# Spraying drywall mud



## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

The last 2 skimmed ceiling I've come up to have been absolute garbage. To the point where my partner and I are seriously discussing starting a 'division' that does level 5 finishes. Anyone know what kind of sprayer can/will spray drywall Compound, something like the taiver htp21000? Also what top size? 

I have seen special taping machines run off of a 1090 in the past.


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

Graco texture machines. They have a few.

Your best bet though, is to skim coat, then shoot a surfacer on with your airless. The surfacers are designed to take you to a level 5 without mudding again, saving labor time. Builder solution surfacer from SW goes up to 25mils wet, 11dry


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

Any slow stroker. Any maxhine capable of running block filler. 
A block filler tip. .29-.35 range.

The last job I was on. And I never saw it done. The tapers rolled the mud on. With like a 1'12" rollers and another laid it off with a knife. Way faster to spray IMO. I guess they thought the masking not worth it.

I can't remember the material I used. And not too long ago. It was a level 5 whatever but all it was was mud. It come out just fine, but it doesn't self level. So you have to either trowel it, or sand the heck out of it when it dries. We sanded. Came out nice but it was a lot of sanding.


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## [email protected] (Mar 1, 2008)

I know years ago I saw someone spraying mud with a 433 Grayco pump witch blow my mind. They was doing a stomp finish as I remember. It must have been 20 + years


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

Oden said:


> Any slow stroker. Any maxhine capable of running block filler.
> A block filler tip. .29-.35 range.
> 
> The last job I was on. And I never saw it done. The tapers rolled the mud on. With like a 1'12" rollers and another laid it off with a knife. Way faster to spray IMO. I guess they thought the masking not worth it.
> ...


We work with a small company that sprays on thinned mud, let it dry, and hits it with a Planex. A great, quick, machine-based way to skim coat.

They just use a hopper sprayer.


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## Lambrecht (Feb 8, 2010)

2 stage air compressor with a hopper is what I use. Works great. Easy to clean hopper and way cheaper then buying a machine. Unless you have enough consistent level 5 business to justify the cost I would go this route.


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

It's possible. I've done it before. Have to use like a 631. Basically something that ends in the 30s. We also have a special pump for it vs. a regular airless pump. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using PaintTalk.com mobile app


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

woodcoyote said:


> It's possible. I've done it before. Have to use like a 631. Basically something that ends in the 30s. We also have a special pump for it vs. a regular airless pump.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using PaintTalk.com mobile app


What's the pump that you use? That's what I'm looking into.


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## AlphaWolf (Nov 23, 2014)

You can Spray tuff Hide. Made from GNC if i remember correctly. All its made to do to is to make a ceiling or wall already dry walled and taped to a lvl 5 finish. Its pretty much mud mixed with primer in a 5er or 50 gal drum. You will need a airless with 3000-3200 psi. I have done it many times. Also i recommend a tip over a 0-30 Hope this info helps. Recommended guns titan or Greco anything over a 1000 series.


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

AlphaWolf said:


> You can Spray tuff Hide. Made from GNC if i remember correctly. All its made to do to is to make a ceiling or wall already dry walled and taped to a lvl 5 finish. Its pretty much mud mixed with primer in a 5er or 50 gal drum. You will need a airless with 3000-3200 psi. I have done it many times. Also i recommend a tip over a 0-30 Hope this info helps. Recommended guns titan or Greco anything over a 1000 series.


Thanks. 

I have 6 Graco sprayers, the hvlp procomp 3800, AAA 290, 395, and 490 are either to small, or likely to small. I also have 2 1000+ max sprayers as well.


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## LNIdrywall (Nov 30, 2014)

Graco gas powered 5900 HD with a 531 tip and a 30 mesh filter, sprays mud like crazy.


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## ShermanMoore (Mar 23, 2014)

Our Graco rep told me that the smallest pump they have that should be used for spraying mud is the Mark IV.


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## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

journeymanPainter said:


> What's the pump that you use? That's what I'm looking into.


I'll have to check into which one we ended up buying, it was several years ago. It's a Gmax 2, 5900 gas powered unit with a conversion pump. It's essentially the same pump as the Mark units, just put on the Gmax we have.

Since I don't want to fiddle around with changing pumps in and out, I just leave the heavy-duty pump in and dedicated that unit to nothing but mud, when we need it. 99.9% of the time I don't use it to paint, have other rigs for that.


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## two fingers (Sep 28, 2014)

Texture sprayer, not a hopper. Ask your Sw rep. They have a long piston on them. Electric.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

two fingers said:


> Texture sprayer, not a hopper. Ask your Sw rep. They have a long piston on them. Electric.


