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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 )

The process is archaic and fucked up. Just contract it out if you can.

My only advice is this

Use 45 minute because it doesnt shrink like the faster drying ones do. So you can often get away with just mudding once (if you back butter the tape).

The lost time is not in the 30 extra minutes it takes for mud to dry. It's lost in the 2nd or 3rd coats hiding fucking tape lines. You won't be painting that day anyway, even if you use 5 minute. Trust me 45 doesn't shrink.

OK I have more to add:

Another thing, wide mounds can't be seen by the untrained eye. The eye only catches lines so stop fussing over sanding down gradual hump, unless you are in the kitchen or bathroom. (Walls with counters or cabinets being installed should be flush.)

If you sand anything, at the very minimum wipe the wall with a lightly damp sponge after. Don't get too wet.

Primer is for babies. Paints are so good now that as long as you prep the wall then you don't need to prime. The better the prep the better the paint. Even primer won't stick to dust. Plan on 2 coats of paint

Don't buy the cheapest paint. What you think you are saving in paint you'll lose in labor x2.

Texture hides most flaws but won't hide lines

Bring a 10 dollar step stool to the job site

Paint with a roller always on an extension. Can't express this enough. clean the roller 100% after done or you'll be buying another one.

Paintbrush and rollers you get what you pay for

Also, some guys in europe use a self dispensing back buttering tape gun that is so good it hurts my soul that it's not in America

Some floors get ruined if you clean them with paint thinner. Can never have too many drop cloth if you plan on doing a lot of painting. Thr brown Butcher paper is cheap from floor wholesalers or 4x the price from home depot. Plastic is my least favorite.

Use frog tape (green not yellow.) 3m masking doesn't beat frog tape

Always buy cabinets and doors pre-painted at factory no matter how good of a painter you think you are.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Another thing, wide mounds can't be seen by the untrained eye. The eye only catches lines so stop fussing over sanding down gradual hump, unless you are in the kitchen or bathroom.

Not always true. In my hallway some clown did this shit and because of how the house was designed the natural light in the hallway comes in from the bathroom window and shines right along the hallway wall highlighting every hump, bump, and wave in their shitty job. One day I'm gonna have to spend a weekend fixing that shitty wall because it drives me crazy every time I look at it.

When I hire a drywall guy I check the work with a bright flashlight held against the wall and shine it in all directions. If there are big shadows we have a problem. It's also a good way to check the work of a tile guy and a floor guy (uneven floor tile is the worst).

[–] • 0 pt

Did they texture? What kind of texture did they use on the wall?

[–] • 0 pt

They used knockdown, but the shadows are way bigger than the texture.