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Order of coating drywall.

1787 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  jeffnc
Have all my tape done, getting ready to use my 10" knife for the first coat. I'm not a professional so I plan on doing the angles one side at a time, but should I do the recessed joints or the angles first? Or can they be done at the same time?
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Have the tape done? Using mesh tape of do you have the first coat of paper in mud?

I usually use paper so at this point it would actually be a second coat. I like to do one side of the corners, ie lefts and tops, and then depending on the size and type of mud either do the other side after the first side is done. After that move to the flats. Reason I don't like to do flats first is when you do the corners it's much more difficult in my opinion to get the corner looking good.

Don't use mesh in corners but if I did I'd want to do it similar to paper where the first coat of mud went on both sides and then repeat additional coats as above.
Yes I used paper and mud. Technically i would be on second coat. A lot of website I have looked at don't count tape and mud as first so that why i said first coat. Just logistics thought, call it whatever you like :)
Yes I used paper and mud. Technically i would be on second coat. A lot of website I have looked at don't count tape and mud as first so that why i said first coat. Just logistics thought, call it whatever you like :)
It goes tape,fill,finish.I usually do the butts first because it will take the most mud and you should put mud 12" on both sides of the joint.
I have a small 100sqft kitchen and used 12' sheets so no butt joints :yes:
But I will do angles then the recessed joints I presume.
I always use paper tape, tape joints first and second coat all flats, joints and butts. this fills the tapered joints up a bit except for maybe a half inch from angle. then the paper tape and mud doing angles will blend into the tapered joints nicely, I use a 12" trowel on tapered joints each side and 16" on butt joints each side giving 24" and 36" coats

good luck
To save you some time and work the final coat is the only one where you need to do your angles 1 side at a time.
it sounds like you're doing fine. I would suggest using the right sized knife for running your angles though.....make sure it's a 4" knife. It will make your life a lot easier.
To save you some time and work the final coat is the only one where you need to do your angles 1 side at a time.
Regardless of what the pros use, I recommend the corner knife. It just makes your life much easier.

1st coat: apply about 3-4" mud with 6" knife to each side of corner, fold tape and apply, coat tape again with 6" knife to embed.

2nd coat: Sand any ridges in the corner left by first pass. Apply mud with 6" knife to both sides of corner, and rip it down with the corner knife. So easy.

3rd coat: You can probably avoid sanding the 2nd coat. Avoid the actual corner now, because it's about perfect. You now have about 3-4" of mud on each side of the corner. Apply the 3rd coat to the outer edge of this strip again with a 6" knife, another 3" of mud, avoiding the actual corner, finishing with about 5" of mud on each side of the corner.

The corner knife is quite flexible and will fit corners that are not exactly 90 degrees. The finished result will not be quite as crisp as a perfect corner by a top pro (because up close, the corner knife is just slightly rounded at the corner), but it's so uniform and consistent and fast, you'll be happy.
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