Hey guys! Got a problem here

For some reason I've been having lots of trouble with my touch ups after my final sanding. I mix my mud with professional tint from the supplier. The problem is that when I sand the touch ups, my sponge doesn't sand the tinted mud but it sands the skim coat around it... leaving a bigger touch up...

I was working with another taper who was using the same tint and he had no problem. So it's not the tint. I've tried using thin and thick mub but it makes no difference. I've also tried using less tint but I still got this problem :S

Anybody knows what I could be doing wrong?

Thanks!

Touch up and then sand!!!

 

well, sounds like the tint your using is changing the texture of your mud, so try not to use too much tint.

I use blue chalk if needed (chalk line powder, don't use red), but even the chalk can cause the same problem. Trick is not to use too much. Make your mixture a very lite blue, not a very dark blue.

 

well, sounds like the tint your using is changing the texture of your mud, so try not to use too much tint.

I use blue chalk if needed (chalk line powder, don't use red), but even the chalk can cause the same problem. Trick is not to use too much. Make your mixture a very lite blue, not a very dark blue.

I'll try it again with even less tint then I guess. I've been waiting for primer since my last mess up like Thefinisher suggested

touch up after prime.... problem solved :yes:

The problem is that I've got too many touch ups and the painters don't like that ^^

 

touch up after prime.... problem solved :yes:

 

i see how this system works in your situation pointing up after your crews but i HATE touching up after prime. that's two more trips to any job than i ever plan on taking. mud does not go over primer as easy as fresh board. too many passes to eliminate fisheyes. thick, well mixed mud helps.

 

What mud are you using?

 

Sounds like you are describing "onion skinning", the way I avoid it is spray the surrounding area with water first, that seems to soften or reactivate the existing topcoat, then when you touch up it's more like fresh over fresh so there should be no blending in problems when sanding.

 

Now that right there belongs in tips of the trade. :thumbsup:

 

I thought touch ups were a painters problem.

 

Music to my ears, a true craftsman!:thumbsup:

 

Never touched up nothing in all my taping days!!:blink:
After i leave a house its up 2 the painter 2 sort anything:thumbsup:

 

God I wish we had it like that :yes:.

 

Using a color additive or not touchups can be a pain if not done right. We do go through after finish sand for all ours. I've used never-miss, chalk, but usually use nothing. Verdicts still out for me about never-miss, some of my guys think it's easier to sand the touchups but I haven't really noticed a difference.

Thing is be sure to keep all edges pulled ass tight, and when you go to sand them have enough lighting to see if you killed the edge enough without "humping" the edges.

 

The problem is that I've got too many touch ups and the painters don't like that ^^[/QUOTE]

this is the problem right here. i'm not trying to be an ass but i don't usually have more than a few touch ups per room and they are usually so slight i know no one will see them. i've seen crews that must have thirty touch ups per room and bad ones too. you may as well just put a third coat on at that rate. when i do have to touch up i make sure not to skim the touch up tight for two reasons. firstly because you will compress the mud and make a harder area to sand on top of a uniform second coat thus the edges becoming worse not better. second, if the touch up has any depth to it, one skim will shrink too much and you will still see the defect.
my first effort would be to have less touch ups. one way or another more time needs to be taken to eliminate them.

 

Different batches of mud have different amounts of water, and therefore different densities. Could be you are touching up with a heavier/denser mix, than what you used for skimming. try touching up with the same mud. I seem to remember a discussion on this a while back. However, it was probably a thread that went off topic, so good luck finding it!

 

don t use tint, just pencil em

 

I have been using ez sand 45 for my touch ups. Its a different color then USG green top. For the rooms that are dark I just mark them with blue painters tape. I hate searching for them and I have a crew so theres no excuse for them not to see it. Small touch up small piece of tape. Large touch up bigger piece of tape.

 

So you're using greentop for finish coat and 45 hotmud for touchups?

 

Yup. After i have sanded. I dont really have much for touch ups. Dings , dents and flaws in the rock. Once I have sanded i expect to be getting a check and dont want my GCs to have any excuse to not pay me. Plus I dont plan on making an extra trip to come back and sand.

