c/drywall-installers

Can we talk about the old timer who showed me how to hang a ceiling solo?

I was working a big job in Nashville back in 2018, and this guy named Earl must have been 60 plus years old. He saw me struggling to get a 12 foot sheet up on the ceiling by myself and just laughed. Then he pulled out this homemade T brace he'd welded together, showed me how to prop the sheet up with it, and had it hung in about 2 minutes flat. He told me "kid, your back's got maybe 20 good years, use your head not your muscles." I still use that brace on every job to this day. Has anyone else picked up a trick from an older hand that just stuck with you?

1 comments

oscarh16•11h ago

My uncle in Denver said using premix mud is for hacks, but I'm not so sure.

We were finishing a basement last week and he saw my bucket of Sheetrock 45. He told me that any real taper mixes their own compound from powder every single time for better control. It got me thinking about speed versus quality on tight schedules. Do you guys always mix from scratch or is the premix okay for certain jobs?

c/drywall-installers

Can we talk about the old timer who showed me how to hang a ceiling solo?

My uncle in Denver said using premix mud is for hacks, but I'm not so sure.

Question about those $30 corner trowels from the big box store

Saw a weird drywall patch in a 1920s house in Cincinnati

Stopped by the old hardware store in Tacoma and they don't even stock 3/8-inch rock anymore.

Rant: Used a cheap mud pan for a big ceiling job and it was a disaster

Had a ceiling seam pop on a finished job in the middle of winter

Vent: A client in Boise wanted a smooth finish on a popcorn ceiling patch

PSA: I tried a different way to tape a long ceiling seam and it was a mess

Honestly, I switched from a 4-inch taping knife to a 6-inch for the first coat and it cut my time on a 12x12 room by almost an hour.

Why does everyone in Phoenix try to skip the pre-fill on textured ceilings?

Heard a guy on a job site say to use a wet sponge instead of sanding for final seams

Can we talk about how my nephew's comment on my old mud pan made me feel ancient

Can we talk about skipping the second coat of mud on butt joints?

Back in the 90s, we used to cut all our drywall with a utility knife and a straightedge, but now my whole crew uses a cordless rotary tool for almost every cut.

Serious question, why does everyone hate on the 4x8 sheets for ceilings?

Shoutout to the old timer who told me the dust from sanding joint compound is way worse for your lungs than wood dust, a fact I just confirmed in a trade safety PDF from the union hall.

Pro tip: A painter in Spokane told me my seams were too proud

Just realized my tape knife angle was wrong for ten years

Stopped by the new library branch downtown and the ceiling finish is the smoothest I've ever seen.

My uncle always said to mix mud with cold water in the summer

Finally got that weird corner in the old Denver house to lay flat after 6 hours of fighting it

Wasted $200 on a 'self-leveling' laser that couldn't handle a simple ceiling job

Rant: Watching guys skip the pre-fill on inside corners before taping drives me nuts

Rant: Bought a cheap corner trowel that cost me half a day