Wet Sanding

I have heard of it and tried it but like you,no luck.I tried it wit different sponges and different amounts of dampness.On a house I was remodeling as a rental.No luck.
I'm pretty good at the old school way and think I'll stick with that.We usually leave very little to sand and have a PC 9" sander with vacuum so it's hard to beat.

mike d. said:

Yesterday I was asked to try wet sanding. Basically applying water to dry mud with a sponge. Then take a 10'' knife and try to make it smooth. The sponge I had was like a grout sponge with 1 side coarse. Iam working in a office, so no dust. This morning I looked at the finished drywall and decided to sand the old fashioned way. I remember a guy doing drywall this way. His looked great. What do you think?:thumbsup:

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Wet spongeing works and has a place . Like in offices , occupied homes and small repair work . When you get in and out with no mess and keep the dust machine in the van .

I do wet sanding almost exclusively. But I'm exclusively doing repairs in occupied homes. I REALLY like it for that. I use the Wallboard Tools wet sanding sponge they sell at Home Depot for like $3. I get 4 or 5 units (small repairs in a condominium complex) out of one sponge. I rarely use the coarse side. I hit the hot mud after the first two coats between the set up and dry times. The top coat (just a light skim coat of AP or blue lid topping mud) is allowed to dry completely first. It's beautiful. But I wouldn't do it for a large project unless I had to because it takes much longer as you have to keep cleaning out the sponge.

If you are good enough to do a premium job with a tight skim coat then all you will need is a sponge to finish off your work. I use a quality grout sponge. to break them in just soak in bucket of water for 24 hours.

You should charge more for jobs that have a ''no dust'' factor.

I tool the hot mud down with a almost wet sponge and a 6" knife as it is setting on smaller repairs......up to a few boards. There is no need for wet sanding after. When I get it close to being paintable, I let it sit for a bit, then I pull a tight skim coat to feather the edges. Some times I get it just right and don't need to feather.....(though rarely). I never liked wet sanding after the mud actually dries, especially slick walls. If you have a supplier with ProForm hot mud, I really recommend using it.

mike d. said:

Yesterday I was asked to try wet sanding. Basically applying water to dry mud with a sponge. Then take a 10'' knife and try to make it smooth. The sponge I had was like a grout sponge with 1 side coarse. Iam working in a office, so no dust. This morning I looked at the finished drywall and decided to sand the old fashioned way. I remember a guy doing drywall this way. His looked great. What do you think?:thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Wet sanding light compounds is very difficult, even for a very experienced finisher.

I tried it a couple times. Never seemed to get the hang of it.

Never worked for me .

I dont think its worth the extra time,,,,unless for a small area

i believe wet sanding only works on small areas and patches, i tried in larger areas and its a no go for me, i have only heard of people doing full rooms or jobs but its like a myth, never seen it in person

If you use 100% bucket mud...........Which adds more trips to the job..........You can sponge that all the way down to the tape if you want.
I offer this to customers with the understanding that it will take more time but can guarantee little to no dust.

If you use any quickset, and then top with bucket mud you will most likely ''melt away'' your last coat and mess everything up. There is a learning curve to sponging. (School of hard knocks)

My grandfather always used the wet sponge method to avoid dust. His work looked like ****.

I've tried it on patches. Rinse & be gentle grasshopper.

My mom of all people showed me when I helped her remodel her house. She said "why don't you wet sand?" I replied that's the dumbest thing I ever heard, why in the hell would you want to rehydrate mudd. That's when I learned her dad (my granpa) exclusively did it like that.

Well, I aint grandpa haha