The day I finally stopped butterflying my joints after 12 years

I was working a fireplace in Columbus last fall and this older guy on the adjacent crew kept watching me. After about an hour he walked over and asked why I was butterflying every single head joint. I told him that's how my first foreman showed me, seemed like the safe way. He just shook his head and said you're doing twice the work and slowing your whole flow. I looked at my wall and realized he was right, the joints were fine but I was burning up time and trowel loads. He showed me how to load the trowel and lay a line with one pass, no extra fuss. Now I only butterfly when I'm finessing a tight corner or matching an existing wall. Has anyone else had a moment where you found out your 'tried and true' method was just a bad habit someone passed down?

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gavinlopez29d ago

Learned the same kind of lesson with drywall mud years ago when a guy told me I was mixing it too thick out of habit. My old boss always said thicker mud covers faster but all it did was wear out my arm and make sanding a nightmare. Funny how a five minute tip from a stranger can undo years of doing something the slow way.

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