The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Do it Yourself Discussion! => Topic started by: jpdx on January 14, 2019, 02:52:08 AM
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If you could only have one size knife for small jobs, which would it be?
I'm familiar with starting with a 6" knife for the first coat, working your way up to 12" for the final coat. I just don't want to buy multiple knives given the small number of projects I have around the home. I have to do several drywall patches, the largest is 12 x 24."
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I've had decent results using just a 6" knife and a damp sponge for small repairs (no seam longer than 24").
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6" knife is good for general purpose.
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You really should have a 3” too. It’s not like these things are expensive.
The 3” is great for applying mud, embedding tape, small holes, and scraping walls flat. I use the 3” the most out of any of my blades and then go up from there.
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What is a "small job?"
Without more detail I would say a 6" is a good general purpose size, but I used 3 and even 1.5 when bedding in tape. And I use as small as a can (1 or 1.5) when filling in picture hanging nail holes or stray dings/claw marks.
But if you are doing new tape you really should feather it out with a 12" on a later coat. I think we started with a 6" knife and now have everything from a 1" to a 14" and a 24" rubber "knife" for skim coats.
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I've had decent results using just a 6" knife and a damp sponge for small repairs (no seam longer than 24").
Same here. I actually bought a cheap 12” and corner knife but didn’t use them as I the sponge technique worked better for my inexperienced hands. To be fair, I later added a texture so I had a lot of wiggle room.
Even wasting money on the extra knives, I saved thousands vs hiring it out
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You need the 12" knife also, hard to get seams flat otherwise.
I never was a fan of the corner knifes, but I'm also not a professional drywaller by trade.
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corner knives are awesome when you need them!
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I actually don't like 6" knives. They're too wide for small bits, and not wide enough to properly feather out patch seams. My go-to set of knives is a 4" and a 10"; the 4" for scooping, stirring, and applying, and the 10" for final coats and wide swaths to properly fade in/out from seams. Occasionally, I'll want a 12" or 14", but those instances are relatively rare.
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I actually don't like 6" knives. They're too wide for small bits, and not wide enough to properly feather out patch seams. My go-to set of knives is a 4" and a 10"; the 4" for scooping, stirring, and applying, and the 10" for final coats and wide swaths to properly fade in/out from seams. Occasionally, I'll want a 12" or 14", but those instances are relatively rare.
Yeah, the 6" knives are too big for small jobs and too small for big jobs. But if I could only have one knife, that'd be it. I use the 3" and 12" knives more often than the 6" knife, but that wasn't the question.
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Even wasting money on the extra knives, I saved thousands vs hiring it out
^^ That. I don't mind buying tools for DIY projects. They typically last my life and save me a ton of money.
That said, I do hate doing drywall, so I don't own a set, but I'd just buy a selection and learn to use them.
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Even wasting money on the extra knives, I saved thousands vs hiring it out
^^ That. I don't mind buying tools for DIY projects. They typically last my life and save me a ton of money.
That said, I do hate doing drywall, so I don't own a set, but I'd just buy a selection and learn to use them.
Same here. I'm a hardcore DIYer. Have a complete set of drywall tools that has saved me thousands over the last decade. That said, I despise drywall and avoid it at every turn.
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OP here. I should add that I already own a set of 3 crappy plastic knives, which I find useful for mixing, filing nail holes, etc. I'm thinking I can apply mud for the first coat using my existing plastic knives, then use a 10" for the final coat. Is this a good strategy?
It seems everyone has their own personal preference and I value all of the knowledge you are sharing.
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OP here. I should add that I already own a set of 3 crappy plastic knives, which I find useful for mixing, filing nail holes, etc. I'm thinking I can apply mud for the first coat using my existing plastic knives, then use a 10" for the final coat. Is this a good strategy?
It seems everyone has their own personal preference and I value all of the knowledge you are sharing.
I've never used a plastic knife, so I can't comment on that specific aspect. But I think it would help people to understand what type of joint compound and tape/mesh/corner bead you intend to use, and if you plan to do a texture. I only say that because my personal experience of using a premix, sponging it off, and adding texture later will be very different from someone using 30 min fast set, a pole sander, and level 5 skim coat. If you are using a water soluble compound with a sponge, it doesn't really matter how much you fuck up with a crappy plastic knife. You can just smooth it down and redo it.
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I am using premix, mesh tape, no corners, no texture. I'm mostly patching holes from electrical work, many of them are around 4" circles, and one 12 x 24 rectangle.
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I am using premix, mesh tape, no corners, no texture. I'm mostly patching holes from electrical work, many of them are around 4" circles, and one 12 x 24 rectangle.
