You are just fantastic at this. It's really a big win for us all to have someone of your ability as a tradesman also have such a gift at teaching. It's genuinely educational and oddly relaxing watching you work. You're kind of the Bob Ross of carpentry.
Had my first level 5 job this week since seeing you apply the mud with a roller & decided to try it out. Once again, thank you for teaching me yet another little trick that has proven to be a huge time saver. I used less mud, applied it faster, more consistent thickness & the skimmer was done in 2 passes. Best tip in ages. Cheers from Australia.
The level 5 standard was written in the the 1960's. Go back and read it before you say you can do a level 5 finish. At the end it referring to visible work showing through, and that means a professional looking right at holding a work light at an angle while you put your head against thw wall to look down the wall. Customers don't know any better, and people say it to them since they watch youtube so they think they lnoww what it is and they cant afford true level 5. Nobody reads the standard and says they can do a level 5 with less that a year or two of work on a full time high end crew.
@alvidrez7956 yeah nothing like asking what standard someone doing a level 5 is using. It was put out in 1968 and states nothing visible. Everyone then screams that you can use a professional to determine thT because they'll see EVERYTHING. Yah that's thw point it's a PROFESSIONAL standard, it means get a light out and walk the wall while holing it against the drywall. That's level 5. First time I saw an architect do that I had to look up the standard, MAn, his houses looked good. Which they should have because he paid for that level work.
At least they are from a great teacher, after thirty years there’s always something to learn. Keep up the great videos, I especially love your testing out tools, I personally hate rolling mud on after watching you a know I just get into too big of hurry, I always feel like I’m not getting anything done. I have found a like to blow in my ceilings if possible with a hopper, then I use a 14 inch knife on pole to skim in. I started using and reusing, heavy 4to6 mil plastic, I let my grandkids wash when it gets really nasty. Not always possible, I wish the nematic tools were around when I started finishing, maybe my shoulder and wrist wouldn’t be so bad, DMSO and CDS work wonders, given me ten more years so far.
Dip your roller in water and use your hands to work the water in the fibers a little. Give it a gentle spin, then dunk it and spin it again. You want it pretty damp but not dripping. We always called it “priming” the roller. It basically allows you to start applying material right away, without the first several minutes and sections being wasted to saturating the roller. Same thing with a brush. I have every confidence it would work for preparing a roller to applymud for a skim coat.
Amazing how a pro defines "messy". By just standing still and looking at a bucket of mud, I manage to look as though I willfully decided to take a bath in the stuff! It frightened the cats when they saw me and the little woman cracked up and said I looked like I was in a full body cast.
I grabbed a Level 5 and it makes a huge difference - I almost looks like I know what I'm doing! After watching your video, now I know I can do a better job rolling it on as well.. that's a huge time saver as well if you ask me. Thank you for your great videos 🙂
I am a general, do everything person. Drywall mudding is NOT one of my strong points. 🤣I bought a level 5 blade a year or so ago, and my work now looks professional.
@@mph5896 Professional painter here. Paint doesnt hide anything, it highlights it. The walls have to be perfect for the paint job to look good. 75% of my time on any job is getting those walls to look good before any paint goes on. This channel has elevated my drywall skills a million times over. Excellent teacher. If you want to learn drywall watch his older videos on how to use a hawk and trowel. It used to look like witchcraft to me but now thanks to this channel I'm a pro! I have a big blade too and it's wonderful on leveling out the wall although it's still a "cheater stick!"
@@wally7856 I'll take any cheater stick I can get. No shame in my game. I touch paint and drywall a couple times a year. I am definitely not going to get good at it in that time frame. Just looking for some tips and tricks here and there to make the job doable over unbearable.
So glad I found this helpful video AFTER skim coating my living and dining rooms. As a cake decorator, I agree that it does feel a bit like frosting a cake.
I love this channel and that almost half a million folks tune in to see you do something we can't really see on camera. But in our imaginations, that wall is silky smooth
Totally agree with BenRush's comment about you being the Bob Ross of Carpentry. I find I'm watching your videos just because I can relate to the satisfaction aspect of your work. It is very relaxing to watch. Not to discredit how fit you are, the amount of muscle it takes to do the work is not at all lost on me. So glad the blade company sent you those blades. And I would like to add, whoever is filming, did a fabulous job.
I'm not a tradesman, but I learned how to do drywall working on my own house. And I find it to be one of the most satisfying home improvement tasks there is. I might be kind of a weirdo, but I love getting that mud smooth on the wall. I have only used long blades in the past, but I might invest in one of these things if I ever do another job on my house.
There is a side of mudding that can be soothing when doing it for yourself or even a friend. However, when your taping and mudding an entire basement or even a house it becomes tedious. What’s worse is when you are working against a deadline and whomever did the drywall before you made a series of mistakes that require you to do twice the work in order to finish your job properly. That’s why I decided to start my own business, now the only mistakes are my own.
This is the best, most educational skimming video I’ve seen and I’ve searched through a fair amount. Thank you for this. It’s great that it’s in real time rather than the sped up videos that people do these days, where certain important points are not explained. Very much appreciated and hope to see more of your videos. 🙂👍
I absolutely love your videos! It is great to see how other craftsmen operate. I need to buy a couple of those blades. Being a plasterer years ago I always troweled everything on the walls and ceilings. Thanks again!
21:28. "I super thin coat of shoulder busting scraping mud off" That's how I've been doing it. Like 9 coats of super thin mud. Comes out perfect, but takes like 3 days a wall. :) So hard to get it flat if I leave thick coats. MASSIVE amounts of sanding. Biggest problem with the super thin coats is that the mud starts to dry out super quick.
Oh my geez. So satisfying to watch. I completely related to your contentment as you skimmed that wall. God I want to buy one but I'm not a drywaller (lol) by profession. I just began remodeling my home a year ago which has been an amazing experience. Ben, my honey showed everyone at work my drywall & skim work via video and pics, and they were shocked to see how good my work is that at one point, they even said that it would be a good thing to hire me for patching up drywall jobs. Can you believe this? All that I have learned is because of your videos. You're a great teacher. Wish I could show you my work. And by the way, the humor is a bonus to watching VC videos with coffee in the A.M. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Oh yeah, and I TOTALLY agree w/ keeping the bucket lip clean. I'm 100% OCD about that too.
My pleasure. And i can believe that people would want to hire you. That's how it happens😂. One little job leads to another and it gets to the point that you don't want anyone to know you can do drywall!
I'm getting ready to work on the ceiling and repair walls in a bathroom remodel. This video was timely. But I'll need to revisit your other drywall videos for reminders. Thanks.
23 years ago I worked on a project that wanted 700,000sqft of drywall level 5! We rolled it all with 18” rollers and used a huge pan of mud to dip the roller into! Three man process. One guy rolling and two guys trialing with 14” knives. And this was with regular mud! They didn’t have lightweight back than! Now we use Graco Mark 5 to spray the mud on the walls! Great videos! Love the inside jokes!! I laugh and than my wife gives me the l don’t get it look! 😆
I used a Bon 6-foot by 4" by 3/4" aluminum screed (a tube with a rectangular cross-section) and a 4 foot aluminum ruler (about 2" wide and 1/8" thick) to skim walls and ceiling. Worked great! Use whatever you have on hand to do the job. Also used them to float the floor (in concrete) before porcelain tiles. The trim and baseboard went on super easy, since the surfaces were so flat.
