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I'm doing a home renovation and spackling is murdering. The process I've currently got is -

Round 1 Spackle the tape, at least 2 hour turn around until it's dry enough to cover

Round 2 Put a full coat with unwatered all purpose, have it be ~10 inches from the tape in all directions (takes a day to dry)

Round 3 For in either left to right, or top / down with heavily watered / runny spackle. Use the 12 inch blade at a 85 to 90 degree angle to get a perfectly flat cut. This 100% levels out everything in either up / down or left / right. (normally takes about 1-4 hours to dry fully)

Round 4 Do the same as round 3 but in the opposite direction. End result is perfectly flat in both up / down and left / right. (normally 30 min - 2 hours to dry)

Round 5 Patch work in the same spirit as 3 / 4. Fill it bubble holes, scraps / accidental gouges etc. Do one last run on the edges for a flawless "feathering" in the approach of 3 / 4. At this point it should truly be flawless and 100% flat. After this do one to two runs across evenly with a orbital sander. End product is near flawlessly flat and feathered.

These are for butt joints, not the joints where both ends are depreciated.

So far this seems like "murderous overkill" for if I need to do ie lowering the whole place's ceiling and putting drywall throughout the whole place. It'll literally take weeks just for the spackling. (I get about 4-5 work hours per day)

To me it seems the main things are - Use quick set on the tape and tape covering rounds to get a day turn around to a few hours. Consider using mesh tape to cut out the tape drying time. 2. Go out less distance from the tape to create less surface area. Less surface area means less spackle to put up for round 3 / 4. Since it's going to be guaranteed flawlessly flat, maybe 8 inches out or even 6 might work? 3. Maybe cut out Round 4 entirely and just make round 3 be against whatever direction the tape covering round was, and essentially make the tape covering round double as the round 4.

I'm doing a home renovation and spackling is murdering. The process I've currently got is - Round 1 Spackle the tape, at least 2 hour turn around until it's dry enough to cover Round 2 Put a full coat with unwatered all purpose, have it be ~10 inches from the tape in all directions (takes a day to dry) Round 3 For in either left to right, or top / down with heavily watered / runny spackle. Use the 12 inch blade at a 85 to 90 degree angle to get a perfectly flat cut. This 100% levels out everything in either up / down or left / right. (normally takes about 1-4 hours to dry fully) Round 4 Do the same as round 3 but in the opposite direction. End result is perfectly flat in both up / down and left / right. (normally 30 min - 2 hours to dry) Round 5 Patch work in the same spirit as 3 / 4. Fill it bubble holes, scraps / accidental gouges etc. Do one last run on the edges for a flawless "feathering" in the approach of 3 / 4. At this point it should truly be flawless and 100% flat. After this do one to two runs across evenly with a orbital sander. End product is near flawlessly flat and feathered. These are for butt joints, not the joints where both ends are depreciated. So far this seems like "murderous overkill" for if I need to do ie lowering the whole place's ceiling and putting drywall throughout the whole place. It'll literally take weeks just for the spackling. (I get about 4-5 work hours per day) To me it seems the main things are - Use quick set on the tape and tape covering rounds to get a day turn around to a few hours. Consider using mesh tape to cut out the tape drying time. 2. Go out less distance from the tape to create less surface area. Less surface area means less spackle to put up for round 3 / 4. Since it's going to be guaranteed flawlessly flat, maybe 8 inches out or even 6 might work? 3. Maybe cut out Round 4 entirely and just make round 3 be against whatever direction the tape covering round was, and essentially make the tape covering round double as the round 4.

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[–] • 1 pt (edited )

It’s important to note that a drywall knife is two-sided. If you look down the edge of the knife, you’ll see it is slightly curved. Use the inside of the curve to spread your mud, flip the knife over to smooth the mud. That way, when you smooth the mud the ends of the knife don’t drag and make lines.

Also, premixed mud is the way to go. You’re going to spend more time mixing up your mud than actually working if you get powdered 20 minute or other quick setting mud. You can only mix little bits at a time because even the 45 minute or 90 minute mud will dry up in your pan pretty quickly. Very annoying to constantly have to scrape your pan out, and if it’s not cleaned perfectly every time you’re going to get chunks in your mud. Use the green top to do your initial layers, then use a light weight (light green) for the top layer. Some people like the purple medium weight.

You can also mix your drywall mud with a little bit of dish soap. This is an old trick to keep bubbles out of your drywall mud. Seems kind of counterintuitive but many people swear by it

When you are pointing up, i.e. doing touch up at the end, it’s good to mix a little colored chalk from your chalk line if you have one, that way it stands out from the rest of the mud when it dries and you know where to sand. If you’re doing a lot of drywall work it’s worth buying some colored chalk. It’s like 2 bucks in the tool section next to chalk lines at Lowe’s/ HD

For my tape coat, I usually cover it up right away. People have different opinions about this, but a lot of people will tell you that putting a coat right over the wet tape coat keeps the tape from bubbling out. I usually do a tape coat with a four or 6 inch knife. The next coat I will use an 8 inch knife. 10 or 12 inch knife for the next coat if necessary on joints that don’t have a taper on the end of the sheet rock board. When you do your blocking over the tape coat in corners, do one side at a time. Wait for it to dry, then do the other side, otherwise you will keep messing up the other side. If done right it should require minimal sanding.

[–] • 1 pt

It’s important to note that a drywall knife is two-sided.

I notice some of mine were, that was helpful.

I have a spackle blender that goes in the drill and that keep it consistent. I found that extremely helps with keeping clumps out and bubbles out. Bubbles are one thing I normally just leave to fill in afterwards since it's super easy and dries quick.

Covering up the tape is one thing I think I'm going to do. I normally wet the tape then take most of the mud out, this ends up with it not being able to slide around anymore since there isn't much mud under it anymore. Only thing I'm worried about is when the mud dries maybe it will pull the tape off the wall since it all shrinks?

Thanks!