I dropped off the map for a while so we could take a fun and action packed family trip to Florida. A wise person once told me that when the kids are there it's a trip; when it's just mom and dad going away, now THAT'S a vacation. So a trip it was - very fun though. The kids got to see grandparents and they made new friends; I was reunited with a cousin (and her sweet and talented daughter) that I had not seen in 15 years or so.
We have a timeshare deal we signed up for about 9 years ago when we were in Cancun, Mexico. Since it's not possible for us to take a family of 5 to Cancun right now, we trade in our weeks there to stay at fun condos right here in the US. We have stayed at several different places, but this one was my favorite one so far. It is an older resort that has been very well taken care of and recently renovated. The landscaping is impeccable...and the pool is heated and open 24/7. I found myself in love with the updates they made inside the condo and the furnishings/art - yet I was disappointed that they left the popcorn ceilings! I stared at that popcorn and thought, 'why didn't they just take it down?' It wasn't even a stomp ceiling and would have been so easy for them to scrape off. Well, popcorn ceilings and all, I had a great trip and I came home ready to work on my living room!
My dad came over tonight to teach me how to tape and mud drywall. I was nervous - as I have been for everything I've done so far. BUT - it really wasn't bad at all. I grew up watching my dad use drywall mud all the time! So I knew the basic motion and it wasn't completely foreign to me. We used two trowels - one to apply and hold the mud; the other to clean it off. My dad said a big part of mudding is keeping your trowel neat. You don't want mud on the wrong side of the trowel at all and you want to keep it in the middle of the trowel. I also learned that it is a good idea to clean up (smooth out) the bucket of mud every once in a while if you leave the lid open while you work, because it is not good to get chunks of hardened mud mixed in with the soft mud that is used on the drywall.
My living room has 4 tapered seams and 5 butt seams (I think that is what he called them). Tonight we only worked on the tapered seams because my dad said those are easier and he wanted to start out easy. He mudded and taped half of the first line for me so that I could see how it is done. Basically you spread mud along the seam (and on either side of the seam) all the way across until you get to the end of the seam. Then you carefully start at one edge and lay the drywall tape centered on the seam and use a dry trowel to gently swipe all along the taped seam until you get to the other end of the room. He is very particular about no bubbles and keeping tape lines straight. Also particular about not leaving clumps of mud anywhere because you really want a nice clean line that you won't have to do a lot of sanding on later. He taught me that many people try to make it look too nice on the first coat and they end up totally messing up their mudding job. So he says to get the mud on there the best you can, keeping it clean and then STOP! Don't keep messing with the mud. Oh, and if you happen to drop it on the carpet - just leave it there until it dries...then it will flake right off.
He helped me do the next two tapered seams and then I did the fourth, and final one, all on my own. He complimented my work (when you get a compliment from him you know you did a good job) and then he gave me the assignment of covering the drywall screws and missed stud holes with mud. If the hole has pieces hanging down off the ceiling, you take the handle of the trowel or the handle of a screwdriver and push up on the hole gently until it makes a slight impression in the other direction. Easy to fill with mud at that point. I had a lot of missed stud holes so I had a lot of that type of repair to do but it was easy and didn't take long at all. He taught me the method to fill the missed holes and drywall screws with mud - very important once again to get the mud on there, clean up extra mud so there is less sanding - and STOP!
Tomorrow he is coming over to help me tape and mud the butt seams. Then I'll have to apply two more coats of mud and sand it all smooth.
I really enjoy the satisfaction of this type of project and although I am not yet finished, I am really looking forward to a kitchen ceiling renovation soon!
One important tip - don't forget to wash off your trowels when you are finished for the day!
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