Tape & Mudding (Finishing Basement)

[magic_minnow]

So im trying to finish my basement off. Drywall is up and i'm considering hiring the Tape and Mud. What should I expect to pay approximately for an 800 sq ft basement for taping and mudding? Do they charge per sq. footage of space or time? Should I do it myself? I've done 1 basement prior and for my lack of experience it was decent...far from perfect though. Any thoughts and references would be appreciated! I'm in the NW Metro. Thanks!

[amateurfishing]

pm sent

[chasineyes]

Hire it done. Unless your unemployed and have all day to my-mom-sees-this*& with it. IT will be the best decision ever made. Those guys are GOOD at what they do. And fast.

[rjmiller47]

Call Northwest Drywall from Redwood Falls they are fast, good and reasonable. They do in a couple days what it will take you forever to do. Don't know if you're doing the ceiling in drywall, but if so all the more reason. Good luck.

[JeremyCampbell]

Hire it out! It's actually not alot of money.Before I got in painting I hung and taped for yrs.As far as how they charge,some will charge per sheet,sq foot or just give you a flat out price which is my custom when bidding.Do not hire a handyman....Get a drywaller.Most pros will have automatic taping tools and some still use a combination of different blades for each coat of mud.Prime it with a PVA product and apply paint.Some ppl do the paint and primer in one route to skip a step.I personally believe that new drywall needs a primer before paint.Not two in one.Ok I'm done.

[Porcupine]

I am also very close to this needing to be done. Any recommendations would be appreciated. I am in the Hastings area. It will be the lower level.

[fishersofmen]

Agree with hiring it out. I just did a room downstairs and I wanted to kill myself by the time it was done. This is one of those areas where practice makes perfect and I would rather not practice anymore.

[nofishfisherman]

I finished my basement off about this time last year and I did all the drywall work myself. It was about a 500 square foot room and I did all of the walls and ceiling.

If I recall mudding took about a week working nights to get it done. Wasn't horrible but I wouldn't volunteer to do it again.

It does take time and a lot of patience and practice. Once you get the technique down things go pretty smoothly but if you do it yourself prepare for some major frustration at the start.

I more or less ended up doing each coat over 2 nights. The first night I'd do the wall joints and one side of each of the corners. The next night I'd do the other side of each corner and then ceiling joints. I found breaking up the work on the corners made it easier, if I tried doing both sides in one night I found I'd get one side looking good and then I'd mess it up while doing the other side. Took more time but it gave me a much better result. I know its not how a pro would do it but it worked for me.

The end results of my mud job were pretty good. Before priming I asked several people to come in and look for imperfections and not many came up and none that weren't an easy touch up. I still find myself looking for imperfections even after a year and so far I can't see anything.

The key for a DYI mud job is to take your time. Also if you end up using the premix mud it helps to thin it out a little.

I was happy I did it just for the experience and considering it came out well. However, if I end up having to do that much mudding again I'll for sure hire it out and save the time and headache.

[magic_minnow]

Thats my general concensus here as well. I've already saved a few thousand doing the framing and drywall myself, I figure I would spend some savings and hire the tape and mud and save myself the headache (maybe even get out to the river). What about the cornerbeads? Anyone use that new moisture bead where you simply just wet it? Its jsut plastic. As for tape I prefer the microfiber sticky stuff, but I feel I get a better result with the good ol fashioned tape/mud. What do you pros use?

[Ballyhoo]

I did my own basement. Used the sticky mesh tape. Works pretty good but you have to be careful as sometimes the mesh will stick through the mud if you don't get it thick enough. I enjoyed doing it as it gave me a sense of accomplishment when I was all done and it looked good. If you plan on leaving the walls smooth and painting them, I would hire it done. If you are going to do a light texture or orange peel it, you can do it yourself as the texture hides the imperfections. I have been in professionally done houses and also found tape lines, screw holes etc. so they are not always perfect either.

