Mudding Begins

Hey Everyone!  Now that a section of drywall is up, I'm starting the process of mudding (aka spackling, putting up joint compound, etc).  The next step is creating a seamless edge/surface.  We are not perfect at putting up drywall, but by using joint compound we can "create" a perfect surface.  It's like a woman putting on a good foundation for her makeup.  Here is what I do to create this.

To "mud" you'll need:
joint compound
joint tape
self-adhesive tape
a putty knife and mud pan
a bucket of water
scissors (not shown)

This is the small indented section on the back of the house near the closet and craft table.

The ceiling was a easy fix.  I put the self adhesive drywall tape on the joint between the two pieces.  Then I mudded the joint.

It's not the prettiest ever, but it's a sanding and building of layers process.

For the corners I found this very useful tool.  Joint tape!  It makes your corners have no cracks and look perfect (or at least close to it).  Oh if I had only known about this long ago.  First you hold it up to your joint and measure and cut it to the appropriate length.

Looks horrible right?  Place a thin amount of putty next to the joint, this acts like a glue here.

Then you run your piece of joint tape through the bucket of water, let the water drip off for a second.  You don't want it to be too wet.  Bend your piece of joint tape in the middle where it bends and then place in the joint.

Then take your putty knife and push it into the corner, but be careful you don't push it in too far that it goes into any gaps that are there.  Smooth out your edges so you don't have any bumps or gaps.  Later on we'll put another coat of mud on the edge so there is a seamless transition from the tape to the wall.

Here it is after some of the tape was applied.

The bottom edge still needs some tape of course, and the rest of the indent still needs to be finished, but it's coming along!

Have fun!