In my country 90% of the buildings are skimmed to glass perfection.we call it spatula. As a professional i would like to give you a few tips. If you want use them ,if not , well just don’t get offended. 1) never ever sand mud before all layers are finished. One of the reasons your mud was getting stiff is because of the dust you created from sanding. Your previous layers should already be perfect. If you have a couple of lines from overlapping just scrape them with your blade. 2) the sequence we use is make the left corner with your blade if you are right handed and then go to the right side and start your application. We don’t push the trowel,we pull it. The reason is first you have more strength because you use more muscles and second you have much more control. The reason we start from the direction of the hand we hold the trowel is because unconsciously the trowel is tilting a few degrees and the mud is pushed towards the outer angle of the tool. Bring to your mind how water is moving while cleaning glass with that rubber blade. This way you move the mud and you create the glass effect. The way we apply it is one stroke to put the mud on the wall, second stroke to gather HALF of the material ,third stroke is to put material on the wall and collect half and so on.this way you dont have any imperfections and if done by an experienced master it doesn’t even need sanding. For extra gloss to make it look like polished gloss, while it’s setting wipe your trowel with water and make passes without material,just wet it every a couple of meters.needless to say that your tools should be stainless steel and razor sharp. Last tip always cross your coatings. If you make one coat horizontally you make the next vertically and depending on the number of coats you should always finish with a vertical coat. Don’t make random moves because you cause imperfections that need sanding. We do this for years now and i was mentored by several masters of spatula, stucco venecciano and stucco marmorino. Hope you find them useful.

You are no question one of the best DYI instructors on KZfaq. … and for the last couple years I’m probably watching two or three videos daily .

I’m here for the entertainment. It’s also therapeutic to watch. So probably more therapy than entertainment. I like to see a person doing their art. 😎

Just completed drywall finishing on my 3 car garage ceiling. I thought it looked good, until I primed it 😖 At least this way no one will see it and ask me to do theirs!

Love those comical moments and your learning videos!

dude! nice, i'm literally in the middle of doing this next...thank you so much...Feathering like a champ over here!

Nothing better than watching your fresh video at 6am on a Sunday morning while getting ready for work 😁😁thank you for your quality content!!

You are such an artist. I really enjoyed the time of just watching you work. I am an experienced newbie and really have a challenge with leaving edges at liftoffs. Practice, practice! Thanks for your great personality and keeping it fun.

Excellent. Thanks for taking the effort to capture, edit, post.

I've been drywalling for years and your videos have been a huge help for me to learn the fundamentals. Thanks for making such great content ☺️

Really enjoying this channel. I'm an electrician and sometimes I have to cut holes in the drywall. Hoping to learn enough practicing on my house to be able to repair on the houses I work on!

I enjoy your sense of humor throughout these videos, it really helps to pay attention and learn the how and why you do what you do. Thank you sir!

You make things look soooo easy, awesome job!!!

Educational and entertaining, two great ingredients for a great vid. Thank you for another informative lesson.

Ben, Nice job! I have a Sear & Robach 6" knife that has to 60 years old it was my fathers. I've repaired the handle twice but it still works so well. Corners are rounded off and its very sharp. I also have a 12" knife that is about 30 years old. Watching your videos I'm inspired to using a trowel, but I get such good results when doing a skim coat with both the 6 & 12 inch knifes. Your videos are great and thank you for taking the time to show your techniques. I heard you say the floors are going to be replaced, but I would like to see you do a clean up on one of your jobs.

I found your channel about 6 months ago while I was on the tail-end of remodeling my house and working on the drywall. Your videos have been immensely helpful and although my work is not as good as yours, everything turned out really nicely! Even though I am done with the drywall, I still find myself watching your videos for pleasure. Much thanks from Virginia, my Canadian friend!

You are the best I’ve ever seen! My contractor made the walls in my bathroom exactly how your little indentions are on the wall you are working on. I’ve been trying to fix the walls for months. Small holes, lines, unflattering surfaces, I would give my right arm if you were my neighbor. You do awesome work effortlessly. You should be proud!

The lighting next to the front door is the best yet for showing exactly what’s happening on the wall. You should recreate that lighting on all of your videos. Thank you for this video. I aspire to have the hawk and trowel skills that you show.

*I've been watching your channel off and on for a few years now, thank you for sharing, I'm not a dryer wall guy, I do* have a home improvement repair to how to channel, Here in California. Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks, I Look forward to hear from you, God-bless you, bye for now Ken

What a help! After that “worn-in” trowel comment, I took a soft leather strop to the edges, and, OMG! My work took a tectonic shift to the better. Thanks a million, pal.

I love your wooden knife holder box!

