I cannot thank you enough for these videos. Doing a bathroom remodel, I installed the drywall sheets in the bathroom. Every joint was a vertical tapered joint. No butt joints. The face of the studs were machined with a router to within 1/8" inch flatness as needed. I made a big platen. All the drywall was shimmed perfectly. I hired a professional drywall contractor to do the finish work. He told my wife and myself how good of a job I did installing the drywall. Said doing the mud work would be super easy. We put down the drop clothes for him every day. I brought the mud into the house so it would warm up for him. I even cooked him lunch one day. He showed up so sporadically that after 5 weeks, he only had the taping done. Did not even install the metal corners. I fired him and am now doing it myself at 66 years old. It's taking me forever and a lot of sanding, but I've learned a tremendous amount from you. Thank you.
I’m a diy’er and after years of skimming with a 12” blade, spending far too much time, I switched to the hawk and trowel after watching your channel. The difference is amazing and I’m more confident tackling my own Reno’s … thanks for the tips and keep the videos coming!
Your videos are the best! I'm about to skim coat my hallway ceiling and you were the first one I looked up. I've watched so many of your videos and learned a ton!
Getting the consistency just right is key to not making a mess when rolling the mud on a ceiling. It's also necessary to knock the excess mud off the roller by banging it on the edge of the bucket before rolling it on the ceiling. Then wipe it down with a skimming blade attached to an extension handle.
I hired a company to skim a couple of my apartments and they used 8" boxes, they did an 8" swath floor to ceiling (or wall to wall in the ceiling) skipped about 7", did another swath, did that everywhere, then after those stripes dried they came back and boxed the in-betweens. It all went pretty fast, but of course not everyone has professional mud tools to be able to do it that way
Here's something I've done on walls, but it would probably work, using a pole on the taping knife, on ceilings, though I've never seen it in a video. What I did was make a series of horizontal stripes, each separated from the next by a few inches, and each a little thicker than it would ultimately end up. I then feather the upper and lower edge, as well as the ends, of each stripe, flexing the knife so that the end over the middle of the stripe is slightly raised, to avoid any gouges. Once the stripes dry, I scrape, sponge or sand off any obvious imperfections (there were never many), then go over the gaps with a connecting coat, which it usually quite smooth because the strips serve as sort of a screed to keep the knife from chattering. This sounds like double the work, but its really not because the chattering, gouging and sanding are minimized. The end result has a very faint wave pattern, a little like a hand plastered wall, but nothing one would notice unless looking for it. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's less stressful than having the whole surface wet and hardening at one time.
I’d really like to see an up close of the second run going into the first. Wondering how you navigate the second run not screwing up what you did on the first.
I started using a Hawk because it's a lot faster to clean than a pan, I have found I can do drywall better if I am the one that framed it, hung it, then finish it and paint it.
its really hard to tell whether your advice is applicable to me or not... you OBVIOUSLY make it look MUCH easier than it actually is. i know for a fact its not that easy, even doing a flat wall, let alone the ceiling.
Thanks for the demo on the various ways of skim coating. AI and that robot will be the way of our near future. When the robot offers to make you lunch and diner while you're working together, it would be hard to not own one.
Those robots will only be viable on large commercial jobs that need level 5... those will be very expensive to own, deploy, and will only work on new construction that is level. Drywall is going to be pretty secure trade for a while.
For a bathroom with lots of tile, and a crack forming at the top wall to ceiling. 20 year old house, remodel. Then the crack started a few months after. Would you guess not enough drywall screws with the heavy tile pulling the wall down? Or just bad tape job. It was a brute contractor they've used lots but it very coarse in his work. He's a great sturdy framer but not finesse/dry waller or tiler. I'm skimming my bathroom now and need all the good tips. I'm pretty sloppy. Time to try the hawk trowel. Pan and knife is not my jam. The edge slop is way too messy. My hands and arms get covered.
Excellent. I've tried several of those methods on the ceilings including the roller but have always used a blade instead of a trowel which I'm sure you'll now understand my limited success. I'm excited to up my game with a trowel. Thanks for allowing us to look over your shoulder as you worked
I found out the they new rollers developped for mud are not as messy as just the normal pinter rollers. And as I am just the hobbiest, not a pro, the skimming blade seem to me really great and quick method even I am really good with the hawk and trowel.
