Overheard a painter at the supply house say something about mud weight that stuck with me

I was grabbing some 5/8 firecode for a job and heard a painter telling his helper, 'You can tell a good hanger by how much mud I have to use.' It made me stop and think about my own taping... I know I can be a bit heavy with the mud sometimes, especially on butt joints. That painter probably sees a ton of our work after it's done. Has anyone else gotten feedback from the finishing crew that made you adjust your hanging or taping style?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan_thompson621mo ago

Heard that same line for years and I just don't buy it. A good hanger gets the board tight and the joints straight, right? My job is to give the taper a solid base to work with. If the painter needs more mud because of a tough joint, that's on the taper to figure out. You think they'd rather have a bad seam that's easy to cover?

bencampbell16d ago

Switched to asking tapers what they actually wanted and cut my callbacks in half.

andrew71mo ago

Used to agree with you until I saw a taper fix a bad seam in half the time it took to prep a perfect one.