What does Level 5 Drywall mean? 

Lol. Level 4 is the standard.

@@joohsay agreed however my level 4 has no scratches and i never paint without primer coating first

You pay for five and get maybe a two

so is it like a thick paint?

I love high build. It’s also pretty great on concrete with a bunch of holes. Mix in some concrete primer and spray

Can you send this smooth?

I wondered about this, I've painted quite a few cars and thats what is done, building primer, sand, shoot, wet sand, cut, buff. I was asking drywallers about this recently because I need to do my house and doing something that I already know seems a whole lot easier than learning how to skim coat while my wife asks me "are you done, are you sure you know how to do that".....

🙂 thank you

That's exactly how I like to do it🙂🙌

@@vancouvercarpenter Why didn't you mention sealing primer in you video. I've never seen anyone coat the entire surface of drywall with mud, seems ridiculous.

@@sofakingwetodddid8824 Do you work on construction sites? It's not that uncommon, but usually it's on renos if you have old textured walls or removed wallpaper. Sometimes it's easier to just cover the walls with 1\4" drywall instead of trying to fix all the holes and imperfections.

Yep, I did one ceiling at a 5 and promptly gave up after that. At least with ceilings no one should be getting close enough to even spot the barely noticeable difference

@@deckmonkey1459 , Been there too. Had a wallpapered bathroom with water damage. Had to remove all the paper, and cut away all the soaked drywall. The glue from the wallpaper left no choice but to mud, and sand the entire room. Looked great when I finished, but it was a good bit of work.

What method did you use to get level 5? Thanks

@@lrc87290 After my 2nd coat, i skimmed out the walls with a 14in knife. Super smooth.

@@SuperSkyScorcher Thanks!

I have seen pro painters do that on comercial jobs. I’m not sure if they used special surfacing primer or not. Labor intensive but it makes sense for a really good finish.

charles ray i agree

Also known as Drywall sealer. I would NEVER finish drywall in a living area without using a sealer before top coat painting. The wall would even be inspected after the sealer is applied and any blemishes in the mud corrected before top coat painting.

On all the homes I built we would bring the painters in after the finishers had everything coated and sanded and said they were finished but as all of you know, you can’t see anything till you have something on the walls to cover the rock and level everything out. I preferred using a PVA primer with some sort of color in it, nothing dark, usually just a light tan, relocation beige, etc. this makes it much, much easier to see any problems. Painters would go thru and spray out the entire home and the spray guy would have his partner coming right behind him with a roller and he would backroll everything that was sprayed which would even out the primer and put roller nap texture everywhere and it would help conceal the spots that had been coated with mud versus the Sheetrock paper. This is a must if your going with a smooth finish which 99% of mine were. If your doing a knockdown or an orange peel or any of the other textures that are popular in states like California and others then you can skip this step. Once everything had been coated and back rolled, the finishers would come back to do a point up which was when we would go thru and inspect every inch of board and mark any defects. This is where you’ll be thankful for adding tint to the primer. The finishers would then fix all defects and then the painter would come back and retouch his primer once again otherwise you will see those repairs once paint goes on. If you follow this procedure then you can feel comfortable with all the pot lights in the world being on the walls along with the biggest windows bringing in all the natural light and you will not see a fastener, you will not see a taper joint, and you will not see a butt joint. Yes it takes a bit more time, a bit more labor and material, but you’ll never get a call back because the wife can see the tape joint running all the way around the dining room at 8pm every night when they sit down for dinner. There are certain steps for a quality job and you have to hit every one of them for a good finish, if you skip just one your gonna regret it. Take care guys, stay safe out there!!

Why in the world would anyone not prime before applying $80/gal paint?

@@mazzystr $80 per gallon paint ! NO contractor pays that, no matter what brand. That is consumer pricing for home owners that go to the paint store an spend a hour there trying to decide on the colour. Trade price is half at most!

Is that not the point?

Thank you very much!

Sometimes a level 5 doesn’t look great either. You can do what some call a level 6. Do your level 5 in one direction. Then do a second coat in a parallel direction. Kinda like a crosshatch. Will level out any imperfections. Lot more time and material but if it needs to be perfect, it’s worth it.

James D thank you for that tip! I will definitely do that! It’s going to have some type of artwork painted on the wall and needs to be a perfect finish. Thank you again!

Shocking lol

Hey folks, be cautious with those popcorn finishes. Most contain asbestos, and asbestos is still the #1 occupational killer here in North America.

🙂

Exactly. Two coats then skim entire wall for 3rd coat on seams and screws.