Yet another good video. What about those rollers that are meant for drywall mud? Level 5 makes them and a company called L'Outil Parfait also makes them, they claim less splatter and holds a bigger load of mud.
Ben, I know it’s long shot but I’m mid job and having an issue, Scraped and sanded a 1970’s popcorn ceiling, patched holes with hot mud, added screws to old drywall. Using plus 3 watered down to skim coat, old tape is coming off. Should I paint the joints? Hot mud them?
Those robots are just an automated paint sprayer and never heard of a robot finisher till I saw this video. but it makes a lot of sense on large scale commercial applications from a financial perspective. Just like any masonry trade, the majority of the costs are in the human (application) side. As well, most long term drywallers are beat up, but the wizz kids of today can control them from their phones giving longer times in the industry, plus increased workload though time saving. I'm sure some drywaller was on a smoke break waiting for the 1st coat to dry and saw a bomb disposal robot on the news... "hmmm, wonder if I can fit a trowel on that guy?"
Finally I found the vid that shows skimcoating with tools that I have ! Super opposed to the robot . All that is , like feller bunchers and processors in the timber industry. Is more unemployed people . More high dollar control over who gets paid, a great lack of skill. Call me a Luddite but. The clean up guy that cleans the robot probably won't make a living wage. But otherwise , Great video!
After the drywall is installed, I think robots would be even better than humans to tape and mud, then come back for a second coat (which would include the skim coat) then sand and leave a level 5 finish. The speed and repeatable finish is what would make the price of them comparable to a whole team of drywall finishers. Those guys prefer installing drywall, cement board, and/or tiling anyways. Plus, small spaces like bathrooms would be significantly better done by humans, compared to robots. Even if robots had multiple cameras, they would still need laser pin-pointing, pressure-touch pin-pointing, and the economies of scale just wouldn't work for remodeling/ rehab jobs. Although, if there's a problem, there's always an opportunity for an engineer to come up with a prototype... I'm thinking motorized cart system, with festool dust extractor at the base, on top of that would be the computer system, above that would be the body with connection mounts, comes with standard 2 robotic arms, back side has tool exchanger, front and top sides each have 2 cameras and laser pinpointing systems; that's a total of 4 cameras and 2 laser grid systems. Very similar to what we already have seen, but in a smaller package so it can be brought through standard house doors.
My problem with the knives, any width, is I get drag marks in the mud aside each edge of the knife as I drag it along. Simply cannot figure how to avoid that. I see all these videos and obviously the pros do not have this problem. What is the trick? And secondly, how many coats do you do? Do you use an electric sander at the end to finish and smooth?
What I like to do personally is go one way (say North to South first then, sand and go the other way (say East and West). I find it fills in all the dips and divots and gets that smooth as glass look 🖒. I've never been comfortable on stilts so I personally don't use them but, I totally see the benefits of that method 🖒👊🍻🇨🇦. Love watching you Ben, you are a true master of the craft. I wish I had 10% the talent you do 😂🖒.
I would love to work with you for a week. I’ve learned more from you in a few minutes here and there than I have from the sum of everyone I’ve ever worked with 😂 true story
Just wanted to say thanks for this and other videos you put out man! My wife and I successfully skim coated our orange-peel ceiling thanks in great part to your videos! We ended up using the roller method and small-ish taping knife. It was slower than a hawk and trowel, but the learning curve was so high on that and so we just went with what was easier. (Seriously you make it look SO easy! Haha) Keep up the great stuff, and let me know if you ever make it out to Chilliwack! ❤
Big what’s up from Oklahoma. Been watching your videos for quite a while now and gotta say you are for real a talented carpenter but probably even a better teacher! You seem like a cool guy jus to have a beer with too lol.
Even after watching numerous videos it amazes me how smooth the application of mud is done by the pros. I’m attempting to repair some ceiling damage and I do struggle to get anywhere near the same finish after trying premixed and mixing my own mud.
I am scraping/skimming my popcorned ceilings and picked up a bucket of this mud you are using in this video on a whim from rona. Very happy with how smooth and workable it is.