I wanna thank you!!! I wanna thank you for sharing with us your skills! I had zero skills in drywalls and made a lot of mistakes! After watching hours of your videos I was able to apply some of your teachings ! Sure it’s not perfect ... and it’s tough doing it on our projects when you only have one shot or you have to redo the job. I’m redoing my kitchen/dining room combo from the drywalls and I never thought I was able to do it all by myself AGAIN THANK YOU FOR SHARING WIRH US YOUR AWESOME SKILLS THAT ARE PART OF YOUR TRADE!

I want to say THANK YOU!!! All of your videos are EXCELLENT. I have subscribed, I always hit the like button and I am commenting also because that also helps you out. THANKS AGAIN

AWESOME tip: watering down the compound for the skim coat!!!! This really gave me some extra time to smooth everything out (I'm a perfectionist) over an uneven wall. It looks great!!! Thank you!

Thank you for the subtle " dealing with bubbles etc" detail and technique, very helpful, , grateful as always !! Take good care !!

I watch all your videos. I have to say: I learned a lot from this one. Good stuff! Thanks for the video, go skate now!

You're simply the best. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

We have been refinishing the ceilings and walls in our first house. I have been watching videos for tips but also kind of just dove into the work so as not to get “research paralysis.” I skimmed the walls in one room last weekend pretty much exactly as you described here and it worked beautifully.

The 1980s BC Box! I grew up in one of these, but the hallway upstairs was open to the stairs. It had a dining room beside the kitchen. These videos are so helpful. I keep rewatching them. Maybe my technique will improve. I sure wish there were weekend/evening courses for DIYers where we could practice these skills before we apply them to our homes poorly!

Great info as always. When ever I am mudding I curse you "Dang it. Ben makes it look so easy!". But I keep watching and learning. Thanks for sharing your hard work.

I feel like I'm in a classroom watching your videos. I'm Totally learning so much. I Love your videos.

too funny..i was one of the people wondering if you protected the floor..the exact time you made the comment of "hearing you guys in the comments" lol..thanks for the great video(s) they really help

OMG!! I have been watching your videos for over 1 yr . I keep coming back to your channel to check if you recent videos on how to use drywall joint compound in bucket, box, (premixed) or bag (powdered) also called quikset/hotmud on plaster walls for repairing ,fillings and skimcoating. I found three of your videos showing me how!! You're actually the first to show me after watching 100s of others also . Thank You So Much.! Your the Best!!

"Like it's a Friday wall" haha! I've heard guys say that before lol! Thanks for the video, took some notes and off to do the walls in my bathroom. Thanks!

Glad you corrected yourself with “lady” :). Thanks for sharing this. I am ready to skim my walls now!

Really well explained! Was having so many issues with blobs ruining the smooth finish, good to know to work up!

Despite many years of dabbling with drywall as a diyer, I'm struggling now to get a nice finish on a small bathroom ceiling. So I watch your video (again!) for confidence and info and entertainment. At the risk of being called a species-ist (LOL), you, sir, are one fine mensch. And thumbs up for your camera person on this. Whether they have an ability to stifle a laugh or it's just good editing, it works. Cheers!

It’s great that you at least have a sense of humour when the mud spills. Great video, go out and skate and have fun!

Good thing the customers not hearing you say " you're coating it like it's a Friday wall! 😂

Thank you for a great video! Because I need all the help and learning experience to save money

Thank you for these helpful videos 🙏🙏

I was here for the entertainment. And, I liked it. Thank you.

I really enjoy ur videos ur straight to the point no nonsense and unnecessary info Keep up the great work

"As usual, it comes down to me wanting to go skateboarding" 😂❤

Best Drywall You Tuber ever !!!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and help make my least favourite part turn out better. And you got nuthin on floor globs bud. I seem to always reach for the hawk and trowel. Lets just say its a good thing i dont rely on it for money or id starve! And yes bubbles are wretched but knowing why and almost expecting the little buggers just seems to stifle the rage. At least for me. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I've been a follower for a while now (just changed my YT channel name from GottliebPins since nobody can ever spell or pronounce it), but I'm very happy with the way my walls turned out (the ones put in crooked by the drunk guy). I don't have the dexterity to tapper and smooth skim. I always leave rough edges and bubbles and scratches. To compensate after sanding I use that pink filler that dries white. It's very smooth and fills the holes nicely. After sanding it's almost perfect. However that didn't work well on the ceiling. After spending days sanding off most of the brush texture (the kids started this against my wishes and quit halfway through once they realized how hard it is), I tried filling in the divots with the pink stuff, but the ceiling mud is so dry the pink stuff just turns into playdough as soon as it touches the ceiling. It was VERY hard to get it to fill smoothly. I even added water to it, it didn't help much. Instead of filling in the divots the pink stuff just dried instantly and became bumps and ridges. I ended up just resanding the whole ceiling carefully down to the paper. But now I'm finally ready to paint the walls. I guess I will paint the ceiling with a very flat white paint since there's virtually no mud left on it (just where the seams are tapped). But I still enjoy watching your videos and keep learning new things. Thanks!

