How to Finish Drywall

By: Jefferson Kolle, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. Medium-grit sanding screen or drywall sandpaper for smothing first coat of compound

1. Fine-grit sandpaper for smoothing second and third coats of compound

2. Joint compound

3. Paper tape

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Drill/driver
  for blending compound
- Drywall tape dispenser
- Swivel-head pole sander with drywall sandpaper
  for smoothing first coat of compound
- Sanding blocks
  for sanding corners
- Mud box
  for holding small batches of compound and cleaning knives
- 5- and 10-inch drywall knives
- Mallet
- Corner clincher
- Shop vacuum
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Photo: Allen Penn

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9

6 to 8 hours
$8 to $10 per 1/2-inch x 4x8-foot sheet

Difficulty: Moderate to hard The sheets are heavy and a bit unwieldy, especially when covering the ceiling

Hanging drywall takes a little muscle, but the next step, getting the drywall ready for paint or wallpaper, requires finesse. The goal here is simple: Make the joints between drywall panels disappear so that walls and ceilings are perfectly smooth. The process isn’t complicated, either. It takes just a few tools—a small and a large drywall knife and a swivel-head pole sander—to do the job. Here, Paul Landry, of P.L. Drywall in Waltham, Massachusetts, shows how it’s done, using premixed joint compound (a.k.a. “mud”) and drywall tape.

The tricky part is learning how to properly bed the tape and feather out the compound to an imperceptible edge. “First time out, you’ll probably get more ‘mud’ on the floor and on your clothes than you do on the wall,” says Landry, who finished the walls at This Old House’s recent TV project in Manchester, Massachusetts.

Sanding is the other key skill. Joint compound is soft, so the challenge is to avoid removing so much that you risk fraying or tearing the paper tape. “Be patient,” Landry advises. “Even beginners can do a fine job if they take their time.”