Debate: Hand taping vs using a bazooka for flat work on a 5000 square foot house

I did a big new build outside Dallas last month and argued with my partner for an hour about whether to use the automatic taper or just hand tape the whole thing. He swore the bazooka would save time but I've had too many jobs where the mud gets thin in the pan and you end up with bubbles. I ended up hand taping the whole 5000 footer and it took me 18 hours but I got zero callbacks. Has anyone else found the auto taper causes more problems than it fixes?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_patricia1mo ago

And here I thought 18 hours of hand taping was just a creative way to build upper body strength for summer tank top season. But hey, at least your partner can't blame you when the tape bubbles show up three weeks after the bazooka got clogged with a skim coat. Sounds like your arm got the workout and your reputation got the win, so I'd say that's a fair trade for one very long Thursday.

terry_mitchell1mo ago

That bazooka getting clogged reminds me of when my cousin tried to use one on a job site and ended up spraying joint compound all over the foreman's truck... ended up having to hand tape the whole basement anyway. The foreman just stood there with this white paste dripping off his hard hat, not saying a word for like ten seconds. Hand taping might take forever but at least you control the mess, which is more than I can say for my cousin's approach to drywall work.

dixon.nathan1mo ago

Wound up in the exact same fight last year on a 4,200 square footer over in Frisco. My partner swore the bazooka was the way to go, I said no way, we compromised by letting him try it on the first room. @terry_mitchell knows exactly what I'm talking about - that thing clogged before we even finished the first wall, blew mud everywhere, and I had to scrape it off a window frame. Spent the next 16 hours hand taping the rest while he sat there cleaning the bazooka for the third time. Hand taping is slower but I've never had a callback on it, and that's worth more than saving a few hours.