This would have taken me a week and two marriages. Nice work pro

Which is why I'm a big fan of texture!

Great vid, I learned a lot. Repairing my imy basement wall (kad to tear it down to fix water leaks) hopefully I can so a half decent job.

Great work.

Try this: thin mud with water till it sticks to a 3/8” nap roller. Roll onto the wall. You can do a second coat after not very long at all since it’s a very thin coat. I’ve found if you roll a whole room, it’s about ready to coat again by the time you get back to the start point. It dries with texture and will hold a little less than 1/8” if you skim just enough to make it flush. It does a nice skim job with almost no skill.

Like-like-like! Haha. Thank you for sharing tutorials!

Great video 👍👍 Thanks for sharing Mad skills

I do like the technique for plopping material on the wall. I used a nice long Darby, done in one or two passes. Came out nice and flat, used an 8ft level to check. If I use hot mud, I'll mix it with ice water in it to allow me a longer time to work the material.

I always feather the light/like button! 👍🏻👍🏻

You're like the Bob Ross of drywall finishing.

Nice skim coat video Ben, I have a Nela 12 by 5 and that's my go to for skimming walls just like that! By the way, Curry is out of production now, unfortunately because they make amazing trowels.

Also good lighting helps too

OMG, mud boogers! I'm dying here 😂😂😂

I love these vids for some reason... And you look like the younger Randy Travis dude...

I feathered my like button as I watched this.

When skimming over a previous layer, I often spritz the next section of wall with a bit of water so that it is not as "thirsty".

Thanks for the info! I follow your skate channel as well (I'm just getting back into that). Thanks for taking so much pride in both areas of your expertise!

I’m a do it yourself person…I’ve been remodeling a large house for 2 years. I have done everything from changing out 12 new doors and trim. Installing a new 50 gallon water heater. Replace all the old corroded water pipes and fittings. Added a second extra freeze proof faucet to the back yard. Painted all the walls and ceiling’s in every room (4 bedrooms 1 office 1 media room 3 bathrooms 1 large 14 ft ceiling den with fireplace. 1 bedroom upstairs with 12 ft ceiling. Replace old cedar mantle on fireplace with a new large fancy mantle I built out of hardwood. It required chiseling some bricks to fit it. Remodeled the stairway with two landing …remove old carpet plus padding secured all boards with screws before doing new risers and landings. Used laminated wood flooring and noses. Flooring matching all the new laminated flooring I installed upstairs. (Screwed all subfloors down with screws replace a damaged area. All new trim molding through out the whole house cut, painted and installed. Remodeled the complete kitchen, two bathrooms…remodeled and painted all the closets with new doors and trim. Added wider shelves in the closets. Closets all have motion sensor 4K LED lights. Installed a complete alarm system. Installed new dishwasher and disposal. Added a black granite 1” slab about 26”x 72” on old brick mantle. Redone all the plumbing in he laundry room with 1/4 turn hot and cold water fittings plus wall insert. Built all new sun shield full length window screens on all the windows. Remodeled 3 porches. Installed 6 new ceiling fans. All indoor lighting was replaced with LED lighting. Even in the garage. Outdoor motion sensor lighting on all corners of the house front and back yard. 180 degree high res motion sensor camera in the front yard. Installed a 2 ton 24k Mr Cool AC unit in the upstairs bedroom..installing all by myself and running all the 220/240 wiring with shutoff outside by the compressor unit and installing a new 30 amp breaker all to code. 100 ft of 10/2 wiring through the attic. Tore down a 14’x20’ tin shed with a wood floor and hauled it off. Repaired other existing 12’x14’ shed all new paint and new outside trim. Built a covered awning behind the shed for storing tools. Installed 200 ft of wood fencing after removing a maze of old chainlink fence..plus removing old poles and old half buried chainlink. Removed old clothes line poles. Dug new metal post holes 24” deep and cemented them. Build a raised garden along the back fence 2 ft wide 36 ft long 3 ft high. Picked up all the soil to fill it in my truck and wheel barreled it to the back raised garden. Installed wire mesh in the bottom of it with River rock stone before adding soil. Built in the raised garden above cree

thank you for showing the teeny tiny stuff that we all see on our own walls that we think is because were bad. but really, just needs another tight coat.

Love your videos. I’ve learned sooooooo much. How do you fix really uneven joints in an old house?

Awesome! I have to skim coat prefinnished drywall panels. Any advice after I tape the joints?