Wall finish standards are 1/8 inch variation over 8 or 10 feet. Grab an 8 to check the final finish. I had an insurance claim on my house and it took a year to find a plaster crew that could do inside plaster to that standard. I even gave them 1/8 over 6 foot. Insurance to redo the walls went from 3-4,000. To 2,000 for drywall and 26,000 for plaster. If you use a standard they can't fight you on payment. The problem was I had more time than money when I did the work, and I was 15 years younger.
I didn't know about rolling on mud or smoothing blades. I have three bedrooms with painted-over wallpaper. I was going to replace the sheetrock! Thank you for the incredible paradigm shift!
Great Job on these Videos. You do the best at explaining every little nuance. I too have the 18,24 and 40 in skim blades. I can't believe how fast the job goes. 2 coats and I am done I was impressed at the amount of area one can cover with the 40 in blade. Thanks for explaining the roller, this will help in the future. As a homeowner I have learned a lot from you. Keep up the good work.
I'm 65, I remodel a house once every 5-7 years. Just finishing up house #4 since I retired 20 years. Planning to move to SE Asia and building a house without any drywall. What a nice feeling to never use drywall again. In this house I did one wall with MDF shiplap...was a pain too, result not super great. But then I decided to cheap out and make my own shiplap using some scrap 3/8 and 1/2 CDX plywood I had. Ripped to 6" widths but I could even very the width if needed to use up scrap. Hand sand the edges rounding them over, 80 grit. Ripped 2" strips of 1/8 panel to make the lap, Glued the strip to the back of the ply on one side. Prime, even paint, before installing. Brad nail to install. Wow, I loved the result. Way easier to install than the MDF shiplap I had brought. It's the rough surface of the CDX that I think helped. The perfect edges of the MDF showed any issues. I ended up doing 2 more walls in this pjy shiplap and 2 closets. The closets had AC lines and cables so I screwed the ply, not painting over screws, so I could access in the future. For sure pre-painted is needed for access. Anywho, next house all teak and/or mahogany. Bye bye drywall. I won't miss you.
Did 20000 sq ft with a two in knife, it’s what the home owner wanted, my index figure was soar for a year. Rolled on just like your doing, no direction just back and fourth motions, homeowner was an artist, after it was high low painted turned out amazing. I would charge 3.50 a sq ft to even think about ever doing again.
I have a job coming up where I will be skimming the walls in a bathroom. I googled skimming walls and came across your video! You covered all my questions and demonstrated so well how it’s used! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!!
We did our bedroom, master bath, and another 11:30 room so far with the 50's style roll on and leave it. It kinda reminds me of tree bark. We love it. 11:30
Thank you bro 35 years of drywall but not much smooth wall you have really help me on this job terrible bubbles OMG crazy I'm going do this today after I sand it I'm sure it's going make things better
Vancouver Carpenter and Paul Peck stepped up my game in finish work. I was able to recoat very heavy ceiling and wall texture to a smooth finish. I was unable to rerock the room because of the thick plaster.
within your first 51 seconds you nailed the issue of skimming. We have the Level 5 set and the 24 and 36 are extremely tough to get good skims if the wall is uneven, if only by a tiny bit. I have found I can skim those walls much better with my 13" soft flex Nela trowel.
You make it look so simple when it's totally a finesse job... It was really informative for me, though, after I've struggled with doing drywall, mudding and taping all my life, well, most of it, anywho... I already used some of your suggestions, and I really found out about mud consistency is key !
Thank you for this video! You got me to buy one of these to make my skim coating easier. I am hanging new sheet rock in places, and removing a 1950's sanded skip trowel on the walls that don't need replacing. Yeah I suck at it, this is my first time. I am getting better.
Really glad to see you doing this video. I just bought a Level5 32" skimming blade! I can't wait to try it out but first I have to perfect the annoying corners! And as I was removing old tape from the corners I found a spot that was beginning to mold and sooooo I'm back to square one. Replacing that bad section with new drywall!
Why are there so many level 5 comments on youtube? And most of them sound forced and fake 🤔 The level 5 blade I was considering from amazon got a D rating on fakespot, and I never buy from companies that put out fake reviews. Shame shame shame.
@@Adelicows It's certainly a bit overrated. It's a good tool to have, but I imagine you could get the same quality from cheaper products with enough skill/practice. Level5 is just a higher tier company, like the difference between getting Craftsman and Snap-on. They both get the job done, but is it really necessary? ...probable not.
USG, in their 2022 White Paper (J2010/7-22), recommends conventional weight all-purpose compound, not light-weight or topping, for a skim coat over new drywall. I have found manufacturers do state specifications to protect themselves from complaints/lawsuits that are impractical or time-consuming. I plan on trying to follow that advice instead of Ben's, when I skim coat my new drywall work using my recently purchased Columbia skim blades (24" and 32", thanks Ben!). Time will tell whose advice is correct for my abilities.
You can save a lot of time and frustration from bucket slop/crusties by creating a bucket collar. Just cut another bucket about a third of the way from the top and insert it into your mud bucket. When it gets too messy for you just take it out and over to your water/cleanup bucket and wipe/brush it out and you're ready to rock again. And if you want, you can also cut out a bucket scraper, or several, from the remainder of the bucket you already cut the collar from. I like to take a utility knife and create a nice thin bevel(but not too thin) on the scrape edge.
I bought a set of Nela Edge Black. Like 5 of them from 6" up to 48". The blades themselves are great. No complaints. One of the reasons I bought a set is that it came with a pole and the adapter to attach the blades to the pole so I could use them on ceilings for regular joints (not skimming an entire ceiling). Not sure what they were thinking with what they came up with, but the adapter fits on the blade handles so tight that I literally had to hammer it off. It is most definitely not a quick release type system. In fact... it's useless in my opinion. Unless you want to permanently attach it to a single blade handle. I complained to the company and they said "yep, that's the way it is". I bought another brands adapter. It works great. It's logically designed. I can finish with one blade and switch to another with it in seconds. So, yeah... Nela blades are fine, especially for the price, but their adapter to attach blades to a pole is idiotic and not worth it. I even tried modifying their adapter and cutting out a major part of the centre of it so it would have some sort of flex. It didn't, and I was afraid that if I cut any more out it was just going to break anyways.
Ben, I’ve found pre-wetting my blades leaves a significantly better finish for final coat, no sanding needed even. Whether using my level 5 skim blades or just 12” standards. Have you ever tried this? I’ve simply kept a spray bottle of water (slight bit of soap doesn’t hurt either) and spray the blade and keep it wet throughout. Thoughts?
Yep, wetting the blade is a game changer. Makes it feel more like plaster and it also gets rid of the tiny bubbles that haunt people. As you said, minimal to no sanding as well
I typically piss on mine, it helps with PH burn as the common value for urine pH is 6.0-7.5 for most people, but any value within the 4.5-8.0 range is generally not a cause for concern. The pH scale runs from 1 to 14, with 1 being the most acidic and 14 the most basic. When pH burns or alkali burns occur, it can ruin the finish of paint on concrete, stucco, drywall or cement for outdoor paint treatments. The alkali burn will break down the vinyl acrylic based coating binders in a paint treatment. Too new surfaces are usually the culprit, and the paint will decidedly just peel itself back off with the improper pH to blame for the disconnect. The alkali burn will present as an uneven painted treatment on those surfaces but it can easily be avoided. Before exteriors are painted, there needs to be performed a pH test of the surfaces before any painting is completed outside. If the surface areas need to be treated quickly, then it is advisable that a primer be used that can certify that the proper pH level does exist before additional coats of paint are applied afterwards. The pH is a formal measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a wall surface. It is necessary to determine the pH score of a wall before applying any paint to that surface of the wall. The pH score of 7 is a good neutral rating of acidity on a wall surface. When the pH score ranges from 0-6 it is an indication of acidity, and a score of 8-14 shows the level of alkalinity. The only way to stop the process of alkali burn is to ensure that every wall or masonry surface prepared in the home is permitted to set and cure for 30 days to several months before painting on that area. There are several pH tests available, and even a pH pencil that can be used to test acidity. When choosing paint, try inorganic colors first, and ask for the help of the pros to choose paint that will pass the pH test.
