Stopped by a drywall supply house in Nashville and noticed they were selling premixed buckets of all-purpose compound with a 2022 date code still on the shelf

The guy behind the counter said they don't rotate stock very often so I grabbed a fresh bucket from the back, has anyone else run into old compound that won't dry right from a store?

2 comments

2 Comments

amy15417d ago

Used to think a bucket was a bucket as long as it was sealed tight, but you changed my mind here. I grabbed a 2020 bucket of lightweight joint compound last year thinking I got a deal, and it looked fine on the outside but once I mixed it up it was full of hard lumps and took forever to dry. Ended up having to sand and redo a whole bedroom ceiling because the tape started peeling up a week later. Now I always check the date stamp before I leave the store, even at big box places.

mila_perry1317d ago

That 2022 date code is a red flag, I had a bucket of all-purpose from 2021 that felt like clay once I opened it. I'm in Memphis and I see this a lot at the smaller supply houses where they don't move stock fast. Even if the bucket is sealed, the compound can start to dry out or get chunky over a year or two. The drying time gets all messed up too, it might take twice as long to set or it'll crack because the binders have degraded. I always check the date now and ask for something under 6 months old if possible.