D
6

My uncle said to never trust a pre-mixed joint compound for a full skim coat

He insisted on mixing your own mud from powder for any real flattening work. I ignored him on a kitchen ceiling job last month and the pre-mixed stuff sagged like crazy, costing me an extra half day to redo it. Anyone have a favorite brand of powder for this kind of work?
3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
3 Comments
susan_black82
My buddy Mike redid his whole living room last fall. He used that green lid premix on a wall with old texture, said it went on okay but never really got hard. A week later you could press your thumb into it and leave a mark. He ended up scraping it all off and starting over with USG Sheetrock powder he mixed himself. That stuff dried rock solid and he sanded it flat in one pass.
2
shanewells
shanewells26d ago
Oh man, that "never really got hard" line is the whole story. You put in all that work, it looks perfect, and then you find out your wall has the structural integrity of a stale marshmallow. My thumbprint shouldn't be a permanent part of the finish. That's when you learn the hard way that some advice, like your uncle's, is basically a prophecy.
-1
matthew_lee42
Wait, he used premix on a textured wall? That's asking for trouble right there. @shanewells is dead on about the marshmallow wall, but I'm shocked Mike even tried it. Premix never dries right over texture, it just sits there wet forever. You have to use the powder for any real job, it's the only way to get a solid finish.
5