This is how Ive been doing skim coats. The Level 5 tools are a bit expensive, but once you use it, you wont want to skim without one. I'm not a pro drywaller, but Im an advanced do it yourselfer for many things, and the Level 5 tool makes me look like I know what Im doing.
Thank you so much for this video. I bought one of these from level five and gave up on it. Tried again after watching this and did five walls in 2.5 hours with great results!
Hello, nice video. To speed up the work, putty is also applied with devices such as Graco Mark 5-7-10. Then the applied mixture is removed, smoothed with spatulas. The main thing is to wash the device properly after work. Good luck
I have a 32" TapeTech purchased after a recommendation from another contractor. He described it as "the cheat code for butt joints". The only recommendation I've been as grateful for is my Festool MIDI. These two tools make me a lot of money. A *big* thanks you to PatchBoyz here in Ottawa Canada, and to Scott Brown Carpentry in NZ.
I love my Marshalltown skimming blades. I have a 12” 24” and 30”. I have skimmed hundreds of sf of ceilings and walls and they do a great job. They are fantastic for large butt joints. Mate, I love your work and videos 😎
I love watching your videos. You have such positive attitude, that i am trying to emulate. Trying. I like the way you say "pigeon" when you get a blob fall. My comment usually starts with an s. Keep up the great videos, You are a true master.
I've gotten to where I use skimming blades for everything after the bed coat. I have only used Level 5 skimming blades so I'm not sure if it's just their blades or all blades but I find that the skimmers do a much faster job of floating and I can float a much larger area per coat. It also greatly reduces sanding, generally I only need to sand when I'm blending a patch into existing texture.
Full weight plasters used basically the same tool but thicker aluminum for the putty coat it is called a darby I used them for tile mud on walls and ceilings once in while to slick down messes.
Me and my husband moved to Florida, along with both daughters and their families. Well we have all been decorating our homes but we all have the orange peel walls. My daughter and her hubbie had to do a skim coat to put up wallpaper and so did I. I’ve never done it before so I watched your videos first. My daughter came over and said mine looked great and was so much better than what her husband did at their house. Her husband is so competitive with everything haha and she told him ours turned out looking a lot better than theirs. I told my husband I can guarantee my son n law is gonna come look at ours and sure enough, that evening he came by w my daughter. Me and my husband wanted to crack up because we watched our SIL stare at our walls, checking out our skim coat job 😂😂😂😂. It was hilarious. I’d never wanna do this for a job… it was a pain… but thank u for your instructions to make it as efficient as we could👌👌👌
I picked up a level 5 kit and have found them useful for more than just full skim coats. I had an area with a pitched wall where it met the ceiling and it was not level across the joint. I was able to do big fills with hot mud (mud framing VC called it, gave me an air of legitimacy when I describe it to people now). Then I bridged over to a parallel joint that was about 18” away and essentially just skimmed it all even with a 36” mud area.
I'm facing an issue where my ceiling has lots of little low spots (and some huge ones, but they don't concern me because they don't show up even with raked lighting), so my ceiling looks a little "billowy." I just bought a level 5 24" and I'd be really interested in hearing how you dealt with low spots. Thanks.
@@demophys4883 in my experience you can try and fill those spots- your best bet is whatever you use to screed the mud should be wider than your low spots. I find hot mud works best for any spots thicker than 3/8”-ish.
@@alligatorarms9086 hot mud is the dry mix you add water to, called silver set 5, 20, or 40 (in my area, USG has different names in different areas) depending on the working time. It is activated with plaster, so it hardens up before it dries out, which reduces the shrinkage.
I've been using the Level5 skim blades, and they work great. BUT, I found that it only works for me (key words: for me, since my skills aren't that good) on the absolute final coat using the larger sized blades. I saw videos of people using the the 7" and 10" blades across the first couple of coats, but I just couldn't do it. Even though they're more ergonomic than knives, I guess because of my muscle memory, I find it difficult to adjust to how you hold the smaller blades vs a drywall knife. The larger ones do make it so much easier to skim coat for me though.
THANK YOU BEN !! Been hoping for this video ! I do popcorn ceiling flattening and was wondering if a wider tool would help. No question, gonna move over to Columbia tools, local co, gotta support them. I also work in older 1900 - 1940 homes w / plaster walls, this will help the plaster drywall interface before sponge floating. Bet I can smooth structolite with this as well ! Looking for a good light, as always, anybody have a good modern drywall light that has that good shadow and great colour ? Hope all is well, best from Victoria !
the fastest effective way would spraying it with a hopper, using commercial industrial silicone between the unions cracks , n screws, two coats on mud , then either use a giant sander with wetting the dry mud with spray gun, pump sprayer or hand water bottle spray smooth , do corners by hand or square rectangular sander ,, then primer paint first coat see the inperfections fill them in with mud resand , primer spots only wait to dry apply first coat of paint clean wiped wall in between or use blower, designs are made with roller or hay broom sponge, or hand brush,,
First, I would like to say thank you. I have learned a lot from u . I got my level 5 and can't wait to start my adventure. Again, thank you and continue the awesome work
I liked how you mentioned when you press the mud down when you roll it out can eliminate many bubbles/pox as apposed to loading it on with a knife or trowel. Also obviouly the thinned down mud helps.
I want to see a video, 30 years in the future when a new family moves in to Bens house and starts to do remodels. They are going to wonder what the random patches and multi layers of drywall mud are for.
Yeah thst exactly what’s throwing me off here I’m thinking the entire time why the hell is this guy doing this wall The wall looked fine to me now back to my drywall skimming search results
Yes this is the only time I'd use this method. Rolling it on the ceiling would make things much easier psychically and save time. As for the walls tho.. this is a complete waste of time and added messiness for no reason
Recently learned they make mudpan holders that go on your hip. You could probably combine that with a knife in your back pocket and just scrape the skimmer off and then scrape that knife off into the pan on your hip. It would be most useful for higher up so you dont have to keep going up and down the ladder I imagine, this was 2 years ago though so im sure youve streamline the process and gotten faster somehow already
I have a Level 5 24" skimming blade. Doesn't work too well on wavy 100 year old plaster walls. Leaves too many untouched sections. It is perfect for new drywall joints.
Just ordered such a kind of tool with 80cm length. I hope, the handle gives better control than more "simple" trowels. My point is, that if you don`t have an even surface, a longer trowel (called like this) is way better to create an even surface / level it out. Have a project pretty soon, lets see how it works out.
Out of curiosity, because I live in Vancouver, and I need to have it done over the next year, what is a ballpark on a 600 sq ft ceiling to go from popcorn to level 5?
I just gave these a go. Not a bad first attempt, but definitely revisiting this video to see how I can improve! First guess is use more mud. 😊. Level5 is the brand I chose.