Are you talking about something like a Graco 1250?


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## Stretch67 (Oct 7, 2013)

What Oden said. 

Here's the deal. Everyone is always looking for a short cut to the Level 5. Newsflash, THERE AINT NO SHORTCUTS. Spray on a coat of this thick sh!t, followed by another of this thick Sh!t, put some surfacer Sh!+ on there, and call er good. Problem with that train of thought.... just say before hand u got a dimple in the ceiling. So u put on 1/8" of spray whatever crap on the ceiling. Well guess what, your dimple got built out 1/8" just the same as the rest of the ceiling. Absolutely nothing changed except now ur surface is rougher than a cob and gonna take twice as much primer and twice as much finish paint.

The key element in the whole process is the sanding. Trowel/roll/spray/dump/splooge a coat of mud on the ceiling, and then when it is dry, sand it. Aggressively. Yes like until ur ears r plugged solid, your gonna get dirty an it'll be 1/2" deep on the floor, but that ceiling will look dang nice.

LSS, everyone is trying to eliminate the sanding step, but thats a bad idea imho.

Oden: I've seen em roll and knife it. Yes it goes on slow, but I think they save their time in the sanding department. Did a whole airport that way, and it turned out really nice. All u have to sand is to knock off the wind-rows. Whereas spraying, u more or less gotta sand a few mils off every last square inch.


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

So u put on 1/8" of spray whatever crap on the ceiling. Well guess what, your dimple got built out 1/8" just the same as the rest of the ceiling. 

Nicely explained.


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## capn26 (Aug 17, 2014)

So lemme ask Avery ignorant question. Around my way. ALL WE SEE is taped, knifed, smooth finish gwb ( or sh&trock as we call it). What type of finish is it you are trying to achieve here? WhT are the levels of finish?


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## journeymanPainter (Feb 26, 2014)

capn26 said:


> So lemme ask Avery ignorant question. Around my way. ALL WE SEE is taped, knifed, smooth finish gwb ( or sh&trock as we call it). What type of finish is it you are trying to achieve here? WhT are the levels of finish?


I'm trying to find an improvement on horrible taping/skim coats we've been coming across on ceilings and corners.

If we can spray an even coat of mud on the ceilings, sand the piss out of them, and paint it would be an Improvement on what we've been handed lately


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## Gotdibz (Sep 30, 2010)

capn26 said:


> So lemme ask Avery ignorant question. Around my way. ALL WE SEE is taped, knifed, smooth finish gwb ( or sh&trock as we call it). What type of finish is it you are trying to achieve here? WhT are the levels of finish?


they want a level 5 (skim coat on everything). The work you're seeing is probably level 4, level 3. Unless I miss understood your comment.


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## Gough (Nov 24, 2010)

journeymanPainter said:


> I'm trying to find an improvement on horrible taping/skim coats we've been coming across on ceilings and corners.
> 
> If we can spray an even coat of mud on the ceilings, sand the piss out of them, and paint it would be an Improvement on what we've been handed lately


We work with a OMS who does this. He used to use a PC drywall sander, but just switched to a planex.


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

I didn't do it. It was the kids job. Sanding the stuff I sprayed. One of them vacuum sanders whatever they are. He wasn't loving it.

The other job, the tapers. This big oaf, LOL, he ran that sander. It's all he did. He was a big guy. Didn't seem to bother him too much.

IMO u got to have some strength to run that thing over big areas. And also. The trick is to have enuff material on the wall. There needs to be more than what you need to sand to be smooth. Really rough walls and spraying. It is a two pass deal. One pass the material falls down the wall before you can get the thickness you need. Is what I found out.


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## capn26 (Aug 17, 2014)

journeymanPainter said:


> I'm trying to find an improvement on horrible taping/skim coats we've been coming across on ceilings and corners.
> 
> If we can spray an even coat of mud on the ceilings, sand the piss out of them, and paint it would be an Improvement on what we've been handed lately



Thanks man. That totally makes sense. Now I understand the 1/8" hole comment in an earlier post. I tell you, that makes me thankful. My drywall guy is very good. Not the best I've ever seen, but he doesn't charge like it either. I get by blowing cover stain, then a good, quick 120 pole sanding, and once in a while I'll see a place I'll actually mud. I like hearing about this. Things in my area are for the most part stuck in about 1995. I'm slowly acquiring some work in Raleigh, and that's a much more modern area.


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

About 75% of the nc drywall I see is horrible, but for what they do these guys for I don't blame them. In fact they look better than what it pays.

I don't see anyone doing a real lvl5 anymore, the last was one we did.


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