c/drywall-installers

That $40 drywall lift from Facebook Marketplace was a complete disaster on a stairwell job

I thought I was smart picking up this old used drywall lift for 40 bucks last month. First time using it on a 10 foot stairwell ceiling and the thing collapsed halfway through lifting the first sheet. Nearly took out my helper and cost me a whole day of work plus a 60 dollar trip to the rental place to get a proper one. Has anyone else gotten burned trying to save money on a lift for a tricky job like that?

I stopped using mesh tape for inside corners 6 months ago

I used to fight with mesh tape on inside corners all the time. It would bubble up or just not lay flat no matter how careful I was. Then a guy named Mike on a job in Phoenix told me to switch to paper tape for those spots. Now I get a crisp corner on the first try and hardly ever have to sand touch up. Has anyone else found paper tape works better for certain areas?

Finally got my butt joints to lay flat after 8 months of fighting them

I've been hanging drywall for just over a year now and my butt joints always had these little humps that showed up after mudding. My buddy Mike stopped by my job at a condo in Phoenix last Tuesday and watched me for 10 minutes. He just said 'your tapered edge is sitting on top of the factory edge' and showed me how to stagger the sheets better. After 4 panels with his method, they all came out perfectly flush. Has anyone else had a simple trick like that take forever to click?

TIL about taping corners with paper instead of mesh

I was grabbing coffee at the shop on 5th Street yesterday and overheard this old timer telling a young guy you should never use mesh tape on inside corners because it doesn't fold clean. He said paper tape gives you a sharper line every time and you get less cracking later. I always just grabbed whatever roll was closest, but now I'm gonna stick to paper for corners and see if my finish looks better. Anyone else switched and noticed a difference?

Tried pre-filling my mud versus mixing as I go on a big job last week

Been hanging and finishing for 12 years and always mixed mud on the fly, but for a 2,500 square foot house in Portland I pre-filled all my joints first. Took maybe one extra hour upfront but saved me a ton of back and forth. Has anyone else found that makes taping go smoother?

Had a homeowner watch me like a hawk the whole time I was hanging board

I was working on a basement finishing job over in Renton last Tuesday. The homeowner pulled up a folding chair and just sat there staring at me for four hours straight while I was hanging 12-foot sheets on the ceiling. He kept asking things like "is that the right screw spacing?" and "my brother-in-law says you should use longer screws." I had to keep stopping what I was doing to explain my methods. Has anyone else dealt with a customer who just would not leave you alone to work?

Hot take: Should you pre-fill your butt joints or just tape and mud them?

I had this old timer, Jerry, tell me on a job in Akron last summer that I was wasting time pre-filling every butt joint before taping because the tape just floats off if you dont. I tried his way of just taping straight onto the dry mud for a whole house and ended up with bubbles on half the joints. Anyone else have strong feelings about pre-fill vs. not?

Pushed mud too thin for 3 years until a foreman on a job in Phoenix showed me my tape was bubbling because of it.

He just looked at my pan, said that's basically water, and mixed me a fresh batch that actually held - anyone else get set straight by some old timer on a random site?

Overheard a GC say he's been using the same blade for 6 months straight

I was grabbing coffee near a site in Arvada last week and heard a general contractor bragging to his buddy that he hasn't changed his drywall blade since January. He said something like 'it still cuts straight, why swap it?' I took a look at his truck bed and that blade was visibly chipped and burnt. How often do you guys actually swap out your blades on a big production job?

Dropped $180 on a vibrating drywall sander and it's just gathering dust now

Thought it would save me time on ceiling work but that thing vibrates my hands numb after 20 minutes and leaves swirl marks I gotta skim over anyway. Anyone else ditch the fancy tools and just go back to hand sanding?

TIL a 6-inch knife makes mudding corners way faster than the 10-inch I was using for 4 years

Switched to a smaller knife on a job in Phoenix last month and knocked out inside corners in half the time with way less cleanup. Has anyone else found a weird tool swap that changed their whole flow?

Dropped $80 on a laser level and it was a total bust

I figured I'd treat myself to a decent laser level for hanging board in this big basement remodel... thought it would save me time marking lines. First day using it, the calibration was off by a good quarter inch over 20 feet. Now I'm back to my old chalk line and a 4-foot level, but that's $80 I ain't getting back. Anyone else get burned by a so-called 'pro' tool that just didn't work?

Still thinking about that Tuesday last month where everything went wrong

I had a 2,000 square foot basement to hang in Boulder and the first two sheets I cut both had bad edges from the factory. Then my screw gun jammed twice in like 10 minutes and I realized I left my spare battery in the truck. By noon I was only 3 sheets in and the homeowner comes down asking if I'm gonna finish by Friday. Has anyone else had a day where every little thing just fought you from the start?