22:49 Ben…..you Sir, are not the only one. My OCD doesn’t allow it either and why after it dries a bit, I can knock/peel it off the buckets. It’s also why tools look “new” compared to some, b/c I actually spend the time to really clean them ( probably way more than I should, lol), but just like fo things to be clean; and not have that “cake” layer all over everything Great vid, do love your stories, humor, and fun energetic attitude Towards the work you do👍🏻 Cheers✌🏻
Could you use the smaller of these blades for the skim coat of the drywall seams? I have coats 2 and 3 to work on in my basement. My husband got the drywall up and the first coat on the seams and screw holes before he was killed in a car crash in late July. So while I'm sort of handy, I'm not nearly as handy as he was!! I just can't afford to bring someone in to do it. Any thoughts? Thank you for a great video!
Hi Christina. I’m sorry to hear about your loss. You don’t need one of those blades. Yes they do a great job but you will get great results with just a 12” joint knife. Rolling the mud on with a paint roller might help a lot. There is a bit of a learning curve but I think it’s the easiest way. You can get it with practice. 👍
@@vancouvercarpenter Thank you! Husband had purchased everything so I have the 6" knife and the larger one...12"? Also trowels but I think I'll stick to the knives. :) Thankfully he got the first coat done. This would be much more daunting if I was doing all 3 layers!
Im a home owner who bought a rental to live in and the walls were really bad . I used this method without experience it was a nightmare however after 5 coats and sanding in-between the results were worth it. I wish I knew what I did before I started the job. Especially using all purpose with a bit of water. I was mixing my own hot mud 90 and that stuff was a nightmare. I also wish someone told me to be carefull when mixing with a drill in a plastic bucket. If you hit the sides you will have shavings in the mud. Also no one said flat out you need multiple coats for really bad walls . And lastly most of the work is prep and clean up. Since I am living in the place and was redoing my kitchen and dining I had to do this between each coat.
I used the roller method for application, but ended up using a 6 inch knife and pan full of mud to slap globs of mud on the wall and ceiling then spread it with the roller. It was easier for me. I used a marshalltown 31 inch skim blade as well. No complaints with the blade.
It so different watching plasterers in North America to the UK. You use knives rather than trowels a lot. They do a look a lot easier for the average DIY occasional repair plasterer. Never seen a roller or a large blade either but again makes a lot more sense to for an occasional amateur like me. I actually use lime plater quite a bit in a very old house both inside and out for repairs which is something standard plaster trades people don't like doing - especially just small jobs.
Awesome work bob ! The bidet would have been the cherry on top ! I got one , the best investment I’ve ever made ! It’s the highlight of my new bathroom . Why no outlets for the vanity ?Leviton makes great gfi with cell port charging . Have a awesome weekend !
I'm going to have to try this with a 20" trowel or 16" curved handle Marshalltown knife. Because I live remote and nice tomahawks aren't available here. Yes I will order one. But I've Got to get a ceiling done. I already have the trowel and knife.
I have a Level 5 24" composite and Marshalltown 18 and 32 inch stainless skimming blades. I like the stainless blades more than the composite so the 24" doesn't get much use.
I was looking at those darby tools and they're pricey! If you're doing a large job it seems worth it, but I only had to finish a garage so I opted for a 10" knife and a piece of wood which I made into a darby.
i actually just did that texture in a living room here in Texas city ,Tx . I had to match and I was able to make a perfect match by rolling it and knocking it down
Your videos are super helpful thank you so much. Quick idea on the rolling. I am not sure but perhaps starting in the center of the spot on the wall your working on then going up and down it wil leave a more even amount with your roller without having to drag it down
My drywall jobs usually look as if a chimpanzee had been flinging his crap at the walls. Butt joints were my nemesis. For that reason I bought a TapeTech 24" (Actually measures 23-1/2"). Soooo much better. I use a 45 minute mud and keep it a bit "juicy" then hold the TapeTech at about 60 degrees because the blade is fairly flexible and if you press too hard or hold it "flat" it'll take another coat or two to fill the joint.
My first time using a 32 inch skim blade was good but I struggled. Was using it with a pole to reach the top cause I'm 5'6". Very unwieldy. Should have thinned the mud more and just work in small sections. Lesson learned. But they do work. Despite my unprofessional results I could see it filling the low spots as it dried. I'd recommend them but they do have a slight learning curve.
Nice tip using the roller. You mentioned using soap. Can to talk about that but the whole set sounds like a good deal. I'll have a few rooms to skim coat at our new place. Not sure if this is happening to you but I used a mixing extension and it was leaving bucket shavings in my mud..!
You are just fantastic at this. It's really a big win for us all to have someone of your ability as a tradesman also have such a gift at teaching. It's genuinely educational and oddly relaxing watching you work. You're kind of the Bob Ross of carpentry.
I wish I worked with this guy. You’re right; he is Bob Ross. He makes hard work look fun.
& a hell of a skateboarder
Had my first level 5 job this week since seeing you apply the mud with a roller & decided to try it out.
Once again, thank you for teaching me yet another little trick that has proven to be a huge time saver. I used less mud, applied it faster, more consistent thickness & the skimmer was done in 2 passes. Best tip in ages. Cheers from Australia.
The level 5 standard was written in the the 1960's. Go back and read it before you say you can do a level 5 finish.
At the end it referring to visible work showing through, and that means a professional looking right at holding a work light at an angle while you put your head against thw wall to look down the wall.
Customers don't know any better, and people say it to them since they watch youtube so they think they lnoww what it is and they cant afford true level 5.
Nobody reads the standard and says they can do a level 5 with less that a year or two of work on a full time high end crew.
@@sparksmcgee6641he didn’t say he could do it, he just said he had the job.
@@sparksmcgee6641you are correct . A the level 5 takes a lot of time and alot of coats and sanding . Others wise it's just skim slicked walls .
@alvidrez7956 yeah nothing like asking what standard someone doing a level 5 is using.
It was put out in 1968 and states nothing visible. Everyone then screams that you can use a professional to determine thT because they'll see EVERYTHING. Yah that's thw point it's a PROFESSIONAL standard, it means get a light out and walk the wall while holing it against the drywall. That's level 5. First time I saw an architect do that I had to look up the standard, MAn, his houses looked good. Which they should have because he paid for that level work.
I’m pathetic, just got home from spraying knockdown all day, and I’m watching drywall videos.
At least they are from a great teacher, after thirty years there’s always something to learn. Keep up the great videos, I especially love your testing out tools, I personally hate rolling mud on after watching you a know I just get into too big of hurry, I always feel like I’m not getting anything done. I have found a like to blow in my ceilings if possible with a hopper, then I use a 14 inch knife on pole to skim in. I started using and reusing, heavy 4to6 mil plastic, I let my grandkids wash when it gets really nasty. Not always possible, I wish the nematic tools were around when I started finishing, maybe my shoulder and wrist wouldn’t be so bad, DMSO and CDS work wonders, given me ten more years so far.
Me too lol
I call it dedicated to your craft
No sir you just want to be informed like the rest of us
The sign of a true professional in the making.
Dip your roller in water and use your hands to work the water in the fibers a little. Give it a gentle spin, then dunk it and spin it again. You want it pretty damp but not dripping. We always called it “priming” the roller. It basically allows you to start applying material right away, without the first several minutes and sections being wasted to saturating the roller. Same thing with a brush.
I have every confidence it would work for preparing a roller to applymud for a skim coat.
It 💯 absolutely does, we soak rollers and wring excess out
Amazing how a pro defines "messy". By just standing still and looking at a bucket of mud, I manage to look as though I willfully decided to take a bath in the stuff! It frightened the cats when they saw me and the little woman cracked up and said I looked like I was in a full body cast.
start wondering "when did i step in this?" "how did this get on my face?"
