Old timer in Denver told me to stop pre-filling screw holes and I thought he was nuts

I used to spend 20 minutes per board pre-filling every screw hole with joint compound before taping. A 30 year veteran in Denver watched me do it on a commercial job and said I was wasting my time. He showed me how to just tape and mud over the screws in one pass with a 6 inch knife. I thought he was crazy but I tried it on the next room and it saved me almost an hour per room. The finish came out just as smooth and I didn't have any bubbling or cracking like I expected. Has anyone else had a similar experience with changing how they treat screw holes?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_eva14d ago

The more I work on stuff around the house, the more I see this pattern. People OVERcomplicate simple things because we think more steps equals better results. My dad used to sand every single patch three times before priming, then I watched a pro do one light pass with 150 grit and the finish was BETTER. Sometimes the simple way really IS the way, but we don't trust it until someone shows us.

ericschmidt14d ago

That's close but I'd push back a little on the sanding thing. A single pass with 150 grit works fine for topping compound on new drywall, but if you're sanding down patch repairs or old joint compound that's got a different texture, that light pass can leave ridges. I've had to go back over spots where the 150 grit just glossed over the edges instead of knocking them flat. Sometimes you really do need a couple passes with different grits depending on what you're working with. The screw hole thing is spot on though, that trick saves real time on commercial jobs where speed matters.