Drywall material costs

Corragio

What is the average cost/lifespan of a drywall sanding block? How many would do you buy at a time?

silverstilts

Depending on the mud you use and what grit you buy , I use the fine and I buy by the case ,, they will last a long time unless the guys start to loose them . I usually like to use fresh ones myself in the upper angles then use them for final sanding on the flats butts and beads.. after a med home 150 sheets or so throw them and forget them... I prefer the angle ones also and depending on the brand some will way outlast others.. I usually just bite the bullet and spend around $3.00 each for 3M they seem to hold up the best , than trim tex isn't to bad and way cheaper.

Whitey97

I used the 3m for years, just recently ordered the trim tex and like them a lot except the angle isn't big enough when you're used to the 3m block.

Darren@Partners

Like the 3M angled but also use the flat soft Trim-Tex for bullnose.

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Whitey97

I think it's kind of funny how much bull nose you guys do. I touch the stuff maybe once a year. It's usually only done on A frame so people don't knock their gord when the walk by the window.

silverstilts

Speaking of bull nose did a house last febuary with over a case of bead in it , after it took more than the usual amount of time ( one of my crew ) I got a call from the contractor and he forgot to mention that bull nose was suppose to be installed instead of square , he even admitted to seeing my guy putting them on....but neglected to say anything .. after the weekend of course so they were all bone dry with a partial fill .... Not pretty that's for sure and none of the rock was trimmed back so there we were making a big ass mess .... did manage to make $700.00 extra though on about 60 pcs ... and didn't even have to use any base blocks he used wood ones YAAAA

James D

Dang Silverstilts $3.00 a block is way high. I found a place on the net that's about a 1/3 that cost, and they have lasted as long as anything I have been using. Not sure if I'm allowed to say where in this forum, so shoot me an email if you want more info.
jason.chalfant@fuse.net

Whitey97

I'm pretty sure you can say what you want. I do

silverstilts

Whitey is right so where do you buy them ??? It may be high but on the other side of the coin what the hell it's all part of the game right ? What's another couple of bucks on a job ?? I myself have never been one to squeeze on the materials to do a job right . No matter what the cost i get er done....when a sponge has lost it's ability to cut and work properly it gets tossed and I grab a new one , like a dull pencil you have to sharpen it once and a while , I like using a sharp grit on a sanding sponge it makes life and work easy... time is money.

Durabond-Don

I buy 3-4 at a time. I buy the 3m angled medium grit. I also like the big blocks, for bead and butts. I use the angled one strickly for corners, and the big one for bead and butts.

They are about $3 I guess, but are tax deductable as they are considered a tool.

You can tell when they wear out. Usually a few jobs for me, then replace.


I am finishing up a big church now, where I used 8 boxes of no-coat and lord knows how much regular beed. I would guess 20 boxes of 12ft. regular beed. Also much tear-away. I used 2 small sponges and 1 large one. Been on the job since April.

I will post pics next week.

James D

Well Silver, Coraggio up there sells them. He didn't want to get kicked out of here for advertising, he just wanted some info. When he heard what you were paying he asked me to jump on here and pass on his card should we say. Check out coraggioabrasives.com. Don't hold it against him, he was trying to do it right, but figured you guys would like the information. I buy from him, his product works as good as anything I've used.

silverstilts

well then why don't he advertise legally such as running an ad , little sneaky doing it this way don't think I will even click on his site that's posted ... Geezzzzz .

Mudstar

I have a question then for all you sponger's. How long to sponge out 10.000 sqft ?

silverstilts

Most times one guy running a porter cable ( about two hours ) on 10,000 ft approximate 200 sheets and another guy doing the detail with a sponge will finish right behind him.... No one in there right mind would just sponge alone without first sanding with at least an idiot stick...

Whitey97

did he really think we weren't doing a rough sand first? before the final?

Nah, we're going around an entire house with just a sponge. We do it because we like the work, and the way our fingers bleed after an entire house!

joepro0000

check your local mom and pop paint shop. I get them at .99 fine grit. Only buy 3-4 aqt a time because my guys like to loose them quickly.