Same...no body cast but I resemble a statue that pigeons reside on.
@@shoyrushoyrudoing it barefoot and shirtless has made me realize what i did faster than noticing it’s on my shoe after i’m upstairs
I grabbed a Level 5 and it makes a huge difference - I almost looks like I know what I'm doing! After watching your video, now I know I can do a better job rolling it on as well.. that's a huge time saver as well if you ask me. Thank you for your great videos 🙂
I am a general, do everything person. Drywall mudding is NOT one of my strong points. 🤣I bought a level 5 blade a year or so ago, and my work now looks professional.
@@mph5896 Professional painter here. Paint doesnt hide anything, it highlights it. The walls have to be perfect for the paint job to look good. 75% of my time on any job is getting those walls to look good before any paint goes on. This channel has elevated my drywall skills a million times over. Excellent teacher. If you want to learn drywall watch his older videos on how to use a hawk and trowel. It used to look like witchcraft to me but now thanks to this channel I'm a pro! I have a big blade too and it's wonderful on leveling out the wall although it's still a "cheater stick!"
@@wally7856 I'll take any cheater stick I can get. No shame in my game. I touch paint and drywall a couple times a year. I am definitely not going to get good at it in that time frame. Just looking for some tips and tricks here and there to make the job doable over unbearable.
I just ordered one. A level 5. Really gonna try to use this technique to fix shitty drywall jobs I didn’t do. Or one my own jobs
@@coreychmiel I have found that the Level 5 blades work so well that it feels like cheating
So glad I found this helpful video AFTER skim coating my living and dining rooms. As a cake decorator, I agree that it does feel a bit like frosting a cake.
I love this channel and that almost half a million folks tune in to see you do something we can't really see on camera. But in our imaginations, that wall is silky smooth
I bought a level 5 set last year. Can't believe how much work it saves & seriously impressive results.
Totally agree with BenRush's comment about you being the Bob Ross of Carpentry. I find I'm watching your videos just because I can relate to the satisfaction aspect of your work. It is very relaxing to watch. Not to discredit how fit you are, the amount of muscle it takes to do the work is not at all lost on me. So glad the blade company sent you those blades. And I would like to add, whoever is filming, did a fabulous job.
Thank you :)
I'm not a tradesman, but I learned how to do drywall working on my own house. And I find it to be one of the most satisfying home improvement tasks there is. I might be kind of a weirdo, but I love getting that mud smooth on the wall. I have only used long blades in the past, but I might invest in one of these things if I ever do another job on my house.
As long as ya don’t mess around with it for to long. Then I feel it becomes a mess and I always end up having to sand and recoat. Lol
yeah I dont think this guy knows mud is put on with a scraper... so I dunno whats so special about these scrapers :-o
There is a side of mudding that can be soothing when doing it for yourself or even a friend. However, when your taping and mudding an entire basement or even a house it becomes tedious. What’s worse is when you are working against a deadline and whomever did the drywall before you made a series of mistakes that require you to do twice the work in order to finish your job properly. That’s why I decided to start my own business, now the only mistakes are my own.
This is the best, most educational skimming video I’ve seen and I’ve searched through a fair amount. Thank you for this. It’s great that it’s in real time rather than the sped up videos that people do these days, where certain important points are not explained. Very much appreciated and hope to see more of your videos. 🙂👍
I absolutely love your videos! It is great to see how other craftsmen operate. I need to buy a couple of those blades. Being a plasterer years ago I always troweled everything on the walls and ceilings.
Thanks again!
21:28. "I super thin coat of shoulder busting scraping mud off" That's how I've been doing it. Like 9 coats of super thin mud. Comes out perfect, but takes like 3 days a wall. :) So hard to get it flat if I leave thick coats. MASSIVE amounts of sanding. Biggest problem with the super thin coats is that the mud starts to dry out super quick.
Oh my geez. So satisfying to watch. I completely related to your contentment as you skimmed that wall. God I want to buy one but I'm not a drywaller (lol) by profession. I just began remodeling my home a year ago which has been an amazing experience. Ben, my honey showed everyone at work my drywall & skim work via video and pics, and they were shocked to see how good my work is that at one point, they even said that it would be a good thing to hire me for patching up drywall jobs. Can you believe this? All that I have learned is because of your videos. You're a great teacher. Wish I could show you my work. And by the way, the humor is a bonus to watching VC videos with coffee in the A.M. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Oh yeah, and I TOTALLY agree w/ keeping the bucket lip clean. I'm 100% OCD about that too.
My pleasure. And i can believe that people would want to hire you. That's how it happens😂.
One little job leads to another and it gets to the point that you don't want anyone to know you can do drywall!
@@vancouvercarpenter LOL yeah, you're absolutely right. Well, see ya in the next one. Hope you and family are doing great.
I'm getting ready to work on the ceiling and repair walls in a bathroom remodel. This video was timely. But I'll need to revisit your other drywall videos for reminders. Thanks.
23 years ago I worked on a project that wanted 700,000sqft of drywall level 5! We rolled it all with 18” rollers and used a huge pan of mud to dip the roller into! Three man process. One guy rolling and two guys trialing with 14” knives. And this was with regular mud! They didn’t have lightweight back than! Now we use Graco Mark 5 to spray the mud on the walls! Great videos! Love the inside jokes!! I laugh and than my wife gives me the l don’t get it look! 😆
I used a Bon 6-foot by 4" by 3/4" aluminum screed (a tube with a rectangular cross-section) and a 4 foot aluminum ruler (about 2" wide and 1/8" thick) to skim walls and ceiling. Worked great! Use whatever you have on hand to do the job. Also used them to float the floor (in concrete) before porcelain tiles. The trim and baseboard went on super easy, since the surfaces were so flat.
A 4' ruler?! I LOVE IT! REALLY?
@@kooale ,
Wall finish standards are 1/8 inch variation over 8 or 10 feet. Grab an 8 to check the final finish.
I had an insurance claim on my house and it took a year to find a plaster crew that could do inside plaster to that standard. I even gave them 1/8 over 6 foot.
Insurance to redo the walls went from 3-4,000. To 2,000 for drywall and 26,000 for plaster.
If you use a standard they can't fight you on payment.
The problem was I had more time than money when I did the work, and I was 15 years younger.
I have always skimmed by hand but decided to try this technique on a 100 year old house and man it worked a charm. Beautiful flat walls quickly.
I didn't know about rolling on mud or smoothing blades. I have three bedrooms with painted-over wallpaper. I was going to replace the sheetrock! Thank you for the incredible paradigm shift!
Great Job on these Videos. You do the best at explaining every little nuance. I too have the 18,24 and 40 in skim blades. I can't believe how fast the job goes. 2 coats and I am done I was impressed at the amount of area one can cover with the 40 in blade. Thanks for explaining the roller, this will help in the future. As a homeowner I have learned a lot from you. Keep up the good work.
I'm 65, I remodel a house once every 5-7 years. Just finishing up house #4 since I retired 20 years. Planning to move to SE Asia and building a house without any drywall. What a nice feeling to never use drywall again. In this house I did one wall with MDF shiplap...was a pain too, result not super great. But then I decided to cheap out and make my own shiplap using some scrap 3/8 and 1/2 CDX plywood I had. Ripped to 6" widths but I could even very the width if needed to use up scrap. Hand sand the edges rounding them over, 80 grit.
Ripped 2" strips of 1/8 panel to make the lap, Glued the strip to the back of the ply on one side.