15:57 Ben: "Sometimes the old-school methods, in the long run, when you add up all the extra time and expense [of methods involving more tools], end up being not that bad after all." As a tradesman myself, I'm sympathetic to this perspective. However, Ben and other old-school advocates don't seem to appreciate the long-term effects on the body of the methods they advocate. Wear-and-tear on the body is an actual cost, not a theoretical. To ignore or downplay that cost is not in anyone's best interest. I know way too many tradesmen in their 30's and 40's who either cannot continue their trade or have significant physical limitations, due to accidents or wear-and-tear. Obviously there is no one right answer for everyone, but I encourage everyone to re-consider how they balance short-term efficiency vs. long-term efficiency.
What's your solution to your criticism? Unless you invest in the robot method, there will be wear and tear on the the body regardless of the tools used. While the sprayer method would seem the least demanding, multiple coats would be necessary for enough build up; ok for whole house or commercial work, where time/method can be efficient enough, not so with smaller projects. Still though, spraying all day is rough on the shoulders and neck too. So again, what is your suggested solution over what VC said? I am open to a solid solution.
Good one Ben ~ as a DIYer I use a roller when I'm texturing and a hawk and trowel when I'm skimming. You're the best brother ~ you make it look so easy whereas I struggle to get it as smooth and always end up sanding quite a bit, but it always looks professional in the end, just lots of dust.
Can you do a video on some of the different textures applied to drywall? Like: knockdown, Santa Fe, sand swirl, skip trowel etc.. It would be great to have a better understanding of how to apply some of them.
just don do that, drywall texture is so 18th century lol... seriously just get it flat and smooth, drywall mud is not a luxury material and the way it reflects light makes a poor choice for textures and patterns
Don't listen to this guy. It's always good to know different textures. I make decent money just doing patch work and texture matching is important. Homeowners would expect that.
I just did a ceiling skim and I actually really like doing popcorn removal, skimming for painted finish. My method is slightly different, and maybe not for a beginner. I use hawk and trowel, and using stilts. I will do my first coat with half 90 minute half finish mud. A bit on the thicker side. I will lay the mud thick and I won't clear it off til the whole room ceiling is mudded. Then I will go back to the start and use a feather edge (or skimming blade when I finally buy one) and take the excess mud off. The theory is that when you put the mud to a surface, the surface mud will start to wick the moisture out of the mud. The mud that is directly next to the existing surface will dry first. This way it leaves a mm or two on and you can more easily take off the excess. When you put the mud on and take it off on the next swipe, the moisture doesn't have time to wick out and you can more easily take off too much. The reason we texture ceiling is because gravity and floor joices and truss are so not uniform that you can see the drywall sag. This first coat needs to fill those sagged areas, not just cover the former texture. My second coat is similar but with just lite finish mud, again slightly on the thicker side. I want spread this time going perpendicular from the first spread, again spreading out the whole ceiling and coming back with my feather edge to flatten, and then maybe trowel to really flatten. I let this all dry and then come back and one last finish coat, going the same direction as my first coat. This will be a thinner consistency mud. I will spread out the whole ceiling with my regular trowel, but I will wipe it all off with my flexi-trowel, which does an amazing job. It really reduces the sanding process, I highly recommend a flexi trowel for all finish coats.
Man the old Textured popcorn ceiling is soo friken messy to remove. I put plastic on walls and floor. all the way arround then spray hot water and scrape with 6 inch taping knife. Roll a lil plastic up and toss it. most appear to have asbestos. In Calif…then use Festool vacume and sander. Was expensive but I now have one…skim coated and now putting up crown..looks great my wife is happy..she had to pay the drywaller she said what a deal❤😊
Very timely video. I have tried the knife and pan but I am about to try the hawk and trowel for the first time. You make mudding look easy but I swear a lot while doing it.
Rolling using a paint tray puts the mud evenly on the roller avoids dropping a mess on the floor. I use my compound tube to fill the paint tray for speed and to keep the bucket clean. I bought a cheap $50 dollar 18 inch skim coat blade that attaches to any extension pole which works great! Like you I do a perimeter with a 6 inch knife. Always requires 2 coats but goes quickly when working from the floor and using the pole for both saves on neck and shoulder strain. Cheers!
