TIP Of THE WEEK

dusty the taper

Another Forum brought up giving tips so, in 50 words or less, all u mudders out there give a trick of the trade!!!

LennyV-NHSNOLA

Bad Service - Nothing. Good Service - 15% - 20%. Hot topless waitress who gives lap dances between entrees - PRICELESS!!!

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Lenny V. - Come down and visit us in New Orleans and the 'burbs!

Norrrrrrrrrrrrm

Clean you tools immediately. Add water to your premix bucket and whip it good....sing the song while you do it. The mud will go on much easier.

AtlanticWBConst

Scraping mud off porcelain - Use a plastic putty knife.
Patching small holes: Piece of sheetrock about 6" larger all around, than hole, cut off the extra sheetrock from back side of piece. Ur Left with the hole size piece and nice paper surface to mud it on with (no tape required)

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- Build Well -

AtlanticWBConst

Working in people's homes:
Keep your own roll(s) of toilet paper and a plunger in your truck. No one ever seems to have this stuff in their homes .... and you don't want to leave that kind of 'calling card' for them..... when they come home....

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- Build Well -

LennyV-NHSNOLA

LMAO! But the secret to successful advertising is to give them something that will make them remember you... and I think you might have just found the "Holy Grail".

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Lenny V. - Come down and visit us in New Orleans and the 'burbs!

Tom M

Sound like the tip of the week to me.

mud dog

Sing real bad and real loud and no one (not the painter,homeowner or the GC) will come within a country mile of the site to ask when you're gonna be done, they'll just pray it will be soon.

boman47k

not much of a tip here, but I want to participate! Sometimes when I have a hole to fix I will place a small narrow pice of wood in the hole behind the drywall with either a screw in the part I can still see or a string attached to the wood. This allows me to pull the wood toward me and firmly against the drywall while I run screws through the drywall into the wood. I then remove the screw or string and place my patch into the hole against my backerboard, tape and mud.

boman47k

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The kit is not complete without a toilet brush! Remove all visible evidence! ....and hope ho does not return home for a while

1KingOfDrywall

Go to a drywall supply place (home depot,lowes ect) and put your business cards all over. OK,..let me make this somewhat funny.... I tucked mine in like every box of mud compound...and I used to put "sticker business cards" on their products....LMAO. They call that Guerilla Marketing. In some of my other posts you can see I am a big fan of it. The idea sounds almost stupid right? Well, I get 1 Job a week consistently from it. Whenever my guys stop there I say hey...you know what to do. I used to stand in the isles years ago and everytime I seen someone buying products I'd approach them. Business will never come to you.....you gotta go out there and get it. BE AGGRESSIVE!!!!
My favorite line when a customer is telling me they are taking a few more bids...I say "NO....I can't allow you to do that". I can't stand by and let them do your job. I have a responsibility as a professional to act in your best interest. And they are not in your best interest......lol
Try it.

Mud Master

Never let someone dictate the price to you. If someone says I have $1000.00 dollars for this job, and you know its gonna cost you $1500.00 or $2000.00 to do it..just pass. It's better to make nothing than to lose something.

Unfortunatly, this was a hard lesson I learned long ago. and i'm sure I am not the only one. I Hope?!?!

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woodmagman

Filling an old electrical outlet hole. The hole is 2x3, cut a piece of drywall 5x6 the back score the piece just undersized to the hole. Break on the score line and seperate the backing paper and inner core leaving the face paper in place. Do this on all four sides. Place real moist mud on and in the hole, place the patch in the hole so that the side revealing paper can be used as a tape joint. Trowel patch just as you would taping. Let dry and coat again. Never used a backing block since I learned this. I have done them in the shape of telephones, feet, even did a head shaped one. Square is better, just fun to do others.

Mud Master

No matter how tempting it may seem.....DO NOT PULL HIS FINGER!!!

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dusty the taper

If one cuts the corner bead too short often one must invest in a board stretcher, a very great investment.

smooth

Thanks 1King

tlfettled

I always make sure the general contractor or the home owner understand that all work such as insulation and wiring etc etc etc needs to be done [ IN THE ATTIC ] be for i tape bed and texture the ceilings of the home! Making sure this is done will keep you from having to come back and repair any hair line cracks in joints or god forbid someone steps threw the new ceiling you have just finished! It only takes one fat man to crack an create hair line cracks in your ceiling ! I make sure the g,c, and the home owner understand the Responsibility of working in the attic after i am threw it's on their shoulders ,and any damage will result in extra charges!

skyhook

2 tips for next week,
1) Don't tell people everything you know.

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tlfettled

If you'll do this job cheap ill hook you up with a bigger job ! Or you'll sometimes here this --If you do a good job on this one ill referee you to other people as long as its cheap enough ! 12 years later I'm still waiting for the bigger and the referrals to come rolling in and I'm still charging the same price as i was 12 years ago ! WHATS WRONG WITH THIS STATEMENT ! I might need a career change !

tlfettled

Try to keep your self an ace in the hole and let some one else deal with the greedy ass hole general contractors !