Level Five Finish By Knife

Johnny Drywall

I am just looking for a little knowledge from someone that knows what they are talking about. I own a drywall business and we have applied level five finish using a spray application made by Magnum. It is a joint compound/primer mixture which if applied correctly works well. However, we have a VERY picky builder from the old school days. He has decided he wants us to now apply a level five finish by knife using lightweight joint compound. My problem is I am not sure what kind of coverage I will get out of a 3.5 box. Does anyone know how many square feet a 3.5 box will cover on a level five by knife?
Thanks in advance!!!

silverstilts

Level 5 is a level 5 no matter how it is applied , it should not matter what the builder wants does he also want to pay for all the extra labor involved , if he is so picky tell him to come after you are all finished and see if he knows the difference , nothing worse than having someone dictate how to do your job as long as it comes out fine ... but if you must know i would think a level 5 by hand a box of mud goes a long way ...

__________________
aka the rock doctor

joepro0000

Its impossible to come up with an exact figure, mud gets hard after skimmimg with it a couple of times, and some finishers toss it out, otheres add more water to it and continue skimming. You can say 10 boards to box to be safe.

Why don't you tell the builder you are the drywall professional and that is how its done?

Also, spray it with the magnum, then whip it with a 10 or 12. Make sure your knifes don't leave lines.

joepro0000

BTW - In my experience, doing level 5 by hand doesn't always work with 1 coat, you can still see flashing.

d-rock

Work from the bucket, green top. Just add water and paddle it until you don't see air bubbles. Light sanding when done should give you a good finish. It will never be super perfect unless you do multiple skim coats/sandings or for Super Perfect go with a plaster veneer. Maybe lime and gauge. But you need to charge extra for that.

Whitey97

why would you use green mud for that?
green (all-purpose) is primarily made to apply tape/paper bead. If you fill with it at all, it cracks like a 80 year old's forehead

Stormy_Ny

Whitey ....you have no idea how I agree with you here. But the "Old School" boys think Green Lid is good to use from start to finish. It is like your a pussy if you ask for light weight to use.

WTF do they make it for !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

d-rock

I understand why you would say that , however, in my opinion the veneer of blue is too soft for a strong finish. When doing level 5 on sheetrock, filling is not an issue. If filling is an issue, i'll usually go with a hot mix first. If its real bad (old plaster) i'll use structolite. We never use anything but green top or cover coat. Been using green top since i was a little kid. always worked for me.

silverstilts

The problem with the blue lid or light weight is it gets too doughy too fast & drys out. The problem with the green is its heavy, but it does go on nice, and as far as shrinkage there should not be any worry because you are not applying it on thick it is a skim coat . It is a much more tougher finish . And if done right not much to buff off. On the other hand if you are finishing over any ridges it will not feather out very well ... Mix 50/50 or even a little green with the blue it will aid in the drying out as you are working with it and still give it some added strength to the finish and will go on smoother ... Ever mix a little green in with the blue before you box you would be surprised by how smooth it goes on. 0 pockmarks.

__________________
aka the rock doctor

Stormy_Ny

Sheetrock makes it already premixed like that ..... It comes in a Light Brown Lid VLS (Very Low shrinkage) ... Stuff is great, just very hard to find.

Stormy_Ny

No Offense D-Rock ..... But if that was the case why would Sheetrock make it. I have called there spec department .... Green lid to tape .. Blue lid to cover. Just because you have only used Green lid since you were a little kid .... Doesn't mean it's right. That kind of logic kills me.

d-rock

Never said it was 'right', as my post clearly stated it's just my opinion. you are free to disagree. It's worked for me, so if someone asks me, i will tell them it's worked for me. Also, I still think the veneer of blue does not feel solid. If i'm doing level 5, which is what this thread is about, I prefer to thin the mud and knife or trowel apply. But I'm certainly no mud Yoda. I'm certain alot of you guys are much more experienced than I am.

A+ Texture LLC

Isn't the green lid their "All Purpose" mud. Doesn't that indicate a mud that is good for all purposes?? That means they think its ok for each part of the process don't they? Just askin...

d-rock

LMAO... good point. see, like i said, i'm no Yoda..

fenez

If you can find it where you live, lafarge products have been working really well for us, I had a rep who called me a few years back and I told him no thanks buuut he would'nt take no for an answer so I told him to drop it off on the job. We used it and were impressed it works very well. Even thier bag materials are good.

Johnny Drywall

The only person that actually tried to reply to the question was JoePro.

joepro0000

Johnny I pretty much answered it for everyone, what else can we say? That its impossible to figure out.

A+ Texture LLC

LOL, I'm sorry could you repeat the question please.

Whitey97

Just so everyone is aware, we are all drywall guys here. Do you really expect us to stay on topic? blah

wnybassman

Yesterday I asked our supplier if they can get this VLS stuff. No problem, we can get one bucket or a hundred.

Might try it on our next project.