Sheet rock mud help needed

Hello guys. Looking for advice on finishing my mud for my bathroom remodel. Just did the third coat and I have to have it ready to paint tonight. Already painted the ceiling. Guess my next step is to let it dry a few hours, sand it, and final coat any bad spots.

Using USG all purpose mud, the green bucket. First 2 coats I put on with mud straight out of the bucket. This last coat I added a little water to each pan. Any advice on technique would be appreciated. Thanks.

I hate sanding. So on my final mudding, I use a paint brush to feather edges. Sometimes
use paint on brush to assist. Might even use a 12 inch knife to smooth out paint if
needed. Paint helps fill in and feathers nicely. Brush strokes adds character
Geo

(quoted from post at 11:55:53 04/08/21) I hate sanding. So on my final mudding, I use a paint brush to feather edges.

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That's a great idea!!

I thought one was supposed to let mud
dry overnight before painting it.

I apply and then wipe down with a damp
sponge. It really cuts down on final
sanding.

Actually when you apply mud you do your best to apply it like you don't intend to sand it. Any wiping of the mud will create high and low spots that will show up under some paint.

There is only one way to get to the stage where you can mud your project and do very little sanding. Unfortunately you will get to that stage on your 15th to 20th project. The guys who feather edges with a paint brush, I'd like to see what that looks like when finished. Real pros do very little sanding at all. Mudding and painting on the same day ..... hmmmm, better be a pretty thin final coat.

Use the exhaust fan or set up a fan. Air movement makes a big difference in drying time.

Drywall compound goes on a lot easier if you stir up the mud with a
paddle and electric drill. Make sure it dries well before sanding.
Some people sand prior to final coat.

Vito

Thanks guys. I tried some touch up with the paint brush and didn't have much luck with it half dry. Ended up taking a 3" putty knife and went around and filled all the voids with a little spreading with a 6" knife.

Will get out the fan and will see.

Here is the deal. Wife went to Hawaii for 3 weeks to visit daughter and comes back in tomorrow morning so I was hoping to have it done however it there have been a number of setbacks and extra trips to menards, lowes, and home depot, all 30 miles away.

I want to surprise her and also avoid all the hassle that goes with shopping with her saying she don't like this or that or the color or the vinyl plank flooring I picked out. With any luck and an all nighter, unless the paint needs a second coat, I'll be close except I won't have it plumbed. If you see the shower panel with 4 body jets, waterfall spout at the bottom, shower head, and a hand wand, all of which have their own valve depending upon the pressure. Well I bot two of those and will have one on each end.

This all started about a month ago when the water heater had a slight leak in the bottom and quit. Started researching tankless systems. Then a week and a half ago it started leaking again so I bot a Richmond 9.5 gpm tankless from Menards. Took a couple days to get it hooked up with multiple trips for fittings. Didn't get the recirculator cause everything is close by. Still didn't like the wait time for hot water so ordered a pump. Decided to remodel the whole bathroom. Got the shower setup at Menards. No one had the one piece toilet in the plain, easy to clean style like I wanted and everything had to be ordered in anyway.

Originally wanted Onyx but they are 12 weeks out. This Fleckstone stuff was a month out. Ended up with the Kohler shower. Saw the shower panel with one valve for $449 and they were backordered. Found mine on Amazing for 200 bux each. Amazing had the same toilets that the box stores have to order so I got one in after 3 days.

The old one piece 5 foot tub/shower combo was built into the stud walls. Had to cut it out with a reciprocating saw into multiple pieces then take out the flooring. Old tub had sheetrock over the frame so the rock was ruined getting it out. Chose to split the difference so I didn't have to mud at the ceiling. Added studs where the new shower went in and where I cut the sheetrock to screw on the new stuff. Also added blocking for a hand rail across the back and blocking for the shower panels. Both panels will have 3/4" pex coming into them with a hot water recirculating line going back.

Still have to touch up all the woodwork, medicine cabinet, etc with some stain and polyurethane. SO.... as I type this it doesn't look like I can get the staining and everything done in time. If I can paint it yet tonight it will probably need a second coat and a day or so to dry before mounting the cabinets. Oh well, I tried.

Got the vinyl plank flooring I wanted from Menards on Wednesday. Got two boxes under the sign for the Shaw Cascades Pearl. Last night I mapped out the flooring and was going to cut some pieces in half to lap the seams and have it ready to lay down. Realized it was the wrong color so went back today and got the right color and the price had just gone up today 4 bux per box.

So now I'm on a revised schedule assuming the mud sanding comes out satisfactorily. If not then I'll touch it up again. In the meantime I'll take another whack at getting the blades and mount off the landpride mower. Thanks for the help.

It's to late now but put the first coat
on as thin as possible

Mixing water with the mud as you did helps. Use a wide knife, 12 inches or so, that is flexible. Not a fancy stiff stainless steel one. You can flex the knife as you use it by tilting it so the edge of the mud is feathered out.

A 6 by 8 very flat piece of wood with 60 grit open coat paper stuck to it with spray trim cement is a great flattener. There are nice sticks with
Ujoint mounted pads on the end to make life real easy, but not tonight. Jim

Thanks. I give up on the surprise. Had to clean house and do the dishes before the wife gets here. Had some unpleasant surprises in the frig that needed cleaned out since I've been baching it.

Will take a look tomorrow and sand on it. Then take my time getting it right. Tried the paint brush and that wouldn't fill in low spots or do much for me. Maybe it works better with fresh mud instead of going over half dried stuff.

Used to buy the blue lightweight stuff but I've had people tell me to use the green instead. Couldn't find my bucket stirrer so I just mixed it in the pan. Thought it would only take a little bit but probably went through half of the 5 gal. bucket. When I'm done then I'll clean up the sides of the bucket, add a little water to the top, cover it with clean plastic wrap, and seal the bucket. It will probably age out before I use it again.

I've got all the sanding stuff and sponges but I never could control the pad with the knuckle joint on a pole. It just flipped around and dug in sometimes. Got 6, 8, and 10" knives. Didn't use the 10 as it is too stiff and always catches an edge. Put in flooring in the half bath a couple years ago and peeling the wallpaper off took a lot of surface paper with it. Took off all the popcorn ceiling too. Then everything had to be skim coated before painting. Hard to do, didn't do too good of a job, but it was done.

Did the basement bathroom years ago. Then sheetrocked my daughter's bedroom down there. Decided to hire the mudding. Found a retired guy who had done it all his life. Well I was less than impressed for this expert.

Thanks.

The fellow who finished our drywall did
almost zero sanding. The mud flowed off
his trowels like nothing I could ever
accomplish. After a few days I happened
to be there as he was mixing and he added
a few drops of dishwashing soap. Asked
him what's with that? He said I hate to
sand,,,

Don't be afraid of thinning it down, water is your friend, as is a nice wide trowel or "putty knife" 10"-12" is ideal.

If you are painting semi-gloss paint; you need to skim the entire wall as the paint will highlight the taping repairs. Flat paint not necessary to skim the entire wall. A sponge loaded with water and squeeze out most
of water will sand without dust and feather the edges.

quote from a book in Home Depot ; you can tackle your own electric , do your own plumbing ,but unless you want your walls to look bad hire a qualified drywall finisher [spackler]

Hear is a tip to make the appearance of the newly finished area blend with the adjoining areas. Take a gallon of mud and mix that with a quart of the paint you will be using to repaint the room. The texture of the mud will cover any shinny spots from the sanding of the new surface and serve as a base coat over the old if you are changing the color and let it dry. Then give the entire surface a final coat of paint.