Mudding Mania

When I tell people that we are currently “mudding” the drywall in our house, I am usually met with polite nodding. But look beyond the nodding head and into that person’s eyes and you’ll see complete confusion. So, let me explain what it means to mud and then I will explain what it means to call someone to do it for you.

The General Explanation:
Drywall comes in sheets. Once you cover your walls/framing with these sheets of drywall, you’ll have seams where each of those pieces of drywall meet. You will also have screw holes in those sheets of drywall from where you fasten it to the wall. Those seams and screws need to be filled in, or covered, so your wall looks like one continuous flat surface. That’s where the mud comes in-it’s the goop you smear over those seams and screws. You smear it on, let it dry, smear more on, let it dry, smear even more on, let that dry and then sand the three layers down. Unfortunately, the smearing must be done quite carefully and with a series of special tools, which makes the whole process very time consuming. As in several days have passed and we are still not done mudding. And I’m just talking about one room, not the 8 that we still have ahead of us.

Here’s an idea of how many seams and screws just one room can have. The screws are the black dots. And every single one of those seams and screws needs to be covered three times. You go over and over the exact same spot three times. Three times, people. Over the exact same area. You cover it. And then you have to cover it again. And then again.

Here’s what drywall looks like with one coat of mud (and yes, that’s Joey mudding the inside of the closet):

The Details:
Mud is also known as joint compound. It is grey. And although it has the consistency of cake batter when mixed, it does not have any of the delightful things that typically come along with cake batter. You can buy mud premixed or as a dry powder that you mix with water. Some mud takes 24 hours to dry (usually the premixed kind), while others take only 90 minutes or less (usually the powdered kind). Not only does 90 minute mud dry quicker, it’s also stronger. We used both types, depending on what sections of the drywall we were mudding.

Here’s a photo of the loveliness that is mud and two of the tools you use when working with it:

And the premixed mud (in the 5 gallon bucket) and the dry mud (in the upside down bag-sorry about that):

DIY or Hire?
If you have the budget, hire someone. Mudding (and drywalling for that matter) really needs to be done correctly and it takes quite a bit of practice to truly master this skill. However, because drywall and mudding is so time consuming, it can be pricey to pay someone to do this for you.

If you’re on a tight budget like we are, I suggest doing the mudding yourself. However, take these precautionary steps to preserve your sanity: Look deep within yourself and measure how much patience you have. Recognize that you will be smearing goop all over the ceiling and walls of a room not just once, but three times. Accept that mudding is going to take a long time and you cannot rush it. Be at peace with this fact. And finally, read up on how to do it – and this blog doesn’t count because I’m leaving out things like “making sure you feather the mud” and “those three different trowels really are necessary” and “yes, you should buy both paper and metal corners for the drywall”.

Here are some helpful websites:
www.Drywallinfo.com/index.html LOVE this site. Even has video instruction.
www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17566/ Of course we turned to the Family Handyman website.

One more thing:
Mudding goes hand-in-hand with “taping.” For every drywall seam that you must mud, you must also place a piece of special tape over that same seam. You can either use paper tape (this is what the professionals use, be sure to get it damp first!!!) or mesh tape (easier for beginners to use and requires a tiny bit less mudding than the paper type). We tried using paper tape in the first room we mudded. The room was a tiny half bath and the taping and mudding went so poorly, I actually found myself in tears, which were later followed by profanities. So very many profanities.

Here’s what our first mudding and taping job looked like. You can’t really see the flaws, but trust me, they’re there.

In conclusion, if you have the cash, pay someone to mud for you. Don’t have the cash or just doing a small room? Set aside plenty of time and dig deep for all the patience you have. Mudding a room yourself is doable. If you have the right temperament.

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• The Final, Final Version of the New Half Bath →