Had a drywall guy tell me I was wasting time with my mudding technique

I spent like 6 months doing 5 or 6 thin coats on every drywall seam because I thought that was the only way to get a flat finish. Last weekend a buddy brought over his dad who does drywall for a living and he watched me work for maybe 5 minutes. He just said "why are you leaving so much mud in the middle? you're creating twice the sanding work for yourself." He showed me how to apply a heavier coat and feather it way wider on each pass so the ridge flattens out naturally. Tried it on a closet wall and finished in 2 coats what normally took me 4 or 5. Sanding was way easier too since there wasn't a big hump to grind down. Has anyone else had to unlearn some basic technique they thought was right?

2 comments

2 Comments

emerychen12d ago

Totally been there man. It's wild how many little things we double down on just because nobody ever told us a better way. I noticed this pattern in my own cooking too, spent years overthinking recipes until a friend just casually showed me a simpler trick. The whole "do less to get more" thing applies to all kinds of stuff, like when people overstuff their dishwasher or overcomplicate their morning routine. We get stuck thinking more effort equals better results, when really it's about working smarter, not harder. Feels good to finally break that cycle though.

cameron68412d ago

Honestly, ain't that the truth. I used to spend like 20 minutes prepping my work lunch every morning, packing all these containers with separate snacks and whatnot. Then one day my buddy just threw everything in one big Tupperware with no dividers and called it a day. Took me about two seconds to realize I was just making extra work for myself for no reason. Feels kinda dumb looking back at it now.