Spraying Mud, Skim Coat , Etc...

plazaman

I recently subbed drywall, taping, and skim coating for my flipper house. Rocked all ceilings, and skim coated all plasters walls.

Crew used a mixture of joint compound, plaster, and structolite for the base coat. Sand that, then apply joint alone, and sand. Crew of 8 came in and basically skimmed first coat in 1 day.


Walls that were skimmed were old painted plaster walls with trim on walls. All trims were removed and skimmed. Skim coat is approx less than .25" thick.

Question is, is there any units out there that would allow me to spray skim coat mixture onto the walls?

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Brockster

Graco has a few that will spray a skim coat. I believe the cheapest one would be the Mark V. You could also rent a texture sprayer and spray orange peel and let it stand over night and spray it again to get 100% coverage.

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Tmrrptr

The Brosckster is correct.
I have sprayed texture mud with an old 26tip using a big Graco pump.
Then we used a 30" knockdown knife on it.
Works fine.
r

plazaman

Are you guys saying that i would be able to spray joint compund directly to the wall through this unit? (or even my skim coat mix) ?

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Brockster

Yes...

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Terryw

The Grayco Mark V and MarkIV are both suitable for doing this. They can pump mud without even thinning it out! Good for tools but not so good for spray. But thin it down, and you can spray like paint all day. This is one of the reasons I am contemplating purchasing a Mark V right now. I was able to go to a few job sites with a friend of mine and observe him using a Mark V in just this way. It was very impressive. Left a very nice smooth finish.

plazaman

was he doing a skim coat or new drywall finishing?

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Brockster

Do you know if your friend has tried to spray texture with his unit using the Air Atomizer kit? Reason I ask is because I'm having some trouble trying to get a consistent orange peel. Also the darn thing squirts for the first couple seconds before it atomizes. If I don't start on the floor I'd have a terrible mess all over the wall!

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Terryw

It was new drywall finishing. Spraying mud over a level 4 finish for a near level 5 finish in a commercial application. So this was a coat being left on the wall as is, no wipe down.

Now when you say skim coat, I assume you mean a thin layer of mud which is applied and then quickly wiped off of the wall again. The Mark V would certainly speed up the application of mud to the walls. Thicker mud for a skim, or thinner for a leave on spray, the Mark V or Mark IV will work just fine. And if power on the job site is a problem, there is a gas powered version of the Mark V called the 5900 HD. The 5900 actually even has a slightly higher max delivery rating of 1.6 gpm. The Mark V is 1.25 gpm, and the Mark IV is .95 gpm. They all kick butt and will pump any thickness of mud you throw at them.

Sorry read your first post and realized that what you call skim coat I call putty coat. While I have not personally seen it done, I don't see any reason it could not apply a thicker coat of mud. These pumps are very powerful, and are designed to pump mud.

Terryw

He doesn't use the Mark V for texture with the atomizer kit. I was curious about that use too. Instead he uses the Grayco GTX 2000 to spray texture. I used this rig last week and it felt just like spraying from a truck mounted rig. Only difference is you have to mix mud more often!

Is your compressor big enough to keep up with the Mark V? That sounds like you are getting inconsistent air pressure. Don't know if that is the Atomizer kit or the compressor. Maybe rent a larger compressor for the day and see if that changes anything. Seems like I was told it would use minimum of 5hp, 30 gallon tank, and 9cfm. That is just what I remember, I could be wrong.

Brockster

I bought a compressor big enough to handle the job according to the Graco Rep. It's 13.1@100lbs.

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Terryw

Sure sounds big enough. Wish I could be more helpful.