Actually, it's not that bad. Plumbing is worse. Way worse. And mudding is part step-by-step, but also, part art. Seriously. People who can mud well are artists, in a building-stuff-sort-of-way.
But anyway... time to get at it. I still use the step-by-step instructions I found online many, many years ago that I more or less wrote up here. Then I was off to the races, whereby I mean this job was won by how long I could drag it out...
(My trusty and accept-no-substitue Marshalltown taping knives!)
Step 1: put tape over all the joints, and scrape basically all of the mud from the walls.
I saved myself time and the hassle of doing the ceiling joints because after we paint, I'm going to hang all of the trim - of which will consist a crown molding along the ceiling edges.
Then fill in the screws. Let dry. Put on the first 'real' coat of mud, about 4" wide. Let dry. A second, about 6" wide. Let dry. A third, about 8" wide. Let dry.
I taped off the thermostat for the heated floor...
Lastly, pull out a box of old-but-still-perfectly-good light joint compound (I swear by a top coat of the light stuff!) and get it nice and gloopy...
Then put on a 10"-wide swath of that stuff. Let dry. Fill in any gaps or raised edges with yet more of the light compound. Let dry. Inspect. If all looks good and there are no more flaws... Sand (yay!). And prepare for dust. Lots of dust.
Then do a final inspection and cross fingers (whilst running your hand all over the wall to determine if you can feel any of the seams)...
That corner by the door and the built-in cabinet was fun... But in the end, turned out looking great! And most of it, in fact, will be hidden by trim.
Next... we get to prime all the walls and ceiling, then paint! I think I'll bring the gallon of paint to the hardware store and have them mix it up because it's been sitting since I bought it something like eight or nine years ago... (if I lose points for dragging out a job, I get a few back for thinking ahead haha!)
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