I prefer the roller with a 36 inch skim blade really fast. You can generally get 3 coats on the ceiling in a day depending on the humidity fans help I tap the roller on the buckets to shift the excess mud less slop that falls
Hawk and trowel is my preferred, but I do have skimming blades and use them for this type of job. The bubbles as you note are the greatest issue, it would be nice to have a roller one could use after troweling out the mud, to roll and reduce air. e.g. the foam rollers etc Thanks for posting,, you nailed it !
Hey!! New homeowner here, needing some advice! We’ve got walls that are textured with paint. (Painted, shopping bag over roller and painted a different colour, repeated.) What’s the best method to getting back to a smooth finish? Skim coating? Do you water down your drywall compound? Thanks
Knife and hawk is a good combo. Get a larger 14" knife on a 13" hawk and you have very little spills and no need to remove any mud from edges. Trowels are best, but difficult to get the right touch and messy if you aren't proficient at cleaning it off.... I always drop mud when I miss the edge as I scrape off the trowel on the hawk. Skim coating along heavy textured walls is such a real pain because of chatter marks when you try to smooth the edges along the wall. Thanks for all the videos. It's helped a ton! BTW Are you using hot mud on that ceiling? I also find getting the surface damp after the first coat with a sponge helps keep the bubbles and pin holes down on the 2nd coat.
You forgot a method!! Lol i did a ceiling a while back and used my flat boxes i ran stripes with my 12" box then my 10" box same direction in the voids that the 12" box left behind then i circled the light boxes. Turned out not bad if it were my house i would have skimmed it one more time by hand hawk and trowel 😁👍🇨🇦😎
use a 1' 1/4 nap roller with topping mud mixed well with water added and use a 36" skim blade youll have this whole ceiling done in a matter of 20 minutes probably less
I don’t do this day in day out, but if doing small skimming work on the ceiling, I found it so much easier to use the hawk and trowel. In comparison to the pan and knife, it seems actually easy. I don’t own a skimming blade kit (yet!).
I just recently primed and painted a room and realized just how bad the drywall actually is. If I decide to skim coat it, would I need to re-prime beforehand or am I good to start?
2 guys one on roller one with skimming blade is tha fastest and best way,and you do all job from floor, and 60 cm i believe it s 24inch blade is best for this, i did around 65m2 of roof between 2 and 2 and half hour, also you need to have small bucket of water with sponge so you can wipe skimming blade,because that material dry fast and can do mess...i did thid solo but 2 guys experienced can do this really fast. Jesus bless you.
In this video you sound like the other guy on YT. What happened to your own speech dude, talk like you used to and stop watching the other guy lol. The monotone is pretty annoying.
YOU ROCK! I'm getting ready to repair plaster/lathe walls(I've watched most of your videos in anticipation of this part of a whole house remodel😉) Planning on doing the first coat using hot mud(90 minute). What's the stronger way to cover thin to moderate cracks, Fibafuse or paper tape? You've said many times that paper tape is really strong(as I recall). Keep up the great work! If you lived in Colorado I'd probably hire you to get the job done in under 1yr😂
I just skim coated a 100 year old, lathe and plaster ceiling. I tried the roller first but it wasn't going on thick enough and was really messy with lots of joint compound on the floor. Also, my 24" skimming blade didn't work on the uneven surface. I finally had the best luck with a 12" knife in a 14" pan. I built a scaffold such that my head was just 6 inches from the ceiling - I found balancing on a ladder with a pan in one hand and a knife in the other was asking for trouble. Every time I dipped the knife into the pan to load on some mud, I wiped up the corners - I didn't find that any trouble. I had to do a fair amount of touching up - just so much harder to work on the ceiling and do a good job than a wall.
Thank you for the educational content! My own preferred method is always hawk and knife; I started the 100 sheets I've put into the house I'm working on with a hawk and knife because I had the knife already from years ago (almost completely unused at the time) and I'd seen some vids on hawk and trowel. At this point, I've picked up a trowel, but have found myself way more comfy with the knife than otherwise. That said: I'm a larger scale DIYer, not a pro, so there we are. :) Thanks again!
I'm looking for a video how to Mutter round a torn and then glued piece of drywall.. Maybe you could do a video on that thank you for sharing or look forward to hear from you come by for now Ken.
