I finally figured out why my mud was drying too fast on the board

Spent almost 4 hours yesterday fighting with mud that kept skimming over before I could finish a 12 foot seam. Turns out the box of hot mud I grabbed was 20 minute set instead of 90 minute. Has anyone else grabbed the wrong bag and paid for it in frustration?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jessica1mo ago

grabbed the wrong bag of 20 minute once for a quick patch and still had to throw the whole batch away because it set before I even got it on the board. you lasted four hours? that's commitment right there, I would've just walked away and come back tomorrow.

adam_hernandez1mo ago

Holy crap, you actually tried to use 20 minute mud on a whole batch? That's like trying to ice a cake with a flamethrower. I'm with @emerycarr on this one, anything under 90 minute is just asking for trouble unless it's a tiny little patch. I feel your pain on that throw-away batch though, I've done that with a bucket of hot mud before and it's just heartbreaking watching good mud turn to concrete in your pan.

emerycarr1mo ago

20 minute mud for a 12 foot seam? That's absolute madness, man. You basically tried to race against a ticking time bomb. I bet the second you got that first pass on the board the edges were already crusting up like a bad sunburn. Four hours on a single seam sounds like a nightmare straight out of a drywall horror story. I've made that mistake exactly once with 45 minute stuff on a ceiling and wanted to throw my pan through the window. Never touching anything under 90 minute again unless I'm just doing small patch work.