That lead guy in Dallas insisted on using only 5-minute mud for everything

I was working a big commercial job in Dallas back in 2018, taping a 30,000 square foot office build. The lead tapers foreman kept yelling at everyone to mix their 5-minute mud for all the butt joints and corners. He said setting type was the only way to go fast and that pre-mixed all purpose was for amateurs. I tried telling him the 5-minute stuff was flashing like crazy and cracking after an hour, but he just said I was too slow at mixing. Half the crew ended up redoing a bunch of joints the next day because they had already hardened and blistered. Anyone else run into guys who swear by the quick set mud for everything even when it makes no sense?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_lane19d ago

I read a forum post once where a guy said his boss banned premixed mud entirely because it didn't "fit the speed culture." That 5-minute stuff has its place, but using it for everything is just asking for trouble with cracking and flashing. Sounds like your foreman needed a reminder that speed doesn't mean much if you're just fixing your own mistakes the next day.

kellyj2319d ago

My old man has been doing drywall for 30 years and he always said the guys pushing 5-minute mud for everything are the same ones carrying a caulk gun everywhere to hide their bad seams. There's nothing worse than going back to sand down a job that was supposed to be done in a day, only to find the whole corner bead is cracking because they rushed it with hot mud. I've seen guys burn through a whole box of 20-minute stuff on a small patch job and end up with a mess that took twice as long to fix as just using all-purpose would have. In my experience, the speed culture works great if you're doing production work for a builder who doesn't care about returns, but for any homeowner paying attention that stuff catches up with you real fast.