Drywall screw guns are far easier to work with. Don’t mess around with a drill or power screwdriver. Borrow a drywall driver or invest in a counter-sinker designed for drywall applications that attaches to the end of your drill. These tools perfectly countersink every screw you place if you drive them straight. Make sure your screws are correctly countersunk. You want the screws to lightly dimple but not tear the paper coating of the drywall. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/7/7e/Tape-and-Mud-Drywall-Step-2-Version-2. jpg/v4-460px-Tape-and-Mud-Drywall-Step-2-Version-2. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/7/7e/Tape-and-Mud-Drywall-Step-2-Version-2. jpg/aid20445-v4-728px-Tape-and-Mud-Drywall-Step-2-Version-2. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">

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<br />\n</p></div>"} Run the blade of your drywall finishing knife over the screws to make sure none are sticking out. Remove, countersink or otherwise deal with any screws that are sticking out even a little bit. (This will save you much frustration, since you will have to drive every single one you miss when you are applying the mud. ) Avoid drywall nails, unless you simply refuse to borrow a drywall driver. The chances of a nail bending, putting your hammer through the drywall or simply an incorrect countersink on the nail head are great. If you must nail, put them in in pairs about 1-1/2 inches (3. 8 cm) apart and give the first another whack after you drive the second. Only use nails to tack up drywall sheets and then secure them with screws.

Make sure the corners meet the same way, but don’t worry too much about larger gaps — as long as the sheets are attached solidly any gap can be filled later with setting-type joint compound. However, keep in mind that tighter joints makes for a better seal and will also make the floaters jobs easier.

On inside corners: Keep one edge of your blade running firmly against the drywall on one side and lightly against the tape on the other side. On butt joints: use the drywall as a guide for both edges, leaving a convex curve On taper joints: same, only leaving a concave curve.

The dry mix is cheaper, and you can make as little or as much as you need (providing you’re clear on how much you can apply before it sets up). Use it to fill big holes and gaps. On larger surfaces it’s generally harder to apply, harder to sand, not as smooth, more time consuming, and a bigger mess. However, it sets up chemically (setting times vary; look at the bag) and so will be ready to re-coat sooner. You can find the dry mix at large home improvement stores. The premixed mud is ready to go after remixing in the bucket, but costs a little more, and may be more than you need for a given job.

There are several brands and grades of mud. Use the “all purpose” mud for your base (first) coat to seat or cover the tape, and lightweight mud for the final coat. You can also use what is called brown or topping mud; it’s actually beige and dries to a very pale color, and has a more plastic texture than regular mud. It dries smoother, has less of a tendency to bubble, and is intended for the final top coat. If there’s a watery layer on the top of pre-mixed mud, mix at slow speed with a mixing paddle bit on a heavy duty 1/2" (1. 3) drill. [1] X Research source Mix until the water is blended in and the compound is smooth (until you don’t see any lumps going down the vortex of the whirlpool made by the mixer). Avoid mixing speeds that are too fast, as you make create air bubbles in the joint compound.

Slightly soften the sharp corners of all your knives if they are new. Steel knives and pans can rust, so be sure to clean them well at the end of your work session and dry them thoroughly. However, if your tools do rust, you can always sand them clean.

Press a liberal amount of mud into the seam between the drywall boards. You’re going to scrape away any excess mud later on, so don’t worry about smoothing it out early on. For this layer, it’s better to have too much than too little. Make sure to press in on the paper seam tape until the tape is completely covering the seam and it is flat. Check to be sure there are no air bubbles. You only need to press hard enough to fill the seam and smooth the mud to the wall. The tapered edge (long edge) on a sheet of drywall tapers from about 2. 5 inches (6. 4 cm) to the edge, so you want to cover the entire six inches (15. 2 cm) of drywall from edge of the taper on one sheet to the edge of the taper on the other. Use a bright light held at an angle to better see the tapered area that must be covered. When using the wide blades loaded with mud, it’s best to place the loaded blade at a 45° angle to the wall. As you draw the mud and blade down the wall, sharpen the angle until the blade and the wall are nearly parallel.

Some people recommend soaking the tape in water first. While this may make it a little easier to work with it greatly increases the mess and awkwardness of the tape when actually mudding. On the other hand, soaking the tape will help keep air bubbles from forming under it, and save you the trouble of having to go over and over with mud which can lead to an uneven finished product. [3] X Research source The choice is up to you.

