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East coast... Where's the boxed mud at?

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A2Zcontracting

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
So, getting running on the east coast after years in CA and noticing that all the drywall products here are either different or non existent. For example, USG brand hot mud is at HD here where it was only available at Lowes on the west coast. Ive used it for years out west but I swear it sets much faster here and when it kicks off it kicks quick. Lowes has a brand called Proform that I used once and didn't really notice anything special about. But nobody has boxed mud?...or various forms of topper or ultra light muds for finishing?

I've only seen boxed mud once here and it was a couple moldy boxes of all purpose at a local HD with a 2 year old manufacture date. That was apparently an anomaly as I haven't seen anything else in a box out here since. Only different buckets of all purpose muds.

What are you all using for finishing, skim coats, texture out here? I always used to use hot mud for tape and first skim, then lightweight TnT (black dot) for my finish coats and texture. Tried the USG ultralight out here from the bucket but the consistency seems a bit off to me. Sands easy and it's super light but it just seems too fluffy and grainy. Maybe I just need to work with it some more and get used to it. It feels too light to me. What's your go to for finishing? Smooth spreading, strong enough for heavy texture but still light enough that your wrist isnt dying while your slapping it up. And what am I gonna do with all these extra buckets?

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#2 ·
Easy Sand 45 or 90 works well.

Green top premixed mud is heavier and less grainy, using a mixer and a very small bit of water will make it flow better.

Blue top premixed mud is the lightweight. Spin it up with a mixer to make it creamier and flow better.
 
#3 ·
Unfortunately, when it comes to the big boxes, they stock what they stock. They aren't consistent in what they stock over time.

USG is actually my least favorite, but most used. I can get it anywhere.
 
#4 ·
First, no one textures anything here. It is considered low quality that you find in low income housing, no idea why.
No boxes
Green lid, light green lid, blue lid- blue lid dries kinda soft, not a fan
hot mud is in bags- Easy Sand 5, 20, 45, 90

I use mostly Green lid, Easy sand 5 and 20
 
#5 ·
If you're mixing a lot of hot mud, durabond 210.

I like ProForm blacktop AP better than USG.

I don't like the ultra light weight USG light green lid, but if you mix some in with the green lid, it really improves how the green lid goes on.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
rrk said:
First, no one textures anything here. It is considered low quality that you find in low income housing, no idea why.
No boxes
Green lid, light green lid, blue lid- blue lid dries kinda soft, not a fan
hot mud is in bags- Easy Sand 5, 20, 45, 90

I use mostly Green lid, Easy sand 5 and 20
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've noticed that. Smooth, flat walls seems to be par for the course out here instead of the orange peel or knockdown textures of so-cal. I don't see that as a bad thing though since I mostly do remodel work so it's easier to match on smooth patches than trying to blend in on a machine texture and get it just right.

The big difference in textures I've seen though is ceiling textures. Have seen various various ceiling textures (stomp, rake, swirl,ect) that just never made it out west. Did my first ever heavy stipple/stomp texture on my last job which was a new one. I had half the cieling cut out already for a pipe replacement/water damage so I just took out the rest of it and hung new. Came out decent buy since it was all new it was consistent. Not sure it would have been practical or even possible to patch as it was.

Gonna hafta try a couple different brands of mud and see what I like to work with. From the looks of things I probably won't be pulling out my hopper any time soon.

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Discussion starter · #7 ·
hdavis said:
If you're mixing a lot of hot mud, durabond 210.

I like ProForm blacktop AP better than USG.

I don't like the ultra light weight USG light green lid, but if you mix some in with the green lid, it really improves how the green lid goes on.
Click to expand...
Gonna hafta try them on my next job. The USG hot mud really surprised me out here. I was using it on the west coast cuz it was smoother consistency than the west pac brand but damn, it was kicking way faster than I'm used to. I'm used to being able to slap it up and only occasionally have the 20 minute start to kick if I'm taping a cieling before my pan is empty. But I swear the 45 and 90 minute kick much faster out here. Had 45 minute kicking in the pan and instead of mixing half a bag of 90 in a bucket to skim with time to spare it would suddenly all kick at once which was weird. On the west coast it would slowly start to stiffen up in the bucket but I could add a little water for my 3rd and 4th pan full and smooth it back out. Here it starts smooth, stays smooth and creamy for about an hour then in minute or 2 it's rock hard. Gonna take some getting used to.

Gonna try the blue lid by itself next time as well as mixing the green lid AP and LW together. Green lid LW just doesn't feel right to me. Feels too light. When you say blue lid are you talking about the proform or the plus 3 brand blue lids?

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Discussion starter · #12 ·
Bubbles is usually an issue of over mixing in my experience and the dish soap thing is a waste of time. Difference in smoothness is negligible though it does smell nice :[emoji12]

I use hot mud for the bulk of my mudding, I just prefer the premixed stuff for the final coat so it sands and feathers smooth on the edges with 220 grit and/or a sponge. Hot mud always leaves a pronounced edge and is a PITA to sand/feather.


We Fix Houses said:
90 min > Black top AP > Box Fan > Box Fan
Click to expand...

hdavis said:
USG blue lid +3 would be what most are calling blue lid.
Click to expand...
Gonna try em both on my next jobs to compare how they handle. I'm sure I've used the plus 3 in the past. Might just hafta switch from 45 to 90 minute for all my skimming and from 20 to 45 for taping and small-medium patch work.

Another thing I've noticed is paper taped cornerbead is easier to come by here which is nice as I used to always hafta make a trip to lowes for the 1 3/4" stuff out west and they didn't always have it in stock. The paper cornerbead from HD on the west coast was overpriced trash IMO.

Oh, and another thing I've noticed is there's no drywall shims here and it seems glue and screw is a more common method on installation. Is there any advantages to this given that there's far more humidity changes throughout the year?

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#14 ·
Lite is soft, dents easy especialy for corner bead, I dont use there. Hard to get out of a job at times too many blems. I might use it for last pass <20% of a room. Eventhough some of it says AP i would not use it for taping.
 
#15 ·
A2Zcontracting said:
Never seen that brand before... must be a northeast thing...I'm in SC.

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Click to expand...
Must be a Canadian French thing, when I can’t find that at my local supplier my first coat is US G green, followed by the blacktop, then the lightweight blue for my finish coat!

there are distinctive color differences to the finish mud, so you know if you miss some thing!
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Snobnd said:
Must be a Canadian French thing, when I can’t find that at my local supplier my first coat is US G green, followed by the blacktop, then the lightweight blue for my finish coat!

there are distinctive color differences to the finish mud, so you know if you miss some thing!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm used to that and actually like the color difference. Hot mud would dry white, boxed AP dries tan/yellow. Let's ya know if you missed a spot or if youre oversanding.

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