Prime, even paint, before installing. Brad nail to install. Wow, I loved the result. Way easier to install than the MDF shiplap I had brought. It's the rough surface of the CDX that I think helped. The perfect edges of the MDF showed any issues. I ended up doing 2 more walls in this pjy shiplap and 2 closets. The closets had AC lines and cables so I screwed the ply, not painting over screws, so I could access in the future. For sure pre-painted is needed for access.
Anywho, next house all teak and/or mahogany. Bye bye drywall. I won't miss you.
"I should have my bucket close to me, where I'm working. Silly of me"
*Leaves it there*
🤣🤣 what would we do without you, VC? 🤣
Did 20000 sq ft with a two in knife, it’s what the home owner wanted, my index figure was soar for a year. Rolled on just like your doing, no direction just back and fourth motions, homeowner was an artist, after it was high low painted turned out amazing. I would charge 3.50 a sq ft to even think about ever doing again.
I have a job coming up where I will be skimming the walls in a bathroom. I googled skimming walls and came across your video! You covered all my questions and demonstrated so well how it’s used! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!!
We did our bedroom, master bath, and another 11:30 room so far with the 50's style roll on and leave it. It kinda reminds me of tree bark. We love it. 11:30
Tape the receptacles. It is a whole lot easier to remove tape rather than mud from the receptacle.
Just skim coated walls with roller and 36" blade today for the first time. LOVE IT!
I always appreciate how you talk out what you’re doing as you’re doing it! Most “how to” videos would just say “roll the mud on and sand”.
Thank you bro 35 years of drywall but not much smooth wall you have really help me on this job terrible bubbles OMG crazy I'm going do this today after I sand it I'm sure it's going make things better
Awe “hitch hiker!” Best technical term ever!
Just bought a big skimmer thanks for this video!
A pro showing a “hitchhiker”. This guy is the genuine article. ❤
Vancouver Carpenter and Paul Peck stepped up my game in finish work. I was able to recoat very heavy ceiling and wall texture to a smooth finish. I was unable to rerock the room because of the thick plaster.
within your first 51 seconds you nailed the issue of skimming. We have the Level 5 set and the 24 and 36 are extremely tough to get good skims if the wall is uneven, if only by a tiny bit. I have found I can skim those walls much better with my 13" soft flex Nela trowel.
I pre-skim the walls to fill the hollows, but am really looking forward to this 3' trowel. I do lots of ceilings too.
YO Flow - Are you referring to the Nela Premium NELAFLEX Trowel or the
Level 5 ULTRA-FLEX Flat Finishing Trowel - 0.4mm S/S Blade. Great tip, THANKS!
@@kooale the nelaflex.
You make it look so simple when it's totally a finesse job...
It was really informative for me, though, after I've struggled with doing drywall, mudding and taping all my life, well, most of it, anywho...
I already used some of your suggestions, and I really found out about mud consistency is key !
Thank you for this video! You got me to buy one of these to make my skim coating easier. I am hanging new sheet rock in places, and removing a 1950's sanded skip trowel on the walls that don't need replacing. Yeah I suck at it, this is my first time. I am getting better.
Really glad to see you doing this video. I just bought a Level5 32" skimming blade! I can't wait to try it out but first I have to perfect the annoying corners! And as I was removing old tape from the corners I found a spot that was beginning to mold and sooooo I'm back to square one. Replacing that bad section with new drywall!
Why are there so many level 5 comments on youtube? And most of them sound forced and fake 🤔 The level 5 blade I was considering from amazon got a D rating on fakespot, and I never buy from companies that put out fake reviews. Shame shame shame.
@@Adelicows It's certainly a bit overrated. It's a good tool to have, but I imagine you could get the same quality from cheaper products with enough skill/practice. Level5 is just a higher tier company, like the difference between getting Craftsman and Snap-on. They both get the job done, but is it really necessary? ...probable not.
If you look into details, and details do matter. U will know the difference
USG, in their 2022 White Paper (J2010/7-22), recommends conventional weight all-purpose compound, not light-weight or topping, for a skim coat over new drywall. I have found manufacturers do state specifications to protect themselves from complaints/lawsuits that are impractical or time-consuming. I plan on trying to follow that advice instead of Ben's, when I skim coat my new drywall work using my recently purchased Columbia skim blades (24" and 32", thanks Ben!). Time will tell whose advice is correct for my abilities.
Heavy weight is better for skimming, green lid cgc, Ben does not have it out west
You can save a lot of time and frustration from bucket slop/crusties by creating a bucket collar. Just cut another bucket about a third of the way from the top and insert it into your mud bucket. When it gets too messy for you just take it out and over to your water/cleanup bucket and wipe/brush it out and you're ready to rock again. And if you want, you can also cut out a bucket scraper, or several, from the remainder of the bucket you already cut the collar from. I like to take a utility knife and create a nice thin bevel(but not too thin) on the scrape edge.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
I bought a set of Nela Edge Black. Like 5 of them from 6" up to 48". The blades themselves are great. No complaints. One of the reasons I bought a set is that it came with a pole and the adapter to attach the blades to the pole so I could use them on ceilings for regular joints (not skimming an entire ceiling). Not sure what they were thinking with what they came up with, but the adapter fits on the blade handles so tight that I literally had to hammer it off. It is most definitely not a quick release type system. In fact... it's useless in my opinion. Unless you want to permanently attach it to a single blade handle. I complained to the company and they said "yep, that's the way it is". I bought another brands adapter. It works great. It's logically designed. I can finish with one blade and switch to another with it in seconds.
So, yeah... Nela blades are fine, especially for the price, but their adapter to attach blades to a pole is idiotic and not worth it. I even tried modifying their adapter and cutting out a major part of the centre of it so it would have some sort of flex. It didn't, and I was afraid that if I cut any more out it was just going to break anyways.
What other brand adapter did you buy? Looking to pick up nela blades, cheapest by some ways. Do you find the 40 tricky to use?
I dont do and never did any work like that but i just like to watch ben talk and do whatever. Luv u ben
thank you for taking the time to make this video! The wall looks amazing!
Ben, I’ve found pre-wetting my blades leaves a significantly better finish for final coat, no sanding needed even. Whether using my level 5 skim blades or just 12” standards. Have you ever tried this? I’ve simply kept a spray bottle of water (slight bit of soap doesn’t hurt either) and spray the blade and keep it wet throughout. Thoughts?
Not yet
Yes, wetting the blade helps. I always have an extra mud pan with water in when doing skim coating.
Yep, wetting the blade is a game changer. Makes it feel more like plaster and it also gets rid of the tiny bubbles that haunt people. As you said, minimal to no sanding as well
I typically piss on mine, it helps with PH burn as the common value for urine pH is 6.0-7.5 for most people, but any value within the 4.5-8.0 range is generally not a cause for concern. The pH scale runs from 1 to 14, with 1 being the most acidic and 14 the most basic. When pH burns or alkali burns occur, it can ruin the finish of paint on concrete, stucco, drywall or cement for outdoor paint treatments. The alkali burn will break down the vinyl acrylic based coating binders in a paint treatment. Too new surfaces are usually the culprit, and the paint will decidedly just peel itself back off with the improper pH to blame for the disconnect. The alkali burn will present as an uneven painted treatment on those surfaces but it can easily be avoided. Before exteriors are painted, there needs to be performed a pH test of the surfaces before any painting is completed outside. If the surface areas need to be treated quickly, then it is advisable that a primer be used that can certify that the proper pH level does exist before additional coats of paint are applied afterwards. The pH is a formal measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a wall surface. It is necessary to determine the pH score of a wall before applying any paint to that surface of the wall. The pH score of 7 is a good neutral rating of acidity on a wall surface. When the pH score ranges from 0-6 it is an indication of acidity, and a score of 8-14 shows the level of alkalinity. The only way to stop the process of alkali burn is to ensure that every wall or masonry surface prepared in the home is permitted to set and cure for 30 days to several months before painting on that area. There are several pH tests available, and even a pH pencil that can be used to test acidity. When choosing paint, try inorganic colors first, and ask for the help of the pros to choose paint that will pass the pH test.