 

What I find helps is to use a sanding sponge with a medium and fine side. First go over the edges gently with the medium side then finish it off with the fine to remove scratches. And I will always grab a fresh sponge to do touch-ups because have found a used sponge will very often give me that same issue.

 

I sanded out a spec today around 6000 bf...DURING the sand I hit a few scratches and dents ..3 way touch ups ..I cut it tight with thin mud . no going back to sand. I kick a 500 watt around on my block and skim so sand day can be a breeze . If i get called back after prime /paint someone moved a box or stepped through a ceiling.

 

i use red food coloring, for vtouch up. course im kinda blind..... then i go in(this is for remodles mind you, and sand and spray the wall stains with kilz. course you guys are doing levAL 4 ? IT AINT BRAIN salad surgery. LEVAL 5 is

 

so the trick is not to have any touch ups I guess ^^ but it's totally impossible if you are doing commercial site. This site where I'm working at is stupid. They keep adding bulkheads, new walls, cutting the drywall, etc. and everybody is banging and scratching my walls it's ridiculous. and since the primer is not done I'm still responsible to fix every ding and ****.

 

Dont be afraid to stick up for yourself. i dont fix other trades mishaps and screwups unless i get a signed ticket. I dont count new walls, bulkheads or damage as touch ups. If your at the point where you are all sanded and they are still adding more sheetrock and cutting out holes you are being taken advantage of. insist on all sheetrock being completed before you start. If not thats called an extra and should be on a backcharge slip.

 

What does joe from trim tex use? I noticed he uses some type of yellow tint in the order book. I have some Mod homes where the ceiling joints are humped out and are showing after its primed. I was thinking of adding a tint so the HO would be able to see how much crap i have fixed. I usually use chalk or food coloring, but i was just wondering what else there is. I used to hate mods but i found a new company thats been paying me $42 an hour cash. I even bought a 20" advanced knife for the marriage butt seams. Some take 5 or 6 coats to level them but at that price its not such a pain in the ass.

 

That's nevermiss tint really good stuff

 

if you go to home depot ask for concrete color just a dip of the corner of you knife in the cap of the bottle and into a pan mix, stuff lasted me 3 years one 10 buck bottle, gave plenty of tincher bottles away also, finally lost the bottle i had:yes:

 

....

 

I have found that touch up after prime is the only way to let your sins hide. Touch ups before final sand is okay to do now and then. But I found any touch up done after you finish sand is the worst thing one can do, doesn't seem to matter what mud is used by my experience. It layers and blows through, and you have to coat your joint all over to hide it. Nah-uh. Time is money.

 

I half to agree mud star.:yes:

 

The simplest ifx might be to use a softer mud to do the touch ups with and tint that.

That way a light sand won't affect the original coat.

I just use the same mud myself untinted and use a little piece of blue masking tape and stick that next to it, I've never see tinted mud, I'm colour blind and forgetful as hell so its masking tape for me, can't help but not see it.

 

The simplest ifx might be to use a softer mud to do the touch ups with and tint that.

That way a light sand won't affect the original coat.

I just use the same mud myself untinted and use a little piece of blue masking tape and stick that next to it, I've never see tinted mud, I'm colour blind and forgetful as hell so its masking tape for me, can't help but not see it.

????double post... apologies....

 

Everyone has a good point, But ive found its just the mud, All purpose has glue, Its the glue level in the mud thats doing it, One nz made mud we have is a reall shocker for it, Dare touch that up bare and you have a problem, Other muds dont do it, The USG midweight being one. A lite mud thats topcoat only might work but i havent tryed it.

And go get one of those small plastic bottles 100ml or so with a cap and a drip hole, Take it to the paint shop and ask them to fill it with paint tinter of whatever colour you want, I use a deep yellow colour, Then you can tint your mud, It dosnt seem to affect sanding but i usually try and light check after priming and touch up then, If that cant be done then light check before sanding early in the morn on daylight when its darker, you see everything then.

 

One nz made mud we have is a reall shocker for it, Dare touch that

Promix all purpose was a buggar for doing that, it didn't always behave like that though, I've stopped using it.


The problem with some muds is that when you apply a very thin touch up coat they tend to POLISH on, this polished coat is harder than the unpolished mud around it and under it. Villaboard finishing compound is the worst for it.