I keep seeing guys in my area using the wrong mud for the first coat on fresh board.

4 comments

4 Comments

Oh man, this hits home. My buddy hired a crew to finish his basement and they used all-purpose mud for the first coat on fresh board. It was a total nightmare, shrank like crazy and cracked everywhere. He had to make them scrape it all off and start over with the right stuff. Watching that mess taught me to NEVER skip the proper taping compound.

hill.margaret3mo ago

It's the same with cheap paint. People buy the bargain stuff, then end up doing three extra coats. The shortcut always takes longer.

jessica1303mo ago

My uncle tried to save a few bucks on his garage drywall and used the all purpose stuff for the first coat too. It shrank back so much you could see every single tape line after it dried, like a big grid of cracks. He spent three times as long sanding and filling those gaps than if he'd just used taping mud from the start. That one mistake added a whole extra weekend to the project.

ryan_barnes29d ago

@jessica130 nailed it with that shrinkage problem. I measured out a job once where the guy used all purpose on the first coat and it pulled back almost a quarter inch from the tape edges. The sanding alone took him two full days to get it smooth enough for paint. That extra weekend you mentioned wouldve been avoided if he just grabbed the correct bucket from the start.