@@vancouvercarpenter He'll ignore it like he does marking the bowed side of the blade! TOO FAST & SIMPLE! HA!
This is how Ive been doing skim coats. The Level 5 tools are a bit expensive, but once you use it, you wont want to skim without one. I'm not a pro drywaller, but Im an advanced do it yourselfer for many things, and the Level 5 tool makes me look like I know what Im doing.
Thank you so much for this video. I bought one of these from level five and gave up on it. Tried again after watching this and did five walls in 2.5 hours with great results!
Hello, nice video. To speed up the work, putty is also applied with devices such as Graco Mark 5-7-10. Then the applied mixture is removed, smoothed with spatulas. The main thing is to wash the device properly after work. Good luck
I have a 32" TapeTech purchased after a recommendation from another contractor. He described it as "the cheat code for butt joints". The only recommendation I've been as grateful for is my Festool MIDI. These two tools make me a lot of money.
A *big* thanks you to PatchBoyz here in Ottawa Canada, and to Scott Brown Carpentry in NZ.
Ben anyone would think you are a pro skim coat guy with those blades.they are a fantastic invention!! good job buddy
I love my Marshalltown skimming blades. I have a 12” 24” and 30”. I have skimmed hundreds of sf of ceilings and walls and they do a great job. They are fantastic for large butt joints. Mate, I love your work and videos 😎
Thank you!!!
Thank you for posting !!
Great tip as I'm prepping to buy Marshaltown as they are so affordable. Many thanks.
Some companies make a 18 inch one, I think that'll be the one I get, it'll fit in rolling tool boxes they're usually 19 inches inside.
I love watching your videos. You have such positive attitude, that i am trying to emulate. Trying. I like the way you say "pigeon" when you get a blob fall. My comment usually starts with an s. Keep up the great videos, You are a true master.
Это точно. Не устану делать три вещи: смотреть, как горит огонь, как течёт вода и как другой человек работает!))))
Thank You Michael Carbonaro!! Good to see you doing something other than magic tricks..
I've gotten to where I use skimming blades for everything after the bed coat. I have only used Level 5 skimming blades so I'm not sure if it's just their blades or all blades but I find that the skimmers do a much faster job of floating and I can float a much larger area per coat. It also greatly reduces sanding, generally I only need to sand when I'm blending a patch into existing texture.
I can't believe how much your tutorial helped me thank you!
Full weight plasters used basically the same tool but thicker aluminum for the putty coat it is called a darby I used them for tile mud on walls and ceilings once in while to slick down messes.
I used the big one to level and then skim a ceiling. It was hard work but the ceiling looked great.
Me and my husband moved to Florida, along with both daughters and their families. Well we have all been decorating our homes but we all have the orange peel walls. My daughter and her hubbie had to do a skim coat to put up wallpaper and so did I. I’ve never done it before so I watched your videos first. My daughter came over and said mine looked great and was so much better than what her husband did at their house. Her husband is so competitive with everything haha and she told him ours turned out looking a lot better than theirs. I told my husband I can guarantee my son n law is gonna come look at ours and sure enough, that evening he came by w my daughter. Me and my husband wanted to crack up because we watched our SIL stare at our walls, checking out our skim coat job 😂😂😂😂. It was hilarious. I’d never wanna do this for a job… it was a pain… but thank u for your instructions to make it as efficient as we could👌👌👌
I always used a paint roller to apply my mud for skim coat. It works very well.
Your Videos are so so good! Thank you so much for what you do and how you teach !
I am gonna do a room makeover before 2023 and this is a huuuuge help for me!
I use a similar product. I us the Ox pro speed skim, I now use the 18" on my tape seams, I love it.
Rolling it on?!?!?! Genius! Masterful work dude.
I picked up a level 5 kit and have found them useful for more than just full skim coats. I had an area with a pitched wall where it met the ceiling and it was not level across the joint. I was able to do big fills with hot mud (mud framing VC called it, gave me an air of legitimacy when I describe it to people now). Then I bridged over to a parallel joint that was about 18” away and essentially just skimmed it all even with a 36” mud area.
I'm facing an issue where my ceiling has lots of little low spots (and some huge ones, but they don't concern me because they don't show up even with raked lighting), so my ceiling looks a little "billowy." I just bought a level 5 24" and I'd be really interested in hearing how you dealt with low spots. Thanks.
@@demophys4883 in my experience you can try and fill those spots- your best bet is whatever you use to screed the mud should be wider than your low spots. I find hot mud works best for any spots thicker than 3/8”-ish.
Is hot mud referring to mud that is starting to dry slightly?
@@alligatorarms9086 hot mud is the dry mix you add water to, called silver set 5, 20, or 40 (in my area, USG has different names in different areas) depending on the working time. It is activated with plaster, so it hardens up before it dries out, which reduces the shrinkage.
I've been using the Level5 skim blades, and they work great. BUT, I found that it only works for me (key words: for me, since my skills aren't that good) on the absolute final coat using the larger sized blades. I saw videos of people using the the 7" and 10" blades across the first couple of coats, but I just couldn't do it. Even though they're more ergonomic than knives, I guess because of my muscle memory, I find it difficult to adjust to how you hold the smaller blades vs a drywall knife. The larger ones do make it so much easier to skim coat for me though.
THANK YOU BEN !! Been hoping for this video ! I do popcorn ceiling flattening and was wondering if a wider tool would help.
No question, gonna move over to Columbia tools, local co, gotta support them.
I also work in older 1900 - 1940 homes w / plaster walls, this will help the plaster drywall interface before sponge floating.
Bet I can smooth structolite with this as well !
Looking for a good light, as always, anybody have a good modern drywall light that has that good shadow and great colour ?
Hope all is well,
best from Victoria !
the fastest effective way would spraying it with a hopper, using commercial industrial silicone between the unions cracks , n screws, two coats on mud , then either use a giant sander with wetting the dry mud with spray gun, pump sprayer or hand water bottle spray smooth , do corners by hand or square rectangular sander ,, then primer paint first coat see the inperfections fill them in with mud resand , primer spots only wait to dry apply first coat of paint clean wiped wall in between or use blower, designs are made with roller or hay broom sponge, or hand brush,,
All of my Drywall tools are Level 5....their stuff is just A+++ Best warranty in the business and the tools are rock solid.
First, I would like to say thank you. I have learned a lot from u . I got my level 5 and can't wait to start my adventure. Again, thank you and continue the awesome work
I liked how you mentioned when you press the mud down when you roll it out can eliminate many bubbles/pox as apposed to loading it on with a knife or trowel. Also obviouly the thinned down mud helps.
I want to see a video, 30 years in the future when a new family moves in to Bens house and starts to do remodels. They are going to wonder what the random patches and multi layers of drywall mud are for.
Lol "yeah they were on drugs" they'd say, nope just a youtuber
In 30 years time you may be dead, and new generation will be get a better ideas to remodels a houses , old ppl can’t keep up on new generation mate
@@charlesbhusa I hope you aren't part of that new generation... just reading your comment scares the shyt out of me.
