So I’m finally nearing the end of my office project. It was a bit of an afterthought, building my office, but it has turned out very well (if I do say so myself). What was originally going to be a playroom for Ella has become my very cozy, very beautiful office. I was going to add ‘very high-tech’ but this room is decidedly low-tech, save for the wireless devices, which have nothing to do with the room.
Much to the chagrin of my father-in-law, I’ve boxed in the plumbing and heating with drywall. To me it makes it look very finished and classy. I’ve added recessed lighting in exactly the places where I think I’ll need it (over filing cabinets, the keyboard, my reading chair and over the white board). I pushed the heating down to where my feet will be. And I’ve chosen an oversized door - not for me but for my desk. I could have built the room around the desk but I might, some time in the future, want to get the desk back out and, ask my friends who helped us move, the desk is a tight fit (and effing heavy).
With the exception of the taping and mudding, this entire project has been very fun and rewarding. The taping and mudding is hell. So, onto my top 9 tips to make drywalling less of a nightmare (Why 9 and not 10? I only have 9. Send me your 10th and I’ll try it and add the best submission.):
1) Make your corner joints tight. If your corner joints aren’t tight, taping becomes troublesome at best and really, really annoying at worst.
2) Make your butt joints loose. If the butt joints are too tight then you’ll have trouble fitting the boards to begin with but then you’ll also end up with a mound when you’re mudding.
3) When it comes to the tape itself, the mesh stuff works great for the non-corner joints because it goes on dry, is self-adhesive and easy to work with. For the corners, find something that is creased down the middle. I’ve heard that there is a type of tape that works great for inside corners because it is creased and has metal in it to make it stiffer. You pay a premium at the cash but it sounds like it’s worth it. (For outside corners use corner bead - easy peezy.)
4) As for how much mud to put on… the screw heads will need two coats. The first coat shrinks and you end up with pits but the second coat appears to be perfect. For the inside corners, USE AN INSIDE CORNER TOOL. This thing is worth it’s weight in gold. I read somewhere on the Internet that I could get away without one, just using the 4″ tool on one side then the other - THIS IS A HUGE LIE. I had to call my wife down to watch me with the corner tool because I was so happy with how easy it was. Anyway, put on enough that you can’t see or feel the tape. Your first coat will go on really heavy to make a nice inside corner and then your second coat just fills any obvious gaps or valleys. For outside corners, you will not believe how much mud goes on. For the first coat, load it on. When you go to the 10″ or 12″ tool you’ll see that there’s still more gap to fill. For the joints where tapered drywall meets tapered drywall, it’s quite obvious how much you need. Two coats are a must and the third goes on to fill the gouges and tool marks from the first two.
5) The premix compound that comes in the tubs is a bit too thick for second and third coats. You can thin it with water (and mix it with a drywall mixing bit for your drill) but don’t mix in a lot of air - air bubbles look like little moon craters on your wall. I read that a proper consistency is like creamy peanut butter. I was pretty worried about thinning it too much so I probably never got there but I still saw a huge improvement with how the mud went on, post thinning. Before thinning it I found that the mud stuck to the backside of the tool and didn’t go on nicely at all. Aftwards it was easy to make smooth strokes and not leave giant gouges.
6) Clean your tools immediately after. You’ll thank me when you start your next coat.
7) Don’t bother with sandpaper - it makes a huge mess. Just try to use a bit of skill when you’re mudding and then sand with a drywall sponge. They’re rough on one side and smooth on the other. I tried sanding with the sandpaper and had dust everywhere and ended up roughing up the drywall paper in a few places.
8) Have patience. Drywalling, at least the taping and mudding, is a long process. Each coat requires 24 hours to dry in normal climates. Don’t expect to get it done in one weekend.
9) If you don’t have patience, hire a professional. They are fast (likely 4 days at most), efficient and quite good. I find myself looking at the rest of the house wondering how the heck they hid all of the joints. It seems like a lot of money but when you consider the value of your time, not to mention the cost of the specialized tools, it’s probably worth it. Don’t undertake learning to drywall for just one room. If you’re going to be doing a lot of rooms, go for it, but it’s not worth it for one room.
Well, I’ve got to get back at it. Another tip I read on the Internet was to use the best possible primer for drywall you can get. That’s the next step - and I HATE painting. Ohhh, Lesley?
