# Drywall hints and tips



## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

Hey Guys and Gals, I am just finishing up mudding and taping and learned quite a bit along the way and wanted to pass on some tips and tricks that I learned that will hopefully make someone elses life easier.


It really isn't very hard to save yourself a few grand. If you take your time you can do it.

Please feel free to add on if you have tips also.

1. OK depends on how good you hung your sheetrock you will want to fill in your cracks and gaps with some mud. I would recommend the Hot mud that you mix and will set in 90 minutes. It sets rock hard. 

2. Use Paper Tape. you can use the mesh but you are supposed to use setting mud with it or you risk the chance of cracks later on. I think the setting mud is harder to work with.

3. Get a banjo to tape. This will save you a ton of time and hassle. They are not that expensive, get one.

4. When you tape with a banjo have someone go behind you to press the tape into the mud and also to put a second coat on read away. this will save you a ton of time also to have two coats done in no time at all.

5. Pick a day that hopefully you can get all you taping done in one day because the banjo I used sucked to clean.

6. Very Very important. Dont press the tape too hard into the mud.(I Did this) you may squeeze all the mud out and the tape will bubble in a couple days. 

7. If your tape bubbles you have two options. 1, cut the tape out and put in new tape. 2 Cut a slit in the bubble and put mud in there and press the tape back down.

8. Youtube is your friend.. Seriously there are alot of good videos that can give you a good view of how they do it. 

9 For the corners use the banjo here too. Pull out enough to cover the corner and press the tape into the corner. USE a CORNER Trowel to press the tape into the corner. This will get you a really good corner seam that will be strait. 

10 Dont sand until after the final coat. Inbetween the other coats you only need to scrape of the ridges and try to make things half way flat. 

11. Alot of people like to start in closets to hide their bad work and get some practice. I did this and I am not sure I learned anything by doing it this way. I think it would have been better to have started in a room and just go with it. 

I am sure alot of you guys have better tips than me but these were a few I wish I had known when I started.

Good luck guys, 

Post you tips as well


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## 95silverstallion (Dec 15, 2011)

Im real close to hanging my drywall. thanks for the tips. Im torn on whether or not to do it myself or pay my brother in law to do it. Maybe i'll "help" him do it.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

Its a tough call. I think it would have cost around 700 to have had someone else hang all the sheetrock for my 1100 ft basement. I think I would pay to have it done next time. I dont mind doing the mudding and taping so I would do that again. If money didn't matter I would have paid to have it all done.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

But one advantage to doing it yourself is that it takes along time and you may have different ideas half way thru like we did. It gives you more time to look at things and also more time to save money for the carpet and trim.


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## 95silverstallion (Dec 15, 2011)

Im kind of the opposite. I think id rather hang the drywall and pay to have the mudding and tapping done. Im doing a drop ceiling so I dont have the problem of getting the sheets onto the ceiling. 

I'd be shocked if my bro-in-law charged us more then a few hundred to do the entire basement. Its around the same size as yours, 1100sqft range.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

For a few hundred its a no brainer. Let the pro do it for that. If you dont have the ceiling to do the hanging and mudding and taping will be alot easier so it probably wont cost nearly as much


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## J&D (Apr 11, 2008)

Drywall is voodoo. Although I have attempted to tackle a couple of jobs in my lifetime each of those experiences taught me that this was best left to the experts. This is a good thread though for those still brave enough to take the plunge. It is not rocket science for sure but to get a high quality finished product nothing beats experience here.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

I quite enjoy plastering and always use the fibreglass tape with pre-mixed "Plastermate". It takes a little while to dry but gives a great finish.
I have never used paper joiner simply because I have seen it done poorly and it has lifted away.
The best part is that if the finish isn't quite right then a light sand and another coat will fix it.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

Tape bubbling is a huge problem. You just hope that you see any place that it did lift up so you can cut it out before finishing. Also get spotlights when working around sheetrock. It really can show inperfections that can show up later when you paint


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

One more thing I forgot to add. When it comes time to sand. Put plastic up so the dust doesn't get into the rest of thehouse and put a fan in the closest window blowing out. This will suck a lot of the dust outside.


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## bobs77vet (Sep 21, 2012)

my biggest trick/tip is to expect to do 4-5 coats with the joint compound.....and you never have to sand....this is one area where a little goes along way and the less you put on the better off you are. just keep going back to make it perfect. it takes one or two days longer but i dont sand drywall any more and its a great trade off.


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

bobs77vet said:


> my biggest trick/tip is to expect to do 4-5 coats with the joint compound.....and you never have to sand....this is one area where a little goes along way and the less you put on the better off you are. just keep going back to make it perfect. it takes one or two days longer but i dont sand drywall any more and its a great trade off.


I do the same, multiple coats. However I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and still give it a light sand at the end. 
I've even started redoing the joins in our new (2 year old) house as I can see them and it irks me.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

I've been waffling about drywall when it comes time for our basement too. I thought I could probably hang it well enough, if I take time to make sure everything is straight and true. Mudding and taping, I kind of wanted to have a pro do it because I know I'm not great and I do want to have clean seams. Then again, I look at the work done throughout the rest of my (2005 or so) house, and couldn't be less impressed with the "pro" that our builder used. I can see every seam, walls and ceiling, they did a terrible job sanding repairs down, and overall it just looks poor. 

I know that with a builder its a volume and speed game, but I keep wondering if I hire someone to do it for a good price will they just try to bang it out and not be very detail oriented? Will it be better to do myself and spend 10x as long as a pro would, for unknown results? I just don't know.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

I think you would be able to find a local guy that would do a great job. If you can see seams and joints upstairs I would say that is unacceptable workmanship.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Yeah, I'm not thrilled with much of the work in the house, and many of our neighbors have had problems. Buying new from a builder is something I would be a lot more careful about (and involved with) next time. Luckily for us, we have only had cosmetic issues and the basement is dry, the roof is in good shape, and for the most part nothing serious has gone wrong. (fingers crossed)


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