythm, and this guy maybe 70 comes down to grab something. He watches me for a minute, then says 'son, you're fighting the gun. Listen for the screw to sink, don't just pull the trigger till it stops.' I stopped, paid attention, and yeah I was way oversinking half my fasteners. Next 20 sheets went so much smoother. Has anyone else had some random old guy drop a tip that actually stuck with you?

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keith274•5d ago

Genuinely don't get why so many guys swear by metal stills over rubber.

I spent 8 years on aluminum stilts in Phoenix before trying a set of rubber ProForm wide-boys six months back. Has anyone else found rubber absorbs way more vibration and lets you finish a full ceiling without your knees feeling wrecked?

4 comments

zara_sanchez•6d ago

Tried that hot mud with the blue lid instead of my usual stuff

I grabbed a bucket of the durabond 90 by accident last week on a job in Austin. Thought it would be fine since it's still setting type mud but man that stuff sets way harder than the regular easy sand I use. My pan was basically trash after, had to scrape it clean with a chisel. Anyone else have a brand switcheroo go wrong like that?

3 comments

blair_chen81•7d ago

Found out the hard way that skipping the primer coat on new drywall is a trap

I was rushing a basement job in Minneapolis last month and thought I could save an hour by going straight to paint. Two coats later and the texture was completely uneven with bare spots everywhere. Has anyone else had to strip and start over after skipping that step?

3 comments

adam_baker•7d ago

Had to choose between paper tape and mesh tape for a big ceiling job... went with paper and regretted it

Last Tuesday I was staring down a 1,200 square foot ceiling in a house over in Maplewood. The old guy I usually work with swears by paper tape, says it's stronger and won't crack. But I've been using mesh tape on smaller repairs for months and it goes so much faster. I went with paper tape because I figured he knows his stuff. After about 3 hours, I had to pull down a whole section because it bubbled up bad near a corner. Wasted almost 30 bucks worth of tape and a lot of mud. Paper tape is finicky if the mud isn't perfect. Has anyone else switched back and forth and found one way better for ceilings?

3 comments

fionafoster•22d ago

Hit 200 sheets hung in a single day for the first time last Thursday

I was working a big basement job with 12 foot ceilings in a new build out in the suburbs. Had a helper feeding me boards and we just got into a crazy rhythm. By the end of the day I counted and we had put up 200 sheets of 5/8 fire code. I honestly didn't think that was possible for two guys. Has anyone else ever tracked their daily sheet count and been surprised by the number?

3 comments

fisher.thomas•22d ago

Heard a Forman say 'stop feathering your mud so thin' and it clicked

I was watching a guy fix a terrible tape job on a ceiling and he said the key is to leave just enough mud to cover the tape without sanding through. Has anyone else caught themselves overworking the mud trying to get it perfectly flat?

3 comments

kai_chen2•22d ago

Stop overloading your mud pan on butt joints

I kept seeing guys at the job site load up a full pan of mud for every butt joint and then spend 10 minutes scraping off the excess. It just creates more sanding work and wastes material. Last week I watched a new guy spend 20 minutes cleaning off a joint he'd packed too thick. I started using about half the mud I used to and just pulling thinner passes. With a 10 inch knife and a light touch, you get a flat joint way faster. The trick is letting the mud do the work instead of fighting it. Has anyone else noticed that less mud on butt joints actually saves time in the long run?

3 comments

wader71•23d ago

Hit 10,000 sheets hung and I still feel like a rookie sometimes

I was adding up my old work logs from the last 12 years and realized I just passed 10,000 sheets of drywall hung between new builds and remodels around Minneapolis. That number surprised me because I still make the same dumb mistakes I did back when I started, like misreading a layout and wasting a whole sheet on a closet wall. Anyone else keep a rough count of their work and feel like the numbers don't match your skill level?

3 comments

young.ryan•23d ago

Wasted $300 on a fancy automatic taper that barely worked

I bought one of those self-feeding automatic taping tools from a guy at a trade show last year. Paid $300 cash thinking it would speed up my work on a big hotel job in Columbus. First day on site it jammed every 10 feet and spewed mud all over my boots. Had to finish the whole project by hand and the thing is sitting in my garage now. Anyone else get burned by a tool that looked good in a demo but failed on real drywall?

3 comments

taylor957•23d ago

Switched from mesh tape to paper tape on inside corners after a job in St. Louis

Took me about 10 minutes per corner but the crisp finish was night and day compared to the bubbles I'd get with mesh. Has anyone else noticed paper tape holds up better in humid basements?

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abby_morgan18•28d ago

Debate: Skipping mud on the first coat of butt joints saved me 2 hours per room

I tried just filling the gap with hot mud and taping flat without the pre-fill step on a 12-room house in Denver and now I'm wondering if anyone else thinks the extra coat is just a waste of time or a necessary evil for avoiding cracks later?