One thing you can do is mud all the screw holes. They are easy to get done and it will save the mudder a lot of time by not having to do them. You do have to be a little careful to get them right but it is not that hard. Might have to hit some of them again after the mud dries.

There are some guys in my area that won't mud rock that they didn't hang as it takes longer to mud if the joints and corners aren't perfect. You will find that out when you start asking guys to do it.

[bottomdweller]

I am just a diy type of person if able. I mudded my old houses bsmt and my new home worked with a local guy and we both did it together.

Things I have learned, just take your time, I dont use the mesh tape except on factory joints. Thin the mud out and use a little dawn dish soap in it as well, makes it nice and creamy. Only mud one side of a joint on the corners. You only need one coat on the corners anyway.

I bevel out the cut joints and fill in with mud before taping to make a stronger bond.

screw holes I do four times as to not have screw holes showing up anywhere!

If you have the time and dont mind it, save yourself some money.

[fishersofmen]

Thats my general concensus here as well. I've already saved a few thousand doing the framing and drywall myself, I figure I would spend some savings and hire the tape and mud and save myself the headache (maybe even get out to the river). What about the cornerbeads? Anyone use that new moisture bead where you simply just wet it? Its jsut plastic. As for tape I prefer the microfiber sticky stuff, but I feel I get a better result with the good ol fashioned tape/mud. What do you pros use?

I used that sticky tape and had problems with air pockets and the tape coming though the mud. I think a lot of times these products that are supposed to make things easier end up compromising quality. Definitely thin out the mud I didn't with the first batch and learned my lesson there. As far as corner beads I like the metal both for a quality finish and also durability.

[nofishfisherman]

I used the mesh tape and found it to be both a blessing and a curse. It will show through if you aren't careful about putting on a thick enough coat of mud. However it is very quick and easy to apply and requires no technique like the paper tape does. So its a bit of a trade off.

For the corners I used a plastic corner bead. Same design as the metal just made out of a durable plastic. It was easy to work with and it has proven to be very durable. One advantage over metal is that it won't dent if something hits the corner like metal can at times.

Thinning the mud is a must. I used a premixed mud for simplicity sake and I had to thin it down quite a bit as I used it.

[Tom7227]

By the time you buy the tools and materials to get the job done and then figure out how long it is going to take you you probably will be 'earning' about $3 and hour. Hire it out and then move on to something that is more enjoyable and cost effective. The pro will finish the job in hours where it will take you days. Ask the Ms if she'd rather have you jacking around for about week or getting the job done.

[amateurfishing]

i would also agree to hire it out if you are not totally thrilled with the thought. not only save you time, & money in the long run, they can also hide bad stuff a lot easier than you probably could. we hired out 3 things for our basement finish....plumbing, tape/mud, carpet install. all 3 of which I know nothing about and did not want to leave anything to chance. we hung the rock but the guy I pm'd you with did a fantastic job of finishing, I would have never guessed I hung it when he was done. we did knock down ceiling also

[JeremyCampbell]

Thats my general concensus here as well. I've already saved a few thousand doing the framing and drywall myself, I figure I would spend some savings and hire the tape and mud and save myself the headache (maybe even get out to the river). What about the cornerbeads? Anyone use that new moisture bead where you simply just wet it? Its jsut plastic. As for tape I prefer the microfiber sticky stuff, but I feel I get a better result with the good ol fashioned tape/mud. What do you pros use?

If your not use to the new products for corner bead ,just stick with metal.I prefer metal anyways .It's almost a sure install.Paper tape is most common among the pros but mesh is sure to go too.Mesh is a great product for avoiding a lot of future stresses with the seams.I know its only a basement but for sure if your going to do it all yourself the old school methods would avoid some challenges.Not all but some.With all the new corner bead products your in a situation where some homework needs to be done if you want the bead to sit flush with the corners and not pop out or even crack .Metal or plastic is easiest.Like I said in the first post.Just hire the Drywall boys to knock it out.LOL