That homeowner in Detroit changed how I think about mud drying time

Last week I was working on a basement job in Detroit and the homeowner kept asking why I wasn't using a space heater to speed things up. He said his last guy would blast heat after every coat and be done in half the time. I told him that causes cracking and he just shrugged. Made me wonder if I should tell customers more about why I do things slow instead of just doing it fast.

3 comments

3 Comments

betty_kelly91mo agoTop Commenter

Youre right about that cracking issue, I've seen it happen too many times.

karen_sanchez491mo agoMost Upvoted

Are you sure about that though? If the mud's drying too fast from heat, you're just asking for it to crack and pop off later.

allen.kai1mo ago

A contractor I talked to last month said he always adds a little retarder when working in hot weather to prevent exactly that. The heat really does mess with the drying time, and @betty_kelly9 mentioned seeing that cracking issue too. Better to slow it down a bit than have to redo the whole section later.