I am doing sheet rock work and have always dry sanded with mesh and then fine grit paper. This creates a terrible dusty mess so would like to try wet sanding but have no experience in this area. Would appreciate any advice on technique and on what to use. The joints are taped with fiber glass and topped with general purpose mud.
Thanx for your help
henry
Replies
henry,
We mostly sponge the walls after taping. large sponge and bucket ,wring the sponge out so there is no excess water in it and wipe the mud. Be careful not to take to much,start in a closet or somewhere that won't be seen until you get the hang of it. how well this works also depends on the tape job,if it's a mess you'll have a harder time then if it was nicely done.
Vince Carbone
Henry
One of the tricks to drywalling is going in with the attitude that you will NOT do ANY sanding at all. Lay the mud on thin and smooth followed by damp a sponge if necessary. Took me awhile to learn. Still have to do a little touch sanding here and there, but nothing like when I first started.
Jon
hear hear love that attitude, do a lot of renovations, when patching drywall, adding new whatever, i would rather add another coat of compound or two than sand drywall in an occupied house
you cant totally eliminate sanding, but you can certainly minimize it
1) Get a vacuum sander. We have both an extendable pole model and a hand job.
B) Learn how to lay it on smooooooth.
III) Scrape first two coats with a steel 6" knife just to take of the high spots.
iv) Don't try to mud over something that can be sanded off, and don't try to sand out a divot that can be filled with the next coat.
Five) Get the tape in tight, covering bulges in the tape requires a lot more mud and hence sanding.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
Vince & Jon - do you use the sponge as soon as you finish putting a coat over the tape? Do you take off the lines and buildup at the intersections of the horizontal & vertical where the seems meet? I just gotta find a better way - sanding is torture and any details on your tricks would be greatly appreciated.
mickus,
We try to apply the mud in thin coats and avoid large build ups .I wait until the mud is dry,then smooth out any ridges. It works and no dust. Any imperfections that you come across,that are to large to sponge, can be marked and touched up with a little mud and sponged again.Vince Carbone
I agree with Workshop Jon, Tape with the proer Attitude!!! I,ve been doing my own DW for 18 years, About 6-7 years ago I had a large project & was facing a entire day of hand sanding. I had seen the Porter Cable drywall sander & had my doubts. Like I said a entire day of sanding. Made a road trip to my building center & bought one, best call of the day, Not only did we knock it out early in the morning but the customer was praising the fact we made almost no dust!!! I use this sander on every job big & small and get fast results & keep the job site & air super clean.
Now cutting & hanging is the messy part of the job, every customer comments when we are done hanging, "Now comes the dusty part" I just smile & say, No that part is done.
I also in the last 2 months have changed the mud I use. We use to apply 2-coats of USG-210 powder mix & use +3 for our final top coat.
Now I use a ready mix mud out of the pail by Lafarge called Rapid Coat.
WE GET THE ENTIRE JOB DONE IN TWO COATS, DONE!!!
I tape with a 12"knife,with the attitude of a finisher , light sanding & top coat followed with a final light sanding. For my inside corners I do use a inside corner knife, over paper tape never mesh, this leaves a nice sharp inside corner with small ridges that the power sander can reach. There are tips for this system but it is a complete system. It has tranfered into 30-35% labor savings for me & boosted my profits .
Rapid coat dries at worst on very thick corner beads, overnight. On like other muds it trowels on smooth up to 1/4" thick. Also powder mixes require alot of water, alot of clean up, produce alot of dust, with rapid coat I run a mixer though the pail, somtimes add a little water & then spend my time taping not mixing.
I am just little excited about the new product, but like I said,"Profit"
I have not tried it yet, but one of the local rental shops has the PC sander for $75/day, which is a bit much, except comapred to the cost of the machine and the time & mess savings. They also sell the sanding pads for $7 each. How long do the pads last?
Do it right, or do it twice.
OK, try not to laugh too much, but for the DIY with minimal experience, one of these works pretty well (its what I learned on). Available at any big box. They wear out fast but they are cheap.
Jon
Edited 5/8/2003 9:46:55 PM ET by WorkshopJon
Gotta get me one!
I thunk I done had everything. I don't know what all you smnoothies are talking about here. What's wrong with soending a whole day looking like the Pilsbury Doughboy and leaving an eighth of an inch of white powder on the floor?
It looks so cute to see the dog prints tracked through the rest of the house.
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
Piffin,
Are you makin' fun of me?
Jon
Not personally.
Sorry.
Excellence is its own reward!
I buy my pads in a 5-pack which includes 1-base & 5-velcro backed sandpaper rings. They are a little cheaper than the base & paper all in one. They also come in 80 100 120 180 & 220 grits. I only use the 80/100s if I have some big ugly jiont on old work, & use the 180/220 for finish work. The 80/100 seem to go pretty long & the 180/220 you may go thur 1 or 2 on finish. There is no great answer, I just buy a pack of each keep them on the truck & eat them as I get hungy, kind of like nails & screws.
You do have to be a little careful around steel electrical boxes, they can tear the sandpaper if you snag them right. Like any new tool it takes a time to get use to how to use it best. With the PC unit the thing you want to do is keep it moving & you will get a little sore at first. Also when you run the edge of the sander over corner beads, bottom sides of headers , DW returns, any time the sander is not in full contact with wall board, you will make some dust fly. This is when you can just slow the RPMs down on the motor.
Good Luck, I hope you find the unit to work as well for you as I have.
Henry:
Lots of good advise in previous posts. Hand sanding sucks. The more you tape the better you get. Over the years I've reduced my dust to a light film, but I'll never get so good that I don't have to sand at all.
I found a little trick when sanding wall and ceiling corners (if you need to) that has worked well for me. Take your sanding mesh and fold it at a 45 degree angle. Use the folded edge to sand corners. You don't get sanding lines and can buff out imperfections nice and quick. Use a light touch so you sand away the good stuff.
Rugby
Great tip using folded mesh. I've been using 3Ms abbrasive coated sponges, the ones with the 45 on one edge & of course just use the point in the corners. I bet the mesh will be cheaper.