Found a stat about mud drying that floored me - what do you pros think?

I was looking up some technical stuff on the USG website last week and came across something that surprised me. They claim that the average professional drywall crew will use over 500 pounds of joint compound on a typical 2,000 square foot house. That's a lot of mud, but what got me thinking is how much of it ends up as waste from sanding versus how much actually stays on the wall. Some guys I work with in the Dallas area say it's smarter to use a setting compound for the first coat to minimize shrinkage, but others swear by all-purpose for everything. What's your take on this - do you stick with one type of compound for the whole job, or mix it up based on the coat?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles_mitchell1mo ago

Durabond for the first coat and all purpose for the top coats has worked great for me. Way less shrinkage and you don't have to wait forever between coats.

wren6381mo ago

3 coats in and I'm still somehow messing up the corners though, @charles_mitchell.

jessica1301mo ago

Stick with all purpose for everything. Durabond sets too fast for me to work with, especially on corners where you need time to feather it out. I'd rather wait a bit between coats than fight with a hard setting compound that goes off before I'm done. Corners are the worst part anyway, why make it harder? All purpose gives you more working time, and if you mix it smooth enough it sands just as nice. Everyone talks about shrinkage but I barely notice it if I don't overdo the water in the mix. Who else here just uses all purpose start to finish and calls it good?