A Few Questions About Finishing Drywall

cellophane

I've read up on what threads I could find on drywall finishing (rather than patching) and think I have the general procedure down but wanted to clarify a few questions I had.

The wall in question is about 10 feet of new drywall as part of a kitchen bar wall, about 48" high, one exterior corner that has a metal corner bead installed already. I have a small bucket of pre-mixed compound (blue lid) and 2 knives (4" Joint Knife [?] and a 12" Flexible Drywall Knife) & a mixing tray. Once it is all finished it will be painted with the potential for a hard finish (Laminate?) to be applied at a later time.

If I understand it all correctly (questions in blue) -

1. Apply mud to the butt joint & along the corner bead. Is the blue lid mud ok for this - I'd rather not buy a lot of products that I might not need if I can avoid it. What consistency should the mud be? Straight from the bucket or thinned?
2. I tape (paper tape) along the corner bead and the butt joint. Do I need to tape the corner bead? I've seen it done both ways. Why or Why not?
3. With more mud smooth out the tape and lay down mud over it. Same blue lid mud ok there?
4. Smooth and feather. I'm actually half-way decent here. Mild nerd OCD + lots of art classes finally pays off.
5. Let it dry. How long? I've read between 2 hours and 24 hours.
6. Light sand. Is there a prefered grit paper? I've seen anywhere from 80 to 120 recommended.
7. Thin mud and feather out along the joints. What consistency am I going for here?
8. Let it dry. How long? I've read between 2 hours and 24 hours.
9. Light sand. Is there a prefered grit paper? I've seen anywhere from 80 to 240 recommended.
10. I've seen 'sponge' recommended. Is this a wet sponge or a sanding sponge?
    

There are also two areas where the wall butts into an existing wall - should these be mudded together or filled with painters caulk and painted over? Both walls will be the same color and the existing wall is already painted.

Thanks!

retiree

Tape is usually set in Green lid, but I have used Blue and got away with it. Thin it out slightly to insure the tape gets wet when covered. Apply spackle along the line to be taped and use the 4" to imbed the tape. A thin coat over the tape to insure it is wet and covered. Scrape off excess. Light successive coats are the answer, otherwise you'll be sanding alot more than necessary. Buy a sanding sponge where you got the spackle. They're not expensive. Allow 24 hours to dry and then 2 more coats with 24 hours between and light sanding if necessary.

No need to tape the metal corner beading, but you'll find it takes alot of mud to fill and cover the bead. Same process; 24 hours between coats. Use your 12" on successive coats.

Fold the tape down the middle to do inside corners. After tape and 1st coat has dried do second coat on one side only. 24 hours later do other side. Unless you have alot of experience you'll gouge the 1st side if you try to do the 2nd side aqt the same time. If your careful this will finish your inside corner with a light feathering with the sanding sponge.

Is the new drywall meeting the existing wall at 90 degrees or 180 degrees? If 90 then fold the tape as explained earlier. If 180 the tape the seam and after drying feather it wider and wider on two successive coats. Remember, thin coats.

rocketdoctor

I find this site has excellent step by step procedures illustrations and movies http://www.drywallinfo.com/. When doing the inside corner cut the tape to size and wet it before applying to wall that helps a bit.

cellophane

well isn't that a handy site!

thanks =)

cellophane

I layed on a first coat over the weekend and got mixed results. The corner bead came out decently enough but the tape joint looks something awful. Is this something that is fixable or should I take it off and try and get a better result? Based on the pictures are there obvious mistakes? I'll try to take a better picture tonight - these were with a phone camera.

Willie T

Probably. Try reading THIS POST

__________________
"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Willie T

oh'mike

I stayed away from your post because you stated that you didn't want to waste money on different muds.

In the post -link you will find an explanation of mud types and their uses --To Wet Or Not To Wet That Is The Question - DIY Chatroom - DIY Home Improvement Forum


Above are the proper muds for different phases of the drywall taping process.

Blue mud is for the final coats--not very good for embedding paper.

Durrabond is for filling voids before you tape--also for the first coat on corner bead.
Some set the paper with it.

Green mud is loaded with glue--that is the ideal for setting paper--thinned with water just a bit.

You will need to knife out any paper that didn't bond----Mike---

cellophane

by knife out - just cut out the areas that didnt bond or take all the tape off and reset completely? trying to take it all off would tear up the paper & board correct? if i can get the joints down i think i'll be ok.

thanks

oh'mike

Just cut out the bad spots --add a bit more mud and paper and move on---

This happens to all novices---once--- Your mud was probably to dry--or you pressed to hard--

Good luck--Mike---

Gary in WA

http://gypsum.org/download.html

http://bestdrywall.com/files/ReduceCallbacks.pdf

Be safe, Gary

__________________

rgentil32

cellophane:

looks good...i tape regularly...i try to only use a 5-6 inch blade and another longer blade to hold the mud...it's tough w the butt joints...just keep putting very thin coat across a span 3-5 inches over existing each time...it helps if you dunk the tape/paper material into water...as this allows for more blending....corners although i always use the tape...have used caulk w some success...just hard to ensure caulking is super smooth and blended...also after you've applied 5-6 super skim coats...the manuals say 3...too hard for me...use a flat white paint/primer to highlight areas that need touching up...of course apply paint after you have sanded...if you are working in the kitchen...use one of those square sponge wettable sanders...keeps dust down...good luck...

cellophane

I finally managed to sit down and get back to this and it has raised a few more questions:

why should I only knockdown in between coats instead of sand?

for an inside corner, i've watched the video on drywallinfo.com but want to be sure I've got it down before I start:

1. put green lid mud on both faces - even the already painted wall? should I sand it a little first?
2. apply bent paper tape
3. smooth and remove excess mud starting from the top, pulling every so often to keep it taut working both sides equally
4. here is where i'm not sure- do i let it set up, then mud again or mud over the tape then let it set?
5. knockdown and final skim coat(s)

for that same inside corner - does the width of the gap between the new and existing matter or is it taken care of by the mud and tape? there is a 2x behind the new drywall that butts into the existing wall, so there isnt a total cavity.

rocketdoctor

[quote=cellophane;434782]
why should I only knockdown in between coats instead of sand?

I asked a professional drywaller about sanding and his response is "thats a dirty word" The perfect drywall job will require very little sanding at the end. Sanding slows you down quite a bit especially if you have thousands of square feet to drywall. It just takes a moment to knock down the rough edges with your blade.

Being a novice you will end having to sand alot so save your sand paper for when you really need it