By eHow Home & Garden Editor
Rate: (17 Ratings)
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.
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Comments
jcjrcrew said
on 10/11/2008 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
Anonymous said
on 8/28/2006 I would never recommend dry sanding a Sheetrock repair. The dust just gets everywhere! Been there, done that.
I usually plan on mudding over a patch 3 times to get the right finish. When the mud is completely dry, I cut up an old T-shirt and with a bucket of water handy, I feather out the final finish.
Anonymous said
on 8/8/2006 I do a lot of repair work, and homeowners like that I do not create dust. With a little practice; use a large car cleaning sponge to wet sand your work. Depending on the smoothness of the sponge and mudding, you can feather your work nicely. Move in a circular motion with a lite touch. Using a bright light at a sharp angle to the wall will show you the area in need of work. Use a bit of watered-down mud on large indentations. Then sponge those areas again when dry. It takes a bit longer to do it the wet sponge way, but with no dust everyone likes that.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 On the final coat, cover the entire joint with enough compound to cover it. Don't worry about it being smooth. Spray it with a light coat of water from a spray bottle. Use a knife wider than the joint and smooth the whole joint with as long a stroke as possible. This also feathers the edges nicely. After it's dry, get a cheap rattle can of flat black (preferably lacquer), and spray a light dusting on the joints. Sand till you see no more black. That takes out the guess work. The black paint is a common practice in auto body repair shops. If done right, one light sanding is all it needs.
Anonymous said
on 6/11/2007 Add a little dish soap to your compound mix and stir it well. It will help eliminate those annoying bubbles and it smells nice when you're mudding.