There is 4-5mm of mud on our walls, was wondering why!
Yeah thst exactly what’s throwing me off here I’m thinking the entire time why the hell is this guy doing this wall
The wall looked fine to me now back to my drywall skimming search results
wow this video really got me fired up to finish some drywall
This would be awesome for finishing ceilings after texture removal. I never thought to search for something like this! This is amazing!
They are the perfect tool for skimming ceilings and walls there a must have for any finisher
Yes this is the only time I'd use this method. Rolling it on the ceiling would make things much easier psychically and save time.
As for the walls tho.. this is a complete waste of time and added messiness for no reason
I used to spray USG First Coat on my walls (it took one heckuva a sprayer),, once sanded & painted, it looked like it had been skimmed.
Well if it isn't another drywalling video by my favourite ol' drywaller from way back. The honourable, and true; Uncle Ben.
Recently learned they make mudpan holders that go on your hip. You could probably combine that with a knife in your back pocket and just scrape the skimmer off and then scrape that knife off into the pan on your hip. It would be most useful for higher up so you dont have to keep going up and down the ladder I imagine, this was 2 years ago though so im sure youve streamline the process and gotten faster somehow already
Thanks for the tutorial. One thing I've learned from all the videos is that I need to get a pair of Stan Smiths.😊
I have a Level 5 24" skimming blade. Doesn't work too well on wavy 100 year old plaster walls. Leaves too many untouched sections. It is perfect for new drywall joints.
Just ordered such a kind of tool with 80cm length.
I hope, the handle gives better control than more "simple" trowels.
My point is, that if you don`t have an even surface, a longer trowel (called like this) is way better to create an even surface / level it out.
Have a project pretty soon, lets see how it works out.
Thank you for teaching...really good tips. I appreciate 🙏 all ❤
Out of curiosity, because I live in Vancouver, and I need to have it done over the next year, what is a ballpark on a 600 sq ft ceiling to go from popcorn to level 5?
I just gave these a go. Not a bad first attempt, but definitely revisiting this video to see how I can improve! First guess is use more mud. 😊. Level5 is the brand I chose.
22:49 Ben…..you Sir, are not the only one. My OCD doesn’t allow it either and why after it dries a bit, I can knock/peel it off the buckets. It’s also why tools look “new” compared to some, b/c I actually spend the time to really clean them ( probably way more than I should, lol), but just like fo things to be clean; and not have that “cake” layer all over everything
Great vid, do love your stories, humor, and fun energetic attitude Towards the work you do👍🏻
Cheers✌🏻
Thank you!!!!
Could you use the smaller of these blades for the skim coat of the drywall seams? I have coats 2 and 3 to work on in my basement. My husband got the drywall up and the first coat on the seams and screw holes before he was killed in a car crash in late July. So while I'm sort of handy, I'm not nearly as handy as he was!! I just can't afford to bring someone in to do it. Any thoughts? Thank you for a great video!
Hi Christina. I’m sorry to hear about your loss. You don’t need one of those blades. Yes they do a great job but you will get great results with just a 12” joint knife. Rolling the mud on with a paint roller might help a lot. There is a bit of a learning curve but I think it’s the easiest way. You can get it with practice. 👍
@@vancouvercarpenter Thank you! Husband had purchased everything so I have the 6" knife and the larger one...12"? Also trowels but I think I'll stick to the knives. :) Thankfully he got the first coat done. This would be much more daunting if I was doing all 3 layers!
Im a home owner who bought a rental to live in and the walls were really bad . I used this method without experience it was a nightmare however after 5 coats and sanding in-between the results were worth it. I wish I knew what I did before I started the job. Especially using all purpose with a bit of water. I was mixing my own hot mud 90 and that stuff was a nightmare. I also wish someone told me to be carefull when mixing with a drill in a plastic bucket. If you hit the sides you will have shavings in the mud. Also no one said flat out you need multiple coats for really bad walls . And lastly most of the work is prep and clean up. Since I am living in the place and was redoing my kitchen and dining I had to do this between each coat.
Dang! Oh well, there is no better school than the school of hard knocks. The 90 minute must have been a nightmare😂😭
Yeah man, I just did a room (and still have to do the ceiling), the damn dust is annoying and hard AF to clean up. Very annoying.
I used the roller method for application, but ended up using a 6 inch knife and pan full of mud to slap globs of mud on the wall and ceiling then spread it with the roller. It was easier for me. I used a marshalltown 31 inch skim blade as well. No complaints with the blade.
Great tip as the M-towns are so much more affordable. MANY THANKS.
It so different watching plasterers in North America to the UK. You use knives rather than trowels a lot. They do a look a lot easier for the average DIY occasional repair plasterer. Never seen a roller or a large blade either but again makes a lot more sense to for an occasional amateur like me. I actually use lime plater quite a bit in a very old house both inside and out for repairs which is something standard plaster trades people don't like doing - especially just small jobs.
I'm using the Marshalltown squeegee trowel. My favorite feature is how it materializes crumbs out of thin air. (maybe that's just me)
Awesome work bob ! The bidet would have been the cherry on top ! I got one , the best investment I’ve ever made ! It’s the highlight of my new bathroom . Why no outlets for the vanity ?Leviton makes great gfi with cell port charging . Have a awesome weekend !
I'm going to have to try this with a 20" trowel or 16" curved handle Marshalltown knife. Because I live remote and nice tomahawks aren't available here. Yes I will order one. But I've Got to get a ceiling done. I already have the trowel and knife.
I have a Level 5 24" composite and Marshalltown 18 and 32 inch stainless skimming blades. I like the stainless blades more than the composite so the 24" doesn't get much use.
I was looking at those darby tools and they're pricey! If you're doing a large job it seems worth it, but I only had to finish a garage so I opted for a 10" knife and a piece of wood which I made into a darby.
i actually just did that texture in a living room here in Texas city ,Tx . I had to match and I was able to make a perfect match by rolling it and knocking it down
Your videos are super helpful thank you so much. Quick idea on the rolling. I am not sure but perhaps starting in the center of the spot on the wall your working on then going up and down it wil leave a more even amount with your roller without having to drag it down
Another great video. You are great at explaining things. Thanks very much.
My drywall jobs usually look as if a chimpanzee had been flinging his crap at the walls. Butt joints were my nemesis. For that reason I bought a TapeTech 24" (Actually measures 23-1/2"). Soooo much better. I use a 45 minute mud and keep it a bit "juicy" then hold the TapeTech at about 60 degrees because the blade is fairly flexible and if you press too hard or hold it "flat" it'll take another coat or two to fill the joint.
My first time using a 32 inch skim blade was good but I struggled. Was using it with a pole to reach the top cause I'm 5'6". Very unwieldy. Should have thinned the mud more and just work in small sections. Lesson learned. But they do work. Despite my unprofessional results I could see it filling the low spots as it dried.
I'd recommend them but they do have a slight learning curve.
The 24" and 18" inch are wayyyyyyyyyyyy easier to control.
Nice tip using the roller. You mentioned using soap. Can to talk about that but the whole set sounds like a good deal. I'll have a few rooms to skim coat at our new place. Not sure if this is happening to you but I used a mixing extension and it was leaving bucket shavings in my mud..!
Ues a different mud paddle
no more Vancouver carpenter back to the good ol Canadian drywaller. my favorite episodes
Can you do this on top of painted walls? Or do I have to add primer to the painted walls first for the mud to adhere to?