If you want to learn how to mud and tape drywall by reading this article, I have some sad news for you. It’s just not going to happen. We’ll provide here are a few tips and suggestions to help you with your drywalling project, however you need to recognize the fact that mudding and taping drywall well is an art that comes from years of working the finer points of the technique. You can’t read how to get the “feel” of a broad knife or the consistency of the mud or joint compound. On the other hand, if you never give it a try you will NEVER be able to do it at all. So while your best bet would be to work under the tutelage of an experienced drywall finisher (and hopefully you will be doing that in some way shape or form), the fact that you’re here reading about tips on how to tape and mud drywall is a good sign of being proactive and doing the best that you can do. So with that said, let’s take a look at a few things that may help you learn how to mud and tape drywall. We’re going to make a few assumptions here. It should be more than obvious that you can’t finish drywall very well if it has been hung poorly to begin with. You want to make sure the drywall is secured to the studs it covers every 6 to 8 inches. Hopefully it has been hung using screws and not males and hopefully the drywall screws have been correctly countersunk; beyond flush but not too deep. And of course if your local code requirements necessitated inspection, you have taken care of that for getting on with the mudding and taping.
One of the things that will make your life a lot easier is if you buy ready mixed mud. One thing to note here; do NOT use spackle. When you go to choose the greatest mud you should use the “all-purpose” variety as the base coat to cover the tape. Later you can use a light mud for a final coat including one that is known as topping mud. This Friday has a more plastic like texture and dries smoother with less of a likelihood bubble.
When using ready-made mud, you don’t want to stir it too much. Doing so can introduce air bubbles to the mixture and that’s only going to detract from the smooth finish that you’re going after.
Regarding the knives or trowels are you going to use; Recognize the fact that metal knives can rust giving you a less than smooth surface to work with. Likewise, plastic trowels can develop rough edges and burrs that will also make your life difficult. Whichever variety of mudding knife you know choose to use, make sure you have a good clean, smooth edge to work with.
When you go to place mud in the seams, pressed is hard enough to squeeze a bit of mud in there and leaving a bit of smooth (not clumpy) but on the wall. From here you’re going to use a wide blade loaded with mud on it. You want to bring the blade perpendicular to the wall at about a 45° angle and as you do draw the blade down, you’ll slowly flatten out the blade until it’s almost flat against the wall at the bottom. You should have left plenty of mud on the wall, roughly 3 inches on either side of the seam.
You’re now going to need a piece of paper drywall tape proper length, which is long enough to cover the scene plus a little extra on each end. Some people like to presoak the tape and water because they feel it makes it easier to work with. This might be true but can also make things a bit is here for you, so the choice is up to you. Either way, you now want to press the tape against the freshly mudded wall with your hands, centering it was the scene as best you can.
I take your knife that you have thoroughly cleaned (and I mean THOROUGHLY cleaned so there are no rough edges on it), and pull it down along the theme pressing as hard as is reasonably possible without risk of breaking the knife. The purpose and goal at this point is to get the mud into the tape, so don’t worry too much about a perfectly smooth finish. You come back later to finish the job in that respect. Once the tape is properly in place, want to come back and remove any excess mud as best you can.
The next step is easy… walk away. It’s best to let things dry really well at this stage (ideally, at least overnight). Of course you probably have many more seams to get to before you can really walk away, not to mention filling all the screw holes with mud to create a smooth, flat surface. To do so, just add a little dab to the screw head area and then slide over it to take it away with your palette knife. You definitely don’t need, or want to, use too much mud in this instance because leaving unnecessary lines behind will only mean more work for you later sanding them away. You should also realize that as mud dries, it shrinks. Therefore you may have to come back to these screw heads a few times to make sure they are completely filled.
NOTE – you will not be sanding yet; the tape would be in danger of getting ripped/broken. You’re going to be adding at least one additional code and maybe more before you start any sanding process.
When it comes time to apply the second coat remember that the purpose of this is to create a smooth finish not filling in any holes. If you see cracks and holes that need to be filled, you need to go back to repeating this stage we just did, and doing a bit more carefully and thoroughly this time.
Before applying the second coat you can use a large 8 to 12 inch blade to run over the previous work removing any major defects and bumps. When you feel you have a relatively clean, smooth surface to work with load up your blade with your mud and run it over the seam you taped yesterday. This time, as he lay the mud down your going to feather it out as smoothly as possible means taking it out to the width of probably 4 to 6 inches on either side. When you can no longer see the tape… you’re done. Let it dry. (By the way, is normal, and actually had good thing, to see a small hump in the middle of the seam. This will flatten out and go away as the mud dries and shrinks).
When this layer has thoroughly dried you take a close look at your work if you see any big pits and holes that are too big for paint to cover up, your going to have to come back and do a third coat. It looks like things are pretty well covered up, and you’re going to be ready for sanding. You always want to wait until you’ve completely accomplished what you wanted with the mud before sanding.
When it comes time to send your work, be sure to use a sanding block and sandpaper that is at least 150 grit or finer. Some people like to use power orbital sanders which can work as long as you have a steady hand and don’t allow it to sit in any one spot; in other words, keep it moving. Also, and this is very important, make sure you have proper breathing protection when sanding. Drywall is made of gypsum and when you sand it, the dust is extremely fine and can be quite unhealthy. Don’t take any chances, where the right protective breathing gear.
Hopefully this outline gives you an idea of what’s involved when it comes to taping and mudding drywall. To learn how to meditate drywall correctly, you’re going to have to practice practice practice. There are other things you can do in your efforts to learn how to tape and mud drywall in the meantime, such as watching various online resources. You can do a search for something like, “how to tape and mud drywall video”, and you should have hours of viewing to help you prepare for what you are going to experience.