Really enjoy learning from your work. My primary work is carpentry; however I would like to hone my limited skills in taping and skimming. do you have a video on the different products you work with? i just became aware of durabond after being in the field for more than 30 years, Durabond has different characteristics than regular joint compound, set time, hardness, forgiveness, etc. so ya if you have some instruction on that it would be appreciated. thanks again for your instruction! they help so much!

Sorry accidentally posted before I finished…much more than the long list below all by myself no help. Remodeling a large upstairs bathroom…new flooring…new 61” vanity..mirrors and lights.. replacing tub with deep soaking top mount tub…new shower from scratch to turn a old closet type shower to a open front shower. Removing a wall to open it up. Did all the demo myself..removing a short wall by toilet..new water proof marine plywood to replace bad damaged floor under toilet. Replacing with new toilet. Etc etc moving wiring and light switches to another wall. Currently still doing the bathroom remodel. Watched your videos on Sheetrock repair where it had old wallpaper and glued mirror damage ..plus vanity splash glued causing sheet rock peel and damage. After repairing the wall I will texture it to match the texture on the other walls before doing the flooring in the bathroom plus in his and hers closets. All new LED lighting. Plus new 1/4 turn water shut offs for double sinks. Learn so much from you videos to make sure all patching , floating and repairing. All my work looks totally professional. Looks better than if I hired most contractors. Much more stuff than listed..turning the entire garage into a professional work shop. Ok final disclosure I’m 77 years old and was never in the building trade. My background is advertising, commercial printing and owning my own graphics company. I am totally self taught and only started buying tools and remodeling in the last 3 years. Anything I needed to learn came from research, reading and Utube videos. Also in deciding which tools to buy. Thx again for the fantastic videos so guys like me can do professional remodeling. Love your attention to detail. I completely service all my on AC units 3 total. Bought equipment needed and add my own Freon and repairs myself…self taught. Gauges, scales, temp gauges Freon tanks..completely redone all the front and rear landscape work on 1/2 acre of land do my own mowing and edging. So you younger guys that can’t even build a dog house…teasing of coarse. Never to old to learn something new..confidence and research plus lots of utube instructions.

I learned a lot from him

Im here for the entertainment and the entertainment is good!

Thank you good video

좋은영상 잘 보았습니다!

Thanks!

That's what I needed🙏🤟🏽 which angles to use

Another amazing video! Does anyone have any recommendations for anyone Houston based that has this attention to detail and level of skimming?

I am predominantly knife and pan. I'll use hawk and trowel on first coat on big ugly joints in the renos I do.

Hi Ben. Thank you so much for your videos and afford. I found the videos very helpful. They saved me a lot of headaches. How can I support your channel a bit besides saying "thank you so much"? Do you use patreon or something similar? I live close to Lougheed town centre if you know where it is. Let me know if you are interested. Best regards. Anton

Do you have a video (or would you make one) of what type of mud you use for various jobs or stages of a job. Sometimes you mention what type you’re using (like topping mud in this one), but sometimes you don’t! Love your videos!

Helpful!

Your videos are so reflective of what we all do. The way you are speaking to yourself as well as teaching us. You keep your cool and deal with the glitches your work presents. Dog hair? Dust? Bubbles? All part of the process to a perfect wall

I just did two rooms, removed popcorn and pulled it tight. Not easy, you make it look easy. The sanding is the worst part!

haha i cant even transfer mud from the hawk. such an awkward hand movement for me. you make it look so easy

Working in Vancouver we have lots of heritage houses some with rather grim or tragic history. Have you ever had any spooky encounters? I've had a few scrap pieces fall over inexplicably, heard footsteps from someone who i couldn't see and had a brand new radio turn off 😨 would love to hear other people's experiences with the paranormal on the jobs site 🙂

"It's not a long way down, I'll be okay." Spoken like a true skater.

❤❤❤ video thanks you for time

Ok pal first off, thanks for the tips. Every time I skim coat I come back here and learn something new, second...I'm stealing that tool caddy design.

I always enjoy watching and learning from you. But I was wondering if you trowel is curved or flat for this work?

I just did a 2 coat skim over textured wall paper. Wall paper was in excellent shape except the inside corners, looked like they installed paper with an interior bullnose look

"Ask me know I know"...lol...brilliant.

Dude I love your knife caddy, show me more please!

Just wondering, I'm using the exact same stuff, and I'm skimming a wall tomorrow. How long do I need to wait before I paint it? Haha

Your wall looks good, what is the reason you need to do tight skim?

How do you handle a corner that sticks out into the room and has a ton of nicks.

Can standard All Purpose compound be used for skim coat, but watered down fairly well?

Do they make finish mud in North America, or do you have to order it from Finland? lol

I always thought that drywall was really only needed where there’s screws to cover then up but it seems it might be beneficial at times to mud the whole wall

do you always have to do skimcoat on all and every single wall for a basement?? thanks! great videos!

Level 5 😍