Best Way To Skim

Al Taper

To start off I would like to say.I am the lead taper (foreman) on this job. I am working for someone.(union work)The company doesnt have a spray rig. The skim coating will be done by hand.The barrel will also be a light pocket shineing up into it.What would you guys suggest on the skim coating for the best finish?









Other parts of the job.







Yes it is a mall.

Brockster

1/2" or 3/4" nap roller with thinned down mud and wipe or squeegee it off.

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Tim0282

Agree!

Al Taper

I was thinking that. Just use a plain squeegee from like a auto parts store.
Thanks

Tim0282

More like a squeegee from a drywall distribution center. Made for drywall...
Warner, Marshaltown, Tex Magic are some of the brands. About twenty bucks. All Wall, Warehouse Bay, Sherwin Williams all carry them also.

Al Taper

Thanks Tim...

Al Taper

Well got my squeegee from ames. And tonight will be my frist time useing it. Now would you do two coats or just one?

mud dog

That's what I hate about malls! Most people won't even notice all the hard work you're doing. Besides tradepeople I don't think anyone ever thinks about how much work is done to build a mall and I don't think that many people will even look up and notice all your work. They only want to hit the stores and the food court.

oldrivers

I personally prefer to use a trowel for skim coating , each his own though.

oldrivers

this is true and alot of the work you cant even see like fire taping all those nicks and crannies you can barely fit into let alone tape. some areas are like taping in a closed coffin sometmes. Dont miss it a bit.

Frankawitz

Al as for putting the mud up on your barrels I would use a texture roller skin they hold allot more mud and you don't need to thin it down, I would use a 14" trowel to apply the mud and then use a 24" or 28" smooth down knife. this way there will be less sanding.

Al Taper

Thanks for all your help ....

Heres how it went.
About two ago i was talking to my taping boss about level 5. Then company i work for subs it out.They do spray on level 5. And what they charge for it.

Well at my job at the mall. The boss (carpenter forman) tells me that the ceiling is getting lights shined on it. So I said it would be better to skim it out. He agrees. So i start skimming out the ceiling. Now the ceiling is like 8' x130' about.In a hour i did 10 or 11 boards with set up time.Plus it is in the air about 12 feet to the low point.As iam doing this every one is watching.No has seen it done with a squeege and a roller before. Now the boss calls me over and says that it takes a lot of time. I said i did a 3rd of it in a hour.And he pointed out some lines. And we went up after it dried and sanded them and they come right out.He said it did a great job but a lot of work. So i turn to him and said for what they charge plus being up in the air iam sure its a lot.The boss said its like X3 being up in the air.At this point iam pissed. I just said At $1.25 a foot=$50 aboard.I did 10 board in a hour = $500 in one hour iam sure the company didnt lose money.Thats not even x3.
So i cleaned my tools and worked on something else.

Before:


After:

LukeOR

The last big union job (huge hospital) I was on they had us literally sanding for DAYS with those little sponge sanders in groups of about twelve to fourteen, marking any imperfections that couldn't be sanded out with pencil so we could go back through and recoat. All the while had to drag around these damn 500w droplights along the way, they got so damn hot they'd melt apart. Not to mention the slightest bump and your bulb blew. It felt like your face had a sunburn by days end, not to mention burning the retinas out of your eyes. There's only so many 10 hr days of nonstop sponge sanding with a heatlamp 2 inches from your face, a guy can take before he goes nuts, or, at least starts ****ting dust. However, with what they were paying I never heard a bitch 1. Hell, I would've swept the floor with a tooth brush if they wanted me to. I think I actually saw a guy there doing that...

Al Taper

Thanks LukeOr for reply.
I hate that too.

taping machine

Yeah the biggest trowel possible, you know to cover more area.

oldrivers

well it depends on whats getting skim coated 20 incher for floating out 1/8th - 3/16ths thick repairs , 12 incher for tight skimming puting on and taking off for speed usually on new drywall . never tried the roller though so i cant personally say one way ot he other on that.