The moment I switched from a 12 inch trowel to a 14 inch one for mudding drywall, my finish time dropped by 25 percent on a 1500 sq ft basement job.

I used to swear by the smaller trowel for control but a guys at the supply house said bigger is faster if you just adjust your angle. Now I'm wondering if I should go even bigger or if that's just overkill. Has anyone else made the jump and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

reese861mo agoMost Upvoted

My buddy tried going up to a 16 inch trowel on his last basement job and it was a total disaster. He kept overloading the edges and had to sand way more than usual. Said it felt like fighting the wall the whole time. Bigger isn't always better for everybody, especially if you're working in tight corners or with lots of cuts. Stick with the 14 for a while and see how it feels before chasing even more size.

thompson.robin1mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah I feel that. I switched to a 16 for a big open basement once and hated it at first too. What helped me was using way less mud on the trowel than I thought I needed - like barely loading it. And I started my passes with the trowel almost flat against the wall instead of at an angle. That cut down the edge overloads big time. Still switched back to my 14 for smaller rooms though, the 16 just feels clunky in tight spots.