What I learned after 8 years of mudding and taping drywall

I was in my garage last month finishing some drywall patches on a rental flip near Whyte Ave and noticed the mud was cracking again. A buddy who does commercial finishing stopped by and watched me for 2 minutes then asked why I was pressing so hard on the knife. Turns out I was squeezing all the compound out and leaving almost nothing on the tape. 8 years of doing it the hard way. Anyone else ever have that moment where you realized you'd been doing a basic thing totally backwards?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordancoleman1mo ago

Did you notice a difference on the very next joint after he told you to lighten up, or did it still take some trial and error to break the habit? I'm curious because muscle memory is a beast (I used to paint trim the wrong way for years before someone corrected me). Those small adjustments can feel almost wrong at first even when they're the right fix.

the_miles1mo ago

Wait did your buddy ever try switching to a looser grip and lighter feathering right after that tip? I saw a friend of mine go through the same thing with his tackle and it took him like five joints before he stopped yanking on the line like a caveman lol.