Saw a stat that 30% of drywall jobs fail because of bad mud mixing

I was reading through some trade journal my buddy left at the site last Tuesday. It had a spread on common drywall mistakes and said nearly 30% of callbacks come from mud that wasn't mixed right. That blew my mind because I always thought it was about taping or sanding issues. I've been mixing by eye for years, just eyeballing the water. Any of you guys measure out your mud mix or just go by feel?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam7511mo ago

I've been doing drywall for close to 15 years and I measure every batch now. Got a 5 gallon bucket marked with a line for water and I dump in exactly that much plus the mud powder. Used to just mix by feel and had tons of issues with the mud being too thin or too thick. That 30% figure sounds about right from what I've seen on jobs where guys are sloppy. Get yourself a drywall mixing paddle and a drill, it takes the same amount of time and your finish will be way more consistent.

parker_park81mo ago

Man, I feel you on that 100%. I had the exact same problem until I finally started measuring everything out. I still keep a couple of marked buckets in my truck just for mud, one with the water line and one for the powder. It's wild how much of a difference it makes, like you said your finish is way more consistent and you don't end up fighting the stuff all day. I'll never go back to just guessing, it saves me so much headache and rework.

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johnson.jesse1mo ago

See I gotta push back on this a little. Measuring everything out sounds good on paper but in practice you're just adding another step that slows you down. I've been slapping up mud for years and I can tell by feel exactly what consistency I need for each coat. First coat needs to be a little stiffer, second one can be a bit looser, and a measuring bucket doesn't account for that. @adam751 brings up a good point about the mixing paddle though, I'll give him that. But honestly if you're doing texture work you need different consistencies on the fly anyway. That 30% waste number seems high to me too, most guys I know are reusing their setup water and not tossing any.