a box of sheetrock mud???

Columbia,SC. · #1 04/28/08, 10:36 PM

I am pretty good at mudding and tape'ing joints, corners ect. but I always buy buckets of sheetrock mud.
How much water do I add to a box of mud and is it mixed in a old 5 gal. bucket? I do know to not to mix it in the box, hahaha! so please go easy on the jokes!
I have a mixer on a 1/2" drill, any ideas or help would be great.

TNHermit · #2 04/28/08, 10:51 PM

Is it a dry box powder or premix. Premix is suppose to be alleady for the wall after you stir it up again. I always think its way to heavy. I usually start with an 8oz cup of water and go from there. Just dump it in a 5 gal bucket and start to mix slow.
Its pretty much up to your personal preferences. Not any set rules. I like it thinner on the second and thinner yet on the last coat so you can just wet sand it off.

cfabe · #3 04/29/08, 02:25 PM

I have always mixed it in a bucket with a scrap of wood. There's directions on the bag but I usually do it by eye. I know how thin I want it to be. Be careful not to mix up too much, the setting type compound has a work life of about 1-2 hours only. It's particularly useful if you're doing a small room or area and don't want to have to wait until tomorrow to sand like the premix compound.

tiogacounty · #4 04/29/08, 05:42 PM

Add water till you are satisfied, there really is no other way. Also throw a shot of dawn dishwashing soap in there, it smooths the mud out, makes it feather out better. BTW, be sure your powdered mud isn't any type of setting compound that sets up instead of drying. Good stuff, but you don't want a whole bag of it wet and ready to set. Good luck.

Columbia,SC. · #5 04/29/08, 10:15 PM

wow, 24 years of construction work under my belt and I did know about this..setting mud I have heard painters talk about it but didn't know what it was. I am talking about just regular mud, I figure that I could buy a 'dry' box and mix up what I needed but was not real sure of the water ratio.
Please tell me more about the 'setting type' please. I have some jobs that would work out great.
I also like the tip about the Dawn DW soap, what do you call a shot and how much for how much mud?
Thanks so much this is a lot of help!

cfabe · #6 04/30/08, 10:54 PM

Around here at the home centers all I've seen is the pre-mixed dry-type pails and the dry mix setting-type bags. I forget the brand they carry but they have numbers on them that I think are the working time in minutes. I've actually never heard of a dry-mix that is not a setting type.

Columbia,SC. · #7 05/06/08, 10:50 PM

I bought a box of it today and it is riding around now in the truck waiting for a use. the box says it will make 3.4 gal. of mud,,, I think that is what is said on the box. It cost me less than $7.00 and I can mix up what I need. I think it is made by GSP.
Sometimes I use a bucket or two at a time but most of the time I only need a little here and there. So I can keep some of the dry mix on the truck and not haul around a full bucket load.
This is not 'setting mix' I saw that and left it alone. I might get some setting mix to 'play with' just to see how it works for the future jobs.
Thanks for the ideas and help