How to Apply a Smooth Coat to Drywall
Applying smooth coat, or skim coating, is the final step in your preparation before priming and painting your walls and ceiling. It requires a careful eye, but with a little practice you can give surfaces that professional look. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Finish Coat on Walls
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1
Sand all joints smooth.
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2
Check joints for uneven spots (depressions, humps, ridges and waves). Hold the edge of a mud knife across a joint and try to rock the knife back and forth. If you get a rocking motion, you'll need to feather the joint out farther.
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3
Feather the joint out if necessary. ("Feathering" refers to the process of spreading the drywall compound out to a wider and wider, ever-thinning edge. It's a trick used to keep the eye from noticing the slightly higher center of the joint.)
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4
Sand the joint if one side is too high, or feather more drywall compound (a.k.a. "mud") on any low spots.
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5
Let dry and check again, repeating steps until smooth.
Finish Coat on Ceiling
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6
Sand all joints smooth.
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7
Apply a thin layer of mud over entire ceiling. Use a 12-inch-wide trowel and, with even pressure, smooth mud over ceiling.
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8
Go back over area with trowel until smooth. You'll remove most of the mud, leaving only a very thin layer.
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9
Allow this coat to dry.
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10
Sand the entire ceiling to remove any rough spots.
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11
Turn a light on and step back at an angle and look for any uneven areas on the ceiling.
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12
Sand the area or apply more mud if you have uneven areas.
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Tips & Warnings
If your mud is too thick to spread evenly, you can thin it with water. Do not make mud so runny that it doesn't stay on your knife, and remember: thin mud is weak mud.
Applying a smooth coat of mud to the ceiling is a very challenging job. It may require several coats.
Wear safety glasses and dust mask when sanding joints. The dust can be harmful to eyes and lungs.
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Comments
View all 15 Comments-
mcphe
Feb 06, 2010
I am having a hard time smoothing out a 13" ceiling (box to allow for plumbing) I ended up covering almost the whole area. I had to remove and replace all drywall, the pipe leaked and when I opened it up I noticed poor insulation and no vapor barrier. I have to stucco. So, how much mudding needs to be done for stucco and why so much mud to cover a small area. I hope you understand my problem. Pat -
funkmarsh
Jun 17, 2009
I know when you board a ceiling you go 90 degrees to the joices. Im doing patching for this renovation company and I was patching a ceiling, less than half of the ceiling and I didnt board parallel to joices because It worked out to be less board and less joints. This jerk was ripping a strip of me for it. Is he right to do that? After all this is patching (almost 4 sheets, less than half of the ceiling) Also whoever boarded the ceiling originally boarded this way aswell
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jophy
Jan 07, 2009
always! always! prime sheetrock and mud, mud repairs,...primer is cheap,....
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jcjrcrew
Oct 11, 2008
I was repairing a large area of my ceiling. I mudded and sanded 3 times and felt it looked smooth. When I applied 2 coats of paint I can see the entire patch. I didn't use primer. I persume that was a mistake but now do I sand over the painted repair or what? Would appreciate your help. Thanks
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jcjrcrew
Oct 11, 2008
I was repairing a large area of my ceiling. I mudded and sanded 3 times and felt it looked smooth. When I applied 2 coats of paint I can see the entire patch. I didn't use primer. I persume that was a mistake but now do I sand over the painted repair or what? Would appreciate your help. Thanks
