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PSA: I see a lot of guys still using a 6-inch knife for the first coat on flat seams.
I learned this from an old timer in Spokane about 15 years ago. He showed me that a 10-inch knife lays down a much flatter, wider bed of mud that feathers out better, saving you a ton of sanding later. I switched over and it cut my sanding time by nearly a third on a big job last month. Anyone else make that switch and notice a difference?
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vera_roberts5mo ago
Joke's on me, I spent my first year drywalling with a 5-inch putty knife thinking I was a pro. That first flat seam looked like a smashed cake. My foreman finally took pity and handed me a 10-inch. Felt like I was trying to paddle a canoe with a plank for the first 20 minutes, but man the results were night and day. Way less mud wasted and I actually use less sanding discs now, plus my shoulders don't ache quite as bad from all that extra sanding.
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noraj796mo ago
My uncle in Tacoma taught me the same thing almost twenty years ago. He handed me a 12-inch knife for taping and it felt huge at first. But you're right, that wider spread puts down such a smooth, thin layer. It really does feather out almost by itself. I still use a smaller knife for corners, but for those long flat seams, the big knife is a total game changer.
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the_logan6mo ago
My foreman in Boise made me use a 14 inch knife on a big drywall job. It felt awkward for the first hour but the seams were way smoother. I haven't gone back to a small knife for that first coat since.
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