Lol

At least that room will take forever for a fire to burn through those walls. Slaming in 3 inch screws on 5 layers must've been fun.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

Richard Ellis yeah try explaining this to any of my Mexican drywall subs. They’re going to laugh and do what they’ve been doing for years

@@carpenterdom1639 If the subs your're hiring are true pros (Mexican or not), they probably would just do it right without the formal language.

ptmoy1 cool 👍🏽

Felonious Fishing If that’s the case then they don’t ever do level 5 finishes. In my experience the only tapers that know what level 5 is are the tapers that do it all the time. Otherwise, they have no clue about levels and are usually always doing a level 4 (but don’t know it’s a level 4). Level 5 is found in high end houses and commercial space. All office building hallways are level five because of the lighting. In Europe they do level 5 finishes everywhere which is overkill but it’s always guaranteed to look nice - even if it’s the back wall of a closet.

Felonious Fishing try paying them a fair wage see what happens.

Those aren’t truly level 5 it’s a business and a hospital which would see a lot of traffic going on. They won’t do delicate work on those

Same here man it feels great

Same here. What I've learned from this clip just saves me doing "3 more levels" on my walls. haha

Yea, I thought a good primer would solve this problem. I was under the impression that you would have to prime new drywall anyway. Any products in particular you like to use for a primer on new drywall?

That sounds like painting. It’s not a level 5 finish. It’s level 4 with paint.

@@stiggmint6226 for most people a nice looking smooth wall is enough, only professional and people who are paying for it will tell the difference between 4 and 6

🤪🤪

Lmao!!!

They have to hang vertical in commercial construction due to fire code. Seams need to be located fully on a stud to act as fire blocking. Residential do what ya want. There are benefits to installing horizontal. That’s why they do it a majority of the time that way in homes.

@@petepistachio8229 The main benefit is you dont need to kneel down or get on a ladder to finish the joints. Unless the wall is short enough to avoid a butt joint Id rather hang them vertically though.

Sheen difference is a bitch in eggshell

🙂

If they are willing to pay. I am willing to do the job. Unfortunately many people think the price you are giving them includes LEVEL 10.

You’re right. My estimates have become a lot more detailed in the last few years. People want plaster results for drywall prices, and they expect paint to hold up like armor. I once had a lady ask me if her int doors-which we paint with a precatalized epoxy-would hold up to her kids hitting it with a baseball bat. She was serious, too. I I told her I’m afraid your door won’t hold up to that. And she said, oh ai thought since you painted it that it would be stronger. No lie. Real conversation I had in a half million dollar home.

@@KevinsDisobedience I believe it.

And because our house faces east & west with lots windows, we did need level 5 in the great room

I've done a lot of Drywall work on my house and don't understand half of the lingo you used, can you explain in laymens terms? Specifically the part where you rolled the plaster on like paint and it comes out perfect?

Following lol

getstuk you are aware of the premixed spackle? Green and blue lid. Do you mix that spackle with a drill and a drywall paddle? If not you should. Well, add 1-2 bottles of water to the bucket while mixing. Add to get to a consistency you like working with. It all depends on how thick you want to coat your walls. I start with a bottle and 1/2. Then I roll on with a paint roller. Depending again on how wavie the wall is and the amount of mud you want to apply use a 3/8 or 1/2 nap roller. Then smooth mud with a 16” knife. I use “Level 5” brand knives. 36” or 24”. Takes out most to all imperfections.

@@petepistachio8229 God I wish I knew this before, took me some time to smooth out my walls. You have a link to that product or name? I use "joint compound" for 99% of my drywall work

getstuk for what? Spackle/ joint compound/ mud? Whatever you want to call it. The pre mix in the tubs. That’s what I’m referring to. At any Cheapo or Blowes.

😂 been there

Ha! That answers my "after video" question. Thx :)

@@claudews529 You're welcome. I've been in the drywall/painting profession for almost 34 years now. Always sand between first/primer coat and the final coat. You'll get great results!

@@williamfreeman3331 Most homeowners can't tell the difference between a pro and how bad it looks when they do it themselves but it's a huge difference. If you use a 9 inch sanding disc it only takes a few minutes to do the whole room.

@@deckmonkey1459True for sure

well, it didn't for me. Still have bumps. Been told to skim mud with light compound, sand and then paint. Wall is under bright lights and the "streaks" are from texture, not the paint. Trying to find info on how to fix after the painting... just sand and mud etc.?

Yes the Zero'th level... (People hate when I number things from Zero...)

All arrays start from element 0. Sorry pal...your (and my ;) ) C arrays take from mathematics concepts that are 300 years old.

My brother-in-law does plaster in high-end lake houses. Takes some talent!