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Prepare Joint Compound

1:16
31:22
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At 1:16 in

5 Ways to Repair Drywall You Didn't Know

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What happens here

Open the bucket of pre-mixed joint compound (often called 'mud'). Use a paddle mixer attached to a drill or a metal putty knife to stir the compound until it reaches a uniform, fluid consistency. If the compound is too thick, you can add a small amount of water or, as suggested by the presenter, a few drops of dish detergent (like Dawn) to make it smoother and easier to spread. Dish detergent also helps create a slicker finish.

Goal: Stir the joint compound thoroughly to achieve a smoother, more fluid consistency for easier application and a better finish. Optionally, add a small amount of dish detergent or water to improve workability.

Tools and materials

  • Drill
  • Joint Compound (All-purpose mud)
  • Metal Putty Knife / Drywall Knife
  • Paddle Mixer
  • Dish Detergent Dawn
  • Water N/A

What they say

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going to stay on this drywall patch. Now, me personally, I'm not a huge fan of those pink kits. I don't like the little mud knife that they have. It's plastic. It sucks to use. The mud is only like this much. It's great for a small little hole, but not for a bunch of fixes. So, I just usually just buy regular old mud compound in a bucket because it's already premixed. I'll get myself a metal drywall knife. But here's the thing. This stuff has been sitting on the shelf god knows for how long. So, all the good stuff has been kind of settling down. Kind of like paint. When you buy it, you want to mix it up. So, I'll just use a little paddle mixer here. Give it a few swirls. Get everything nice and mixed. And you'll be surprised how much more fluid this stuff really becomes as opposed to looking like, I don't know, clay. That's a little [music] too much. There we go. Get it on there nice and deep, boy. You don't need to go nuts with this. Just get it all blended up. It's already looking moist. Some drywallers will actually put a little bit of Dawn dish detergent in there, [music] uh, or a little bit of water. it'll mix it up. The dish detergent makes it a lot smoother and slicker on your uh drywall knife. Uh and the water really just kind of dilutes it. So, lawn dish detergent works a lot better. And I think I saw somebody use Windex, but I'm not too sure if I'm thinking of the right thing. Tray here.

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