Vent: Hit a gas line with a screwgun in a ceiling job last Thursday

Honestly, I was working on a 12-foot ceiling in a remodel in Austin and just going to town with my screwgun. I was hanging 5/8 fire tape over a kitchen island and didn't think twice about the ceiling layout. Next thing I know, I hear this hissing sound and smell gas. Turns out I punctured a 1/2 inch gas line that was running between the joists for a stove they moved. The homeowner called the gas company, and we had to evacuate for like an hour. Cost me half a day and I felt like an idiot standing on the curb. Has anyone else dealt with unexpected utilities hidden in the ceiling? What do you do to check before you start screwing everything down?

That old timer who showed me how to tape corners in 3 minutes flat

I was working a job out in Des Moines last fall and this 60 year old guy named Jerry comes over to show me something. He said "you're overworking the mud" and just ran his knife down a corner in one smooth motion, no fussing. I timed it on my phone, it took him 3 minutes and 22 seconds from start to finish. Anyone else pick up a trick from a veteran that you still use every day?

Tried using a ras这把 and it shredded my hand in 5 minutes

I was working a ceiling patch job in a bathroom, and instead of just using my knife I grabbed a rasp to smooth a tough edge. That thing grabbed the paper and my knuckle at the same time. Anyone else just stick to a sharp 6" knife for final passes?

Snapped the last screw in my collated gun right at the top of a vaulted ceiling yesterday

Had to finish the last 4 sheets by hand with a drywall screwdriver because the bit broke off inside the collet and I didn't have a spare 30 minutes to dig it out has anyone else had a brand new coil of screws just jam up and ruin your flow?

Rant: Old timer told me to stop using mesh tape on inside corners, tried his way

Been doing drywall for about 5 years now, always used mesh tape on inside corners because that's how my first boss taught me. Last week I was working a basement job in Cincinnati and this guy in his 60s who was doing the framing next door came over and watched me for a minute. He said "you're making extra work for yourself with that mesh, just use paper tape and a mud knife." I told him I always got cracks with paper tape but he said I was probably not embedding it right. So I let him show me his method on one corner. He wets the tape first, then pushes it in with a 6 inch knife, then runs a thin coat over it. Let it dry, then second coat with a wider knife. That was 10 days ago, I came back today to sand and that corner is still perfect no cracks. The mesh tape corners I did earlier that week already have a hairline crack starting. I'm kinda pissed I wasted years using mesh now. Anyone else stubbornly stick with one method and then find out the old way actually works better?

20 years in and I just learned my taping knife was wrong

I've been hanging and taping drywall since 2004. Always used a 6 inch knife for my first coat on the flats. Last month a guy I sub for out in Boise watched me work and asked why I was fighting the mud so hard. He handed me his 4 inch and told me to try it. First pass felt way too narrow but the mud went on cleaner with less sanding later. Now I use the 4 for bedding tape and save the 6 for the second coat. Anyone else stick with a tool forever before realizing there was a better way?

Just realized my old foreman's mud mix ratio was way off

Guy I worked with back in 2012 in Columbus swore by this super thin mix for taping, said it let the paper float perfect. Took me about 3 months of fighting bubbles and blisters before I tried a thicker mix on my own. Anybody else have an old timer give them advice that just didn't hold up?

Broke a 6 foot level on a commercial job yesterday

I was hanging a long ceiling in an office building near downtown Portland and my aluminum 6 foot level slipped off a scaffold and hit the concrete floor. The vial cracked and the frame bent just enough to make it useless. I ended up having to borrow a spare from a crew down the hall to finish the row. Has anyone else had a major level fail on them mid job like that?

That time a homeowner tried to use sheetrock for a shower floor

Had a call last month from a guy in Phoenix who wanted me to drywall his whole bathroom, including the shower floor. Told him no way, but he insisted he saw it on a YouTube channel. 3 days later he called back saying the mud turned to soup and the whole thing caved in. Has anyone else had customers fight you on basic waterproofing rules?

Paper tape vs mesh finally clicked after a ceiling repair in Cleveland last spring

My take on using a stillson wrench on drywall anchors

I was on a job in Austin last month and the lead guy insisted I use a stillson wrench to tighten those metal drywall anchors into the studs. He said it's faster and gives more torque. I tried it on one anchor and it crushed the drywall paper and dented the metal. I had to cut out a 6x6 patch and fix it. From now on I'm sticking to a regular socket driver for anchors. Anyone else run into this kind of shortcut that just causes more work?

Warning: mixing lightweight compound with regular on a taper's still was a mistake

I had this bright idea last week on a basement job in Naperville to mix some lightweight all purpose with my regular setting compound to get the best of both worlds. Figured it would dry faster but still sand smooth. Man was I wrong. The stuff caked up on my banjo in about 15 minutes and I spent an hour cleaning the mud out of the tape head. Then the tape started bubbling up on the seams because the drying times were all off. The homeowner was watching me the whole time too so I had to pretend it was going fine. My foreman came by and just shook his head. Switched back to using straight Durabond 90 on the next room and everything laid down perfect. Has anyone else tried mixing compounds on a job and had it backfire like this?