Drywall frustration

Ok, so i have watched a dozen you tube videos and read a bunch of how-to guides, but I cant find an answer. So, I ripped this non working intercom out of the wall. I cute a piece of drywall to fit, put a few pieces of wood behind the hole, put the patch in and screwed it down. I slabbed on the joint compound and put strips of that paper tape on the seams. Removed the excess compound and let dry. I then put on about two more coats of compound, letting each coat dry for a day. So, I started sanding and everything was looking good but I started to notice that I had sanded down to the paper tape. So, I put more compound on, let dry, and sanded again. Same deal, sanded down to the paper. At this point, I must have put about 6 coats of joint compound on but I still keep hitting the paper. I am using 180 grit sandpaper. How do I stop sanding down to the paper and making it "fuzzy"?

Either you put down too put joint compound before taping or you are just simply sanding too far. I have done a fair amount of drywall and never had that problem.

You aren't using a belt sander, are you?

Even if sanding by hand, it should just take only one or two passes by hand to smooth out any rough edges.

Stop pressing so damn hard!

Hi I put myself through college painting and have fixed many many holes. everything you are doing is correct except you don't need the tape. tape is only necessary for seams longer then 12" (and all inside corners). typically when you finish drywall there is a bevel and you tape the seam and the bevel allows you to skim over the tape, then sand, and its flat. every once in a while you are unable to use the sides of a sheet of drywall and have a seam w/o a bevel, this is called a "butt" seam and the only way to make it look good is to swing out your drywall mud a couple feet in both directions so that the hump is less noticable...

back to point...you don't need tape. skim it twice and sand smooth...If its a small hole the "no-shrink" works well but is a bitc* to sand...If it's big I recommend a small bag of sheetrock (durabond) 20. the 20 means its dry in 20 minutes and you can put a second coat on in about an hour...

Good luck

You actually leave about 1/16" of an inch of mud over the tape, but then feather out in all directions at least 12".

How big of a patch are we talking about?

Bobby_M said:

You actually leave about 1/16" of an inch of mud over the tape, but then feather out in all directions at least 12".

How big of a patch are we talking about?

Click to expand...

this, you dont want to remove the mud, you just want to smooth out the transition

For a smallish hole, I would not tape. Just put a strip or two of wood across the hole on the inside and screw through the drywall into the ends of the wood extending past the hole. Then cut a piece of drywall to fit the hole and screw it in place using the strips of wood. Then mud the gaps.

The patch is roughly 5x8". I just put another thin coat of mud on and tried to make it as smooth as possble over the tape. It looks pretty good and hopefully this time it will turn out. I am using a sanding block with 180 grit. Should I be using a finer grit?

Skins_Brew said:

The patch is roughly 5x8". I just put another thin coat of mud on and tried to make it as smooth as possble over the tape. It looks pretty good and hopefully this time it will turn out. I am using a sanding block with 180 grit. Should I be using a finer grit?

Click to expand...

Are you going to texture over the patch?

Either way, the answer is no.

This sounds like the perfect place to hang a painting or picture frame

Bokonon said:

This sounds like the perfect place to hang a painting or picture frame

Click to expand...

Even if it is only 2 foot off the floor.

Makes for good conversation starter.

again...you don't need tape. there is no stress that will cause it to crack in the future.

Thanks all. Tonight I sanded it up with the sanding block and put very little force on it. Just enough to skim the surface. It cleaned right up and is ready for some paint! I was definitely putting way too much force on it before.

I disagree about not having any tape at all.. it will eventually crack as the seasons change. I do handyman work for a living. I recommend using mesh tape, and feather it out in all directions to minimize the hump in the area of the patch. You should be left with about 1/16 of mud over the mesh tape, as someone else mentioned. After you sand everything pretty smooth roll some primer on it and that will highlight any low spots and imperfections that you can then fill. Then sand & prime again and repaint the wall.

Certainly the part of home construction I hate the most, but I learned to just take the bumps and burrs off, then stop sanding. It's not a cabinet door or a fender.

I had to learn that when sanding drywall to not to try to get it flat with the wall. A drywall wall is not flat it has very slight bumps, well tapered, at every seam.

When I need to feather out around a patch, I do something completely unconventional that might help others out. Because the area of the patch is going to be the most proud of the wall (by maybe 1/16 or up to 1/8" if it's bad), it would be great to have something to ride the edge of your knife on for a consistent layer. I use small pieces of scotch tape and some bamboo skewers to make a small box around the area. I then fill it in with mud and then ride a 4" knife all the way around with one edge on the skewers and the other on the drywall. You end up with a very thin pyramid of mud. Let it dry, then feather out to a 12" knife. Let dry, then cut the tape and pry the skewers out. Fill in the little troughs and lightly sand the whole thing. It seems like a pain in the ass, but it's the easiest way I know of to get a perfect feathered patch without having the skills of a career mud jockey.

Bobby_M said:

When I need to feather out around a patch, I do something completely unconventional that might help others out. Because the area of the patch is going to be the most proud of the wall (by maybe 1/16 or up to 1/8" if it's bad), it would be great to have something to ride the edge of your knife on for a consistent layer. I use small pieces of scotch tape and some bamboo skewers to make a small box around the area. I then fill it in with mud and then ride a 4" knife all the way around with one edge on the skewers and the other on the drywall. You end up with a very thin pyramid of mud. Let it dry, then feather out to a 12" knife. Let dry, then cut the tape and pry the skewers out. Fill in the little troughs and lightly sand the whole thing. It seems like a pain in the ass, but it's the easiest way I know of to get a perfect feathered patch without having the skills of a career mud jockey.

Click to expand...

I can see where this would work, although I would bet if you have done this a couple of times you can now do it without the skewers.

I have to do drywall work now and then for my job. I don't do it everyday so I am WAY slower than a pro but my finished work looks the same. Here are some tips I have picked up from the pros that I have worked with:

Don't over work your patch or seam. Put your first layer of mud on and leave it be. Don't worry about any ridges you leave or feathering a great deal. You can knock off the ridges with your knife after your first layer drys and feather your next layer.

Don't work with thick mud - thin it a little with water.

If you have a wall with "orange peel" texture the spray cans that you buy at HD to replicate this usually won't do a good job. A better way is to get a sea sponge with one surface flat - apply mud to the sponge, strike it off so the mud is only in the holes, and press it to the patch area. Repeat until the area resembles the surrounding wall.

That's the deal though, normal humans have to do drywall patching maybe once a year unless they frequently go on benders and get "punchy". There's very little opportunity to perfect the skill unless you finish a basement or gut a room. Even after getting sort of good at it after a bathroom remodel, I don't touch a taping knife for another year and lose it all.

When I did a basement remodel I finished all of the drywall myself. It was a learning process. I found that going easy with the joint compound was best. I did three thin layers getting wider with each layer and a light sanding between each coat. Then, I wet sponged the whole wall at the end. The wet sponge really smooths the finish and also it removes most of the dust from the sanding.

Take your time and, if you're unsure, close your eyes and feel the wall. Sometimes you fingers can find flaws your eyes don't notice. Also, a light shined at different angles will show shadows where their are still ridges that need to be sanded. Lighter color paint will cover flaws better than a darker color as well.

Good Luck,

kornbread said:

Take your time and, if you're unsure, close your eyes and feel the wall.

Click to expand...

Yes, reach out and feel the wall my young Padawan, but be careful, you don't know the power of the dark side of drywall.....

Sorry, what you said was absolutely correct, I "feel the wall" myself, but I just couldn't help myself.