All depends on the size of your patches and the schedule you are working with. Taping i always use hot mud and paper tape for anything bigger than small patches (outlet holes and such). If a patch needs less than a full pan to fill it then 5 or 20 minute will let you tape and skim a second coat in under an hour. Also, hot mud doesnt shrink so its much better for backfill and taping. If its a larger job with lots of scattered patches or large patches then 40 minute is good and easier to work with and do second coat. Dont be afraid to water down the mud a bit for your skim coats. Also, keep in mind that if you are using the same bucket of water to mix and clean your pan and tools then that dirty water that has a bit of hot mud in it is gonna start speeding up the set time on later batches of mud. After a few pans your 20 minute mud is gonna be 10 minute!
Also, having a good little mud mixer that fits inside your pan can really help speed things up when youre mixing alot of hot mud. Quickly mixes to a smooth consistency without wasting time and energy. I also like to mix a small bucket of 45 or 90 minute to skim a large area of patches with a few pans worth of mud at once.
Only thing i hate using hot mud for is top coats and texture. I dont know why it says "easy sand" on the bag cuz it definitely doesnt sand easily! Only advantage is it can be wetsanded or sponge sanded same day which works when you have small patches that you want completely done same day or you are doing a hand texture. Otherwise, i will do my final topcoat at the end of the first day with TnT and leave a fan on it so the next day i can roll in, do a light sand and spray texture.
If you have plenty of time on a job red dot will do pretty much everything from tape to texture, just keep watering it down as you go and it will spread smoother for skim and topcoats. I always keep hot mud, all purpose and/or TnT and paper tape around and do a ton of patches with them, ussually on a pretty tight schedule. I find mesh tape to be too lazy, too bumpy and not as strong. At least with paper tape even if you sand all the way down to the tape it wont ruin a patch.
What exactly are you ussually coming across? Just 1 or 2 little patches? Like old outlet holes or recessed medicine cabinet holes and mirror mastic damage? Or jobs where you are putting a couple sheets of new drywall at a time?
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