Spent 6 years over-taping my inside corners before a journeyman pointed out my knife angle was off by 10 degrees.

He just watched me for two minutes on a job in Austin, handed me his knife, and said try it flat instead of digging in, now I use half the tape and no bubbles, has anyone else had a basic habit hold them back for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_carr19d ago

That bit about "handed me his knife" really hit home for me. I read something once in a drywall forum where a guy said the same thing, that 90% of your bubble problems come from the angle you're holding the knife, not the mud or the tape. I know I spent years fighting with tape until a buddy told me to stop trying to scrape the mud off the wall and just let it glide. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience that ten degrees makes a world of difference. It's funny how a simple tweak can save so much time and material.

sandraf8419d ago

Ngl I think the angle thing is the biggest secret nobody talks about. Too many folks blame the mud or the tape when it's really just how you're holding the damn knife. Once you find that sweet spot where the blade is just barely off the wall, everything changes. Bubbles go away, you use less mud, and your taping gets done twice as fast. It took me way too many ruined corners to finally figure that out, but now I tell everyone to stop fighting the tool and just let it do the work.