I would highly recommend a 10" knife in this case. You'll need something smaller to scoop mud out of the bucket/bag, of course, but a good finish will be much easier with the wider knife.
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I am using premix, mesh tape, no corners, no texture. I'm mostly patching holes from electrical work, many of them are around 4" circles, and one 12 x 24 rectangle.
I would highly recommend a 10" knife in this case. You'll need something smaller to scoop mud out of the bucket/bag, of course, but a good finish will be much easier with the wider knife.
I dunno. The wider knives are mostly helpful when leveling mud across the beveled edges where 2 pieces of drywall meet. I wouldn't use anything wider than a 6" knife for the type of work OP is describing. Personally, I would avoid the mesh tape for a patch that small and opt for the paper tape instead. It can be tough to keep the texture of the tape from telegraphing through the mud on those smallish patches.
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I actually don't like 6" knives. They're too wide for small bits, and not wide enough to properly feather out patch seams. My go-to set of knives is a 4" and a 10"; the 4" for scooping, stirring, and applying, and the 10" for final coats and wide swaths to properly fade in/out from seams. Occasionally, I'll want a 12" or 14", but those instances are relatively rare.
Yeah, the 6" knives are too big for small jobs and too small for big jobs. But if I could only have one knife, that'd be it. I use the 3" and 12" knives more often than the 6" knife, but that wasn't the question.
+2
Knives are cheap so why not own 3 or 4 that will cover everything?
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I had an uneven wall to patch and found that a rubber squeegee-style knife eliminated a LOT of hassle. If I was good enough with a wide metal knife I'm sure I could've made it happen...but for 17 bucks this was awesome: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CCGEDOE
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I do a lot of drywall patching and finishing. The best lifesaver that had changed my drywall finishing quality was fibafuse. That's kind of mesh tape that makes your work look professional. I tried corner knifes - not for me. Fibafuse and 3' for inner corners. I only use my 2' and 3' and 12', don't own a 6' one. I also have a 1'-1.5' knife, but only use it for cleaning of other knifes in the end. Very important to get not rusting kind, and plastic ones are a waste of time, imho. Also a very important tip is to dilute the mix and to mix it up very well before the use. I buy premixed compound or I don't mind working with the powder, way cheaper. But even if I buy premixed joint compound, I always dilute it to a pudding consistency.
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OP here. I should add that I already own a set of 3 crappy plastic knives, which I find useful for mixing, filing nail holes, etc. I'm thinking I can apply mud for the first coat using my existing plastic knives, then use a 10" for the final coat. Is this a good strategy?
It seems everyone has their own personal preference and I value all of the knowledge you are sharing.
Get fibafuse, it will change your life forever. Though, some people say they get some itching or a rash from it, since it contains some kind of fiber. It didn't ever bother me and I sometimes use it without gloves.
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I do a lot of drywall patching and finishing. The best lifesaver that had changed my drywall finishing quality was fibafuse. That's kind of mesh tape that makes your work look professional. I tried corner knifes - not for me. Fibafuse and 3' for inner corners. I only use my 2' and 3' and 12', don't own a 6' one. I also have a 1'-1.5' knife, but only use it for cleaning of other knifes in the end. Very important to get not rusting kind, and plastic ones are a waste of time, imho. Also a very important tip is to dilute the mix and to mix it up very well before the use. I buy premixed compound or I don't mind working with the powder, way cheaper. But even if I buy premixed joint compound, I always dilute it to a pudding consistency.
At first I saw the 2ft blade and I was like... ok kinda big but it could work. Then you mentioned your 12ft blade and my head exploded. Then I realized you meant inches
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I do a lot of drywall patching and finishing. The best lifesaver that had changed my drywall finishing quality was fibafuse. That's kind of mesh tape that makes your work look professional. I tried corner knifes - not for me. Fibafuse and 3' for inner corners. I only use my 2' and 3' and 12', don't own a 6' one. I also have a 1'-1.5' knife, but only use it for cleaning of other knifes in the end. Very important to get not rusting kind, and plastic ones are a waste of time, imho. Also a very important tip is to dilute the mix and to mix it up very well before the use. I buy premixed compound or I don't mind working with the powder, way cheaper. But even if I buy premixed joint compound, I always dilute it to a pudding consistency.
At first I saw the 2ft blade and I was like... ok kinda big but it could work. Then you mentioned your 12ft blade and my head exploded. Then I realized you meant inches
Yes, sorry, did it on my phone and was too lazy to correct afterwords. People know it's inches. But seriously "fibafuse," it's life-changing. It's not a paper tape and not a mesh tape, it's something in between, but better.