I'm doing the TI on my new shop.  I framed out offices and hung 600 sqft of drywall this weekend.  Now I have to mud and tape it, then texture.  FML.  

Drywall sucks.  The only thing worse is pretty much everything else.

Do some wood lath and plaster walls, then get back to me about drywall.  
Bonus points if you use real horsehair in the grey coat.

Screw that.    LOL

I found out that I do really good drywall work with a checkbook.

The installing, screwing, taping and mudding don't bother me so much, but the dust from sanding migrating through the house pisses me off.

Vinyl rock wall

over 400 screws in one 25' wall then mortar rock and mortar and then filling in.

We're doing our entire house right now, 1200 square feet with vaulted ceilings.  A friend who knows drywall really helped by turning us on to "setting" mud.  It's the kind you mix yourself, and it comes in working times of 20, 45, and 90 minutes (HD has it, labelled "easy sand").  It cures rather than dries, so you don't get cracks where you put it on thick, and you can do several coats per day.  This is life changing shit when it comes to finishing drywall.  The other precious nugget he offered was using extra fine mesh tape for the seams, including inside corners.  Fuck paper tape.  Also, use drywall nails rather than screws for the corner bead.  They're much easier to cover.



Those things have made this project immeasurably faster and easier than my last.

My contribution - I love joint compound.  It has saved me so many times, I think I'm in love with the stuff.  

Learn how to tape and finish without dry sanding.
Plaster was simply tooled flat and smooth.

With pre-mix mud you can 'wet sand.'

Setting compound uses mesh tape.
Get the self stick stuff.

If you mix the setting correctly it barely shrinks when curing.
The shorter set times are not all the useful on a large job.

On small jobs or repairs i use 20 minute setting.
It does not have to be dry to re-coat, just set.

Use some 240 minute stuff and mix a whole bag at a time.
It CANNOT be 'tempered' by adding more water or the setting adjusted by adding retarder.

Make sure you get one of the easy sand types.
Original Durabond is not practical to sand at all.  
Nearly as hard as lime-putty plaster once set.

Horsehair probably beats asbestos ...

ETA, I hate drywall as well.

Honestly, I hate the mesh tape.  I love paper.  I'm old school though, mostly because my grandpa taught me how to mud, tape, and float drywall 30 years ago.  

I used the mesh stuff on my last project, and I had lots of cracking in the corners.  I've not had that with paper.

I love taping and floating, strongly prefer the paper tape. As was said, the secret to a good job is not going think and do it smooth. If you do it smooth from the start, no sanding is needed.

Inside corners I kinda cheat, I do the bedding coat and let it dry. Then I'll do one side to perfection and let it dry. Next day I do the other side, giving a nice crisp corner, no chance of messing the still wet side up.

I'm with you.  
Finished the 2nd floor of our house this past fall.  We did everything ourselves except finishing the drywall.  I told the wife I wasn't going to finish it before we ever even framed the walls.  She still insisted "we" do it.  I worked on it by myself the first day, convinced her to help the second day, and before lunch we were calling in a contractor friend.    
I even had her write the check.  

Same here. Anything more than a couple of seams and I'm calling someone.

I use fiberglass when needed.

Putting in 2-coat patches when repairing 3-coat walls is faster.

1/2 gypsum for backer, sanded scratch coat with setting compound, finish coat with Durabond.

If someone want to pay enough I will do lime putty plaster for the top coat.
What they now try and sell as a 'plasterer's trowel' is a joke.
The tiny round handle is inadequate.
Just use a concrete tool.

The ability to sweep out large areas while 'rocking' the trowel (lifting the leading edge) make large areas go very quickly.  Way faster than a drywall knife.

It works very well for skim coating also.
Finding plastering lime can be a PITA though.

Once you figure out paper tape it's pretty easy. First part: mud for applying tape is mixed slightly thinner. Second: make sure there is more mud on the back than the front.

I prefer to use either a banjo or bazooka tube (commercial/pro style tape tools), but since I no longer have either, I've gone back to the old school way. I ALWAYS use a single full length piece of tape for any joint. Never do splices if you can help it. The tape will overlap and make it too think, requiring much more work. I normally start by measuring the tape length, cut the tape, then if its a corner fold the tape tightly. Mud the entire joint going for about 1/4 to half inch deep over the entire joint your doing. It does not need to be wide, maybe an inch or so wider than the tape. Place tape into joint pressing hard enough so it sticks. Then a little mud inside the tape to lube the mud knife. I tend to start in the middle and go toward each end, constantly wiping the excess back into you hand bucket. Once you have it smoothed down and now excess on the wall, LEAVE IT ALONE!


When doing a room, do all the ceiling joints and horizontal joints first. While that's drying, start the first round of nail/screw spotting. Don't do each nail separately, using a swiping motion, go up or down over the entire row of nails between joint. Then cleanly wipe off the excess. Should look like you painted a single stripe in the middle of the wall. Let it all dry overnight, the first coat typically has the most shrinkage. Next up is inside corners. Get them all done, followed by outside corners. Do a second coat on the nails/screws. Again let it dry overnight. Now if your still a little behind the curve for smoothness, hit the high points with the sanding pad (mud specific, DO NOT use regular sand paper).

Now your at the point of the top coat. It should be slightly thicker than the "bedding" coat for the tape. It should be mixed well and as smooth as possible, think peanut butter. Going like you did with the bedding coat  get everything in a smoothing coat and let it feather out about 4 to 6 inches on each side. Look at the nail/screws for and divots that might need touched up. Let everything dry over night, and look for any fixes you need before primer. Get close to the wall, and look across it at about a 30 degree angle. Also run your hand along it looking for ridges and low spots. Sand and fill as necessary.

