I was building a built-in bookshelf/entertainment center in my living room about the same time we had our kitchen redone. I had just started taping some small joints and mudding when the contractor asked my wife if "we'd" like him to knock out the mudding and taping really quickly. She convinced me to go along with it so I said, essentially "Sure, I guess. I could do it, but the wife wants it done quickly so go ahead eye roll." I was not going to do as much as he did and it looked great. I can't imagine how jank it would have looked if I had actually done it myself.
Exactly. I can tape and finish a room for you over the course of a few days, but if you want it done sooner call a professional.
If I hang anything more than one room of drywall on a side job for you, I’m calling any trustworthy finisher on whatever jobsite I’m on at the time for work. I’m just a handy dude with a ton of tools and enough skill to get me into trouble. The pros don’t fuck around!
Same. I used to be a painter and did a lot of high-end jobs so I've done lots of touch-ups very well, but my speed and agility is just not there. I'm also mildly allergic to the dust, hence not being a painter any more. I'll do bits and bobs,but I'm not going to do a full install or whole room skim.
I’m in the same boat. I’ve got 15 half finished projects around the house that I will finish off eventually, but it takes me weeks or months to do what a pro would do in days. My dad was a General Contractor, so all my first summer jobs were working for him on construction sites, doing clean up work and helping manage here and there. I learned how to do most things competently, but not really proficiently.
Thing is… I know I can do it better than the cheap guy I’d hire off Craigslist, and I can do it way cheaper than the licensed and bonded pro who would polish it off in a day.
I just finished insulating a workshop in my backyard - took me all summer to run the electrical, research to make sure I had it up to code, get the walls batted and the roof vented/sealed, etc. Drywall is next. I might get it finished by Halloween. Maybe. I could hire someone to finish it this week, but I won’t.
Same. Last year I replaced the insulation in the bedrooms in my house and did it all with my father (who's actually a handyman/electrician). He did 1 room himself to show me, and I did the other 2. Turns out it took me 3 days to properly mud and sand 1 room for it sufficiently smooth for his liking.
We hired a guy to plaster the jib (mud the drywall) in our ensuite. He was a painter, and claimed he was a plasterer too - i could have done a better job myself with a credit card. The ceiling is fucked and I'm not impressed
The only way a novice could think they were good at drywall mudding is if they had literally never tried to do it one single time. The second you've crossed that threshold, you realize how technical it is.
To add to this, good rock installers. I owned my own residential home improvement business for 10 years and did a lot of my own sheetrock and spackle. Till i had a job big enough that i just didnt have the time for. When i was called at 2pm on the 2nd day of them working, meaning rock installed AND finish coated, i called bullshit and drove straight to that job.
It was better than what i could do in a week. And thats when i learned the time value of money
I'm currently taping and mudding part of a room, I've done it in the past and every single time I forget how crap I am at it. It always turns out ok eventually but takes 10 times longer than it should.
Can't get any pros to do small jobs like this where I live so I don't have any choice, but man it sucks.
I also think mudding has one of the highest skill to pay gaps. If you ever see a guy a stilts with a hawk floating seams over his head you should know he's not getting paid his worth.
I DIY almost everything. Putting drywall up and taping, electrical, plumbing, I LOOOOOVE wood working.
But, I hire mudders every time I need it. Even if I could do it well, I'd just look at the pattern and only see where I made mistakes. When a mudder does it, the pattern is part of their art. It's perfect from my perspective.
Maybe? I don't know that hiring pros is any better some days. I've done enough that sometimes I go into resturants and the like and look at my wife and say "see this, they really screwed this part up mudding it". Not a pro, but I can usually do better with a lot more time.
319
u/Greenlimer 1d ago
Mudding drywall