Loved this video and it was incredibly helpful going through the tools. The biggest advantage with a roller/skimming blade on a pole combination is you don't fall using a ladder, stilts, or scaffolding with very high ceilings with the other tools. This is likely the greatest concern for a DIY'er.
My favorite method is hiring someone... Though I used to hate drywall until I started watching your videos. Now, it just hurts cause I'm old. I wish you were doing this 35 years go! Thanks!
I use anywhere between an 11 inch to 14 inch trowel to apply the mud depending on space / restrictions, and then an 18 x 4 inch concrete finishing trowel to smooth it all out. A 6 inch taping knife is used for small cleanups. Hawks are fantastic. Mud pans can be annoying. I even like to use a 14 inch drywall trowel to hold the mud but once again this depends on how much space there is to moved around. I'm not a huge fan of large taping knives as I find they can be too flexible and don't leave an even finish. At the end of the day it's all personal preference !
It depends how thick and crumbly the popcorn is. True popcorn texture is not worth skimming. It needs to be scraped down but the other commentor is correct, you need to test for asbestos.
@@vancouvercarpenter I got it tested through a genuine lab (not one of those $50 Amazon kits) and it's negative. It's a concrete ceiling and it's not been painted. It's just 40 years old and I was wondering if the mess wouldn't be worth it.
If its just popcorn, it's easy to scrape and sand off. I have come across a few houses where the ceiling was painted afterwards. In that case, it's not easy at all to scrape off. It's easier to skim it. The first coat will need to go on thick to cover the highest point of the popcorn. A second coat to flatten and a third coat for the finish. You can put more coats on and each coat will smooth even more, but ideally you should be able to finish with 3 coats. I imagine that you would probably want to keep the weight of the mud as less as possible considering how the drywall is hung up. I usually try to put some extra screws before I start mudding, just in case
I tried the roller and skimming blade for the first time and I had no issues with pigeon droppings and managed some respectable fast results as a mere DIY'er. Skimming blades are amazing for the DIY'er. For the bucket mess just clean it with a knife and wet sponge once in a while. A very fine mist water bottle can help keep the crusties at bay. It's kind of funny putting skimming blades down for cost and then putting on $500 stilts for the old school tried and true. 😂 I like that you recognize that when you get used to a certain method it's hard to switch tools. If you don't like cleaning tools I'm not sure you're going to like the robots including theIR bird droppings and epic fails haha. 🤖
Robo-Vancouver Carpenter. We will all be replaced by robots/AI for the tedious tasks. The thinking/skill jobs will take just a little bit longer. Great video skateboard VC!
I've only done it with a pan and knife and found it difficult and time consuming. I just purchased a 24" skimming tool to try out. My plan is to try applying the compound with a knife and pan and then run over it with the skimming tool. Might also try the roller/skim tool method too.
Thanks for the videos! I am doing my first DIY and thanks to you, I am skim coating my powder bath that had a horrible 90s texture on it. My first coat, I tried the roller and 24” skimming blade, and now realize I probably should’ve done that on the second pass. Now, I am trying out my brand new trowel for the trowel and Hawk method. Oh but the sanding. Thanks for all the lessons! I have learned a lot and plan to keep watching.
I use a 16” trowel, but the shank, and set quite a bit back, so I have better control and lift off. A hawk and Trowel with a set of stilts is the way to go. What I do is chalk line the ceiling in 4 foot sections, and skim or float every other one, and let it dry a couple of hours, and come back and do the sections that need skimming, this way I don’t have hardly any lift off or trowel lines.
You should try a skimblade on a handle .I prefer L5 24 to 32 inch. 18 inch roller to roll on. I don't drop much mud.. maybe you are over loading it or rolling too fast.
You have helped me tremendously I appreciate it,ty. I can finish concrete &thought it would be easier for me but I salute you & your skills. I've got a bunch of empty buckets lol from my learning curve bahaha thx again. If you were in the states I'd hope to hire you
I'm looking to mud skim coat a wall but I also need to caulk the crack along the top of the skirting (baseboard). Should I caulk first or does it not matter the order?
My favorite method is plasticing off the walls and shooting the mud up there with a texture gun, then wiping it with a 32" skimming blade. Great for large ceilings.
