The day I figured out I was overmudding for years

Man, I used to pile mud on like I was frosting a cake. Every taper joint I did looked like a mountain range before sanding. Took me forever to feather it out and I was burning through sandpaper like crazy. Then I worked a job with this old timer last summer who just barely coats his tape and lets it do the work. He showed me how the mud should just fill the gap, not bury the tape. I was making extra work for myself for probably 5 years before that. Still catching myself going heavy sometimes. Anyone else struggle with unlearning bad habits from when you started?

4 comments

4 Comments

valc911mo ago

Firm first coat that fills everything flat" - yeah that's exactly how I do it now too.

hayden_craig951mo ago

Heard a guy on a podcast say it's like building with glue, not caulk, and that stuck with me. You need the tape to grab and the mud to just support it, not be the whole damn structure. Took me breaking a few joints to realize less really is more in this game.

jakeb811mo ago

Whoa yeah I was in the same boat. I used to think heavy coats meant it was stronger, like more mud equaled more hold. Then I had a buddy talk me through why that's backwards, said the tape itself does the work not a mountain of compound. Now I do just enough to press the tape flat and wipe the excess, and I swear my joints crack way less than before. Feels weird at first but once you trust it your sanding time drops in half.

samflores1mo ago

Man I gotta respectfully disagree with the old timer on this one. A light coat is fine if your framing is perfect and your tape is crowned right, but most houses I get into have gaps big enough to stick a quarter through. I've seen too many joints crack because someone barely mudded and the tape didn't have enough bond. There's a middle ground between frosting a cake and barely wetting the tape. I do a firm first coat that fills everything flat, then a tight skim after it dries. Never had a callback for cracking that way. Your way probably works great on new builds with good plywood but out here in the real world with settling houses, a little extra mud saves you a headache later lol.