3 comments

cameron_hernandez69•28d ago

I chose fiber tape over paper for my last 3 jobs and I'm not going back

Everyone at the supply house keeps telling me paper tape is the only way to go for flat joints. They say fiber tape cracks and bubbles. But I did a whole house remodel over off Memorial Drive in Houston back in February, 14 rooms of new drywall, and I used fiber tape on every single seam. Not one callback. Not one crack. The mud bonds way faster and I don't have to wait for paper to soak through. Maybe it's different in other climates but down here with the humidity paper tape just wants to curl up on me. Has anyone else switched and stuck with it?

3 comments

colescott•28d ago

Can we talk about taping inside corners with a banjo?

I was on a job last Tuesday and this old timer told me he never uses a banjo for inside corners because it leaves too much mud at the peak. He just pre-fills with a 6 inch knife and tapes by hand. Has anyone else run into mud buildup issues with a banjo on inside corners or is he just stuck in his ways?

3 comments

evan_davis•29d ago

Had a talk with an old timer at the supply house that changed how I tape

I was grabbing some mud and tape at the Ajax Supply down on 4th Street here in Pittsburgh last Tuesday. This old guy probably in his late 60s sees me loading up a flat box and he just goes 'you're fighting the corner, not riding it.' At first I thought he was just making small talk, but he walked me over to the back room and showed me how he wets his knife before every single pass on a inside corner. He said the water lets the paper seat without bubbles and you don't get that crunch sound. I tried it on a job that afternoon and it felt totally different - the tape laid down flat with no fight at all. I never really thought about how much pressure I was putting on the tape instead of letting the mud carry it. Has anyone else picked up a weird trick from some random guy at the yard that actually worked?

3 comments

the_jake•29d ago

Shoutout to the homeowner who asked me to match her 'rustic' texture

Last month in Portland, this lady wanted me to match a texture on her ceiling that looked like someone threw mud at it with a pitchfork. She stood there for 15 minutes explaining how her late husband did it with a whisk from the 80s. I ended up using a cheap sponge and some old mud to make it look close, but she still shook her head and said 'almost.' Did anyone else ever get a request that made you question your whole career choice?

3 comments

jason_stone59•29d ago

Tried the hot mud trick for inside corners and it saved me an hour

I've been hanging drywall for about 12 years now and always used all-purpose mud for my corner bead work. Last week on a job in Columbus I decided to try hot mud for the first coat on inside corners since I was running behind. Mixed up a small batch of 90 minute stuff and it set fast enough that I could do the second coat right after lunch. Has anyone else switched to hot mud for corners or am I late to the game on this?

3 comments

ward.anna•1mo ago

Had a mud cracking issue that took 5 hours to figure out

I was doing a ceiling patch in a bathroom and the mud kept cracking overnight. Turned out the old drywall was still sucking moisture because I didn't prime the edges first. Has anyone else run into this on old reno jobs?

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jessem59•1mo ago

Finally finished a ceiling patch that had me frustrated for 3 days

I was up on a ladder in a basement in Cleveland last week, trying to patch a hole near a duct. The first board kept sagging because I didn't brace it right, and I had to rip it out and start over. On the third try, I pre-drilled and used a drywall lift even though it was small, and it sat flush. The mudding went smooth after that, and the homeowner actually noticed the flat finish. Has anyone else had ceilings that fight back like that?

3 comments

stella_scott96•1mo ago

Spent $400 on a Milwaukee drywall screwgun and it's either the best or worst tool I own

I love how fast it drives screws but the clutch keeps slipping on thicker boards, and now I'm wondering if I should've just stuck with my old corded Senco. Has anyone else had this hit-or-miss experience with newer auto-feed guns vs the old manual ones?

4 comments

the_robin•1mo ago

Warning: That Tuesday job with the 12-foot ceiling差点 made me quit the trade

I had a rough week where every single piece of drywall I hung on that new build in Millbrook kept cracking at the seams because the framing was still wet, and the foreman just shrugged, so by Thursday after my third redo I was ready to throw my bucket of mud in the dumpster - has anyone else dealt with builders who rush framing before the lumber dries?

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felixhenderson•1mo ago

Shoutout to those corner bead clips I swore were a gimmick

I was at a supply house in Denver about 6 months ago and the guy behind the counter tried to sell me a box of those plastic corner bead clips instead of nails. I laughed and told him I've been hand nailing corners for 15 years and don't need a shortcut. Then I had a job with 40 outside corners and my wrist was killing me after the first 10. So I caved and tried the clips on a whim, figuring I'd just use nails on the rest if they failed. Turns out they hold just as tight as nails and I finished those corners in half the time without any splits or dents in the bead. Has anyone else here been converted by a tool or product they thought was pointless at first? Or do you still swear by the old ways?

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the_holly•1mo ago

Vent: A client's new build in Asheville had me rethinking my whole approach to taping

I finished a job there about six months ago, and the homeowner just sent me photos. The seams I taped with the standard all-purpose compound looked fine at first, but now they're showing a few faint hairline shadows under their bright LED lights. The ones I did with a lightweight finishing compound, just as an experiment on one wall, are still perfect. Has anyone else switched over to lightweight for the final coats as a standard practice?

3 comments