TIL a 60-year-old drywaller taught me more in 5 minutes than YouTube did in months

I was working a kitchen remodel job in Seattle last spring and this old guy named Frank came by to check his work. He saw me struggling with a butt joint that kept bubbling no matter how many coats I did. Frank just pointed at my mud and said "you're mixing it too thick, needs to be closer to pancake batter than peanut butter." He showed me how to feather the edges twice as wide as I thought, and the joint disappeared. I had watched like 20 videos on finishing and none mentioned that specific thickness tip. Has anyone else gotten a game-changing trick from some random seasoned guy on site?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage3081mo ago

Man, that's the best kind of knowledge right there. Nothing beats someone who's been doing it for decades just showing you the little things.

nancyj111mo agoTop Commenter

Oh, I gotta disagree a little bit here. Thomas Torres made a really good point too though. I've seen a guy sand a table for 30 years doing it the same wrong way because his old mentor taught him that, and it actually wore down the wood unevenly over time. It takes a careful eye to tell the difference between a real pro's trick and just something they're used to doing.

thomas_torres1mo ago

I get it, but "the little things" can ALSO be just bad habits someone picked up over the years.