If your tape starts to buckle, pull it out from the end or simply flatten it out with your hand. Repeat this step from the middle, going the other direction. Do this for all walls and ceiling. Cut around bubbled tape. The tape won’t adhere to the wall where the compound underneath is dry. Take a utility knife and cut the bubbled tape away completely and re-mud. (Bubbled tape will end up looking horrible later on. ) Smooth out the divot left by the tape with fresh compound.

Starting halfway down the joint, smooth one side of the crease with your knife, then the other. Repeat the process on the other half. Make sure the center is covered smoothly. Cover one side of the corner tape with a thin layer of mud. Try not to place too much pressure in the corner with your knife as you seat the tape on the compound. Even if you took the sharp corner off your knife you still risk cutting through the tape. The knife naturally rides into the corner; not much added pressure is needed.

Using the 5-inch (12. 7 cm) knife, apply a layer of mud down one side of the bead, smoothing it into the bead and the drywall. To get the right angle, place one side of the blade against the corner bead, and the other side of the blade against the drywall. Smooth the mud in as few strokes as possible. Repeat the process on the other side of the bead. Alternately, you can apply joint compound and fit paper bead on top of the compound, as you would with tape on an inside corner. The process is pretty much the same: Instead of nailing the bead down and covering with compound, cover with compound first, fit the bead onto the corner, and then knife away any excess compound.

Unless your work is really rough, ignore the picture above and simply sand. A power sander will make a terrific suffocating dust storm, it will probably tear up the paper tape and the surface of the drywall, and the drywall dust will drastically shorten the life of the sander. Sand corners with a block sander or corner sander. Be especially careful when sanding corner joints. Don’t worry about sanding pits. They will get filled in with the next coat you apply.

Smooth over with a second pass. Apply the compound with downstrokes and then smooth over with horizontal strokes. The goal for the second coat is to fill up the bevel of the drywall so if you were to take your drywall knife and place the edge on the seam at a 90° angle, you would see no gaps between the joint and knife.

On corner joints, cover the other side of the corner tape (the side you left bare after the first coat) with a thin layer of mud, using the wall and the corner itself as guides. On butt joints, fill the dish on either side of the tape, running one edge of the knife against the tape and feathering the other edge of the knife to the drywall. As you apply successive layers of mud, your feather will grow each time.

When applying the third coat, repeat the same process, only switch from a medium-sized trowel over to a larger trowel. A 12" (30. 5 cm) compound knife makes feathering a whole lot easier than a 6" (15. 2) knife, essentially cutting your time in half. Let dry overnight. Sand again, making sure that all surfaces are smooth, and that the mud is seamlessly blended into the drywall. Where the light shines across (or down) the wall or ceiling (or where the first coat went on too thick) the butt joints will probably have to be spread out farther with a fourth coat.

Ceilings and walls are generally faced with 1/2-inch (1. 3 cm) drywall sheets. In ceilings you usually use “CV” rated or ceiling boards. There are also lightweight boards available for this purpose. In some instances you may be required to place 5/8-inch (1. 6 cm) drywall on your ceilings or outside walls, 5/8-inch (1. 6 cm) drywall may be classified as “Fire-rated” or TypeX drywall and stands up to fires longer than traditional 1/2-inch (1. 3) drywall does. In some municipalities you can double your drywall in fire risk areas, rather than buy more expensive thicker sheets. The thicker 5/8-inch (1. 6 cm) drywall is also useful for sound reduction because of its greater mass. Recording studios sometimes do a double layer of 5/8-inch (1. 6 cm) drywall.

Be sure to use either sheathing tape (Venture, 3M, or Tuck Tape) or acoustic sealant on vapor barrier joints to ensure a proper vapor seal. The seams of the cement board need to be finished with a fiberglass mesh tape which is then covered with a “setting type” joint compound or “thin set” tile adhesive. Check your local planning department and municipal building codes for drywall rules and regulations in your area.

A drywall lift can be made using 2 x 4s nailed into a T-shape that is placed under the dry wall to hold it against the ceiling as you place a few screws into the panel to secure it. However, if you are installing drywall on your own, or don’t think you have the upper body strength to manipulate the drywall, a lift is well worth considering renting.