Update on my basement drywall project from last fall

I was sure taping the seams would be a total mess, but a friend lent me his automatic taper and it went up in a weekend. Anyone have a good trick for smoothing the final coat by hand?

3 comments

3 Comments

hall.nina1mo ago

Hold up, are we really treating drywall like brain surgery now? An automatic taper is a nice tool but it's not that big of a deal for seams. Hand taping is just mud and paper, you can mess it up and sand it down later. People act like this is the hardest part of a build but it's literally just practice. For the final coat, don't overthink it. Keep your knife clean and use a little tension, that's the whole trick. Fussing over it too much is what makes it lumpy in the first place.

eric7231mo ago

Heard a drywaller say a wet sponge works better than sanding for smoothing.

jessica_hall491mo ago

Honestly, I totally used to overthink finishing coats too, but keeping it simple really is the move.