Doing it with a crew or with good experience, you can cut the time down a huge amount. Once you have a feel for the mud, you can also cut drying time and working on top of wet adjacent mud. This is mostly a DIY guide for tape and mud, limits the screw ups and maximizes the odds of a good job. Also remember, mudding can differ with different products and region. Materials can vary due to climate, ect.

Also, make sure to use decent tools. Pro stuff is not needed, but the crap stuff will make you bald.

A good 6 inch hammer end joint knife, a 10 inch or 12 inch joint knife, a 5 gallon bucket for mud and a an all metal (stainless) mud tray. The plastic stuff will only make you angry. Mud is cheap, scrape out and toss any dirt or chunks immediately. NEVER return the tray contents to the mud bucket. Clean the tray anytime you stop or take a break. Cover the bucket to keep drying at bay. If you were close I could get you a solid base of instruction in under a day. After that it's just practice.

I probably still enjoy it because I don't do it for a living anymore, but even when I did, I have to admit I liked it. A smooth finished wall sure makes you feel like a craftsman/artist.

Stay away from mesh for new stuff. Mesh was designed for doing spot repairs, normally on a flat surface. Allows you to push the mud through it to help it fill the joint. A proper joint has the mud placed in it, then paper, then more mud. When its done, it laminates itself similar to drywall.

The rectangular pan. Toss that plastic one in the trash, I ABSOLUTELY HATE the plastic ones. Multiple issues, biggest one is the "metal" strip rusting, getting loose, and the gap between the strip and the plastic I swear MANUFACTURES trash to get into your "smooth" mud. I've even pulled them out of their hands when I see friends using them. Threw them straight into the trash. About as bad a using a level that isn't level, makes doing any job VERY hard.

You can find brazed/soldered ones. They aren't very expensive even for a top shelf one. The welded stainless will last in daily use for a pro for 10 years of constant use. You'll need to buy one once, ever. Lowes has them for a whopping $12.

Another tip for you new tapers.  While running a corner joint or a seam joint. Build the mud, set tape, and pull from the center of the joint out to the corner.  If you bed tape from one direction only, you will create more air pockets that will lift, and have a hell of a time keeping your tools clean.  Remember it's not a race, so stop fucking with the mud, once the set coat is in place, leave the shit alone. The fill is what matters.

Spot on here, mesh is for repairs or butting up next to tile work, never for corners.

Oh yes indeed.  I hung exactly two pieces in my last house.  I believe it took the dry wall crew the same amount of time to do the entire rest of the house after I gave up.  They are amazing to watch.

 Next you will tell us roofing is fun.

As much as I say I hate it, I'm actually sort of enjoying it.  It's the first project I've done since my Grandfather passed away last year.  I've been working on it, all by myself in silence.  Gives me a lot of time to reminisce and think about all the cool stuff we did together...

This.  Ugh sanding.
Anyone have ideas for cheap dust control?  I have a whole basement to do

Rent the power sander with a vacuum.  As long as you go slow and don't sand too deep it works great.

This thread reminded me of a couple of funny stories involving sheetrock.  
One was here on campus they hired out some drywall work.  Sent this Mexican in to do a room.  Guy was so fast he drywalled himself in before he realized he covered the door and forgot to cut it out before he covered the open wall.  He figured it out when he heard the laughter through the wall.
Other one was driving home one day I'm sitting at a traffic light waiting to turn left.  A step van approaches and the driver sitting up high and behind that big windshield looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. He was white from head to toe, including his face.  It was a sheetrock company truck and the guy was done for the day heading home also.
FWIW, I've seen guys here do mud work that almost didn't need sanding.  I watched and noticed that they skimmed light coats for several days to get it this way. I still failed and trying it that way, but I did improve my skills.

Plaster was never sanded (it is way to hard to try in most cases).
It was (is) tooled flat.
plaster with lime putty takes days to weeks to completely harden.

The finish coat is 'rich' (more plaster than lime putty).
This speeds setting.

I use this guy's technique.  No sanding and I've had very good results.  It takes more coats and requires a ltitle more patience applying the mud, but overall I think it saves man-hours, and did I mention....NO SANDING?!?!

The more water you add the higher the shrinkage, even with setting compound.

Setting compound with minimal water barely shrinks at all (even in inch thick layers).

You can spot fastener heads in one coat.

His technique uses very little to no water for the first thick coat or two.  Then thin with a small amount of water in several very thin subsequent coats eliminating the effects of shrinkage and all but eliminating the need to sand.

If I find a drywall nail that hasent been screwed down, I will fire you.  
If you absolutely have to start your hang with nails, you suck, but if you don't go back and put a screw over those nails, you are fired.  


We only do very high end work and I will not have nail pops.  

How do you keep all the little pinholes from air bubbles from showing up during the final mudding?  I'm anal about getting a perfectly smooth seam, and it drives me nuts.  Seems like they show up as soon as I do any sanding.

Run a mixing paddle through the bucket of pre-mix.
Then work it in the mud tray to smooth it out some more.

I have not used pre-mix in 20 years.

Setting and self stick mesh tape for everything.

For actual plaster I use Durabond.

For faster coverage masons tools.
The tiny 'plasterer's trowel' is a joke.

Learn how to use a flat trowel and a hawk.
It is faster than knives.

Use Easysand or one of its competitors.

Durabond is as hard as lime putty plaster.