There is nothing quite as frustrating as finishing a room, rolling on that final coat of expensive paint, and then spotting it. You know exactly what I’m talking about—that slightly raised seam running down the wall where the light hits it just right, or a bubble that decided to pop up out of nowhere. Honestly, Hanging the drywall sheets is the easy part; it’s the finishing work that separates a DIY weekend warrior from a seasoned pro.
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It’s Not Just About Covering Screws
Most folks think drywall finishing is just slapping some mud over the joints and hoping for the best. But here’s the thing: it’s actually a game of illusions. You aren’t trying to make the wall flat—because walls are rarely perfectly flat—you are trying to make the wall look flat.
In the trade, we talk about Levels of Finish. You might have heard these terms thrown around if you’ve been watching renovation shows or talking to Contractors in Sandy or Draper. It’s not just industry jargon; it’s the roadmap to how your walls will actually look.
- Level 0: Just the drywall hung up. No Tape, no mud. Strictly temporary.
- Level 1: Tape embedded in mud. This is usually for attics or garages where you just want to stop fire and drafts.
- Level 2: A thin coat over the tape. Good for under tile.
- Level 3: A second coat of mud. This is standard for heavy textures like heavy knockdown.
- Level 4: The standard Residential finish. Three coats, sanded smooth. Good for flat paints and light textures.
- Level 5: The “skim coat.” This is the gold standard, especially if you want those smooth, modern walls that are popping up all over new builds in Lehi and Herriman.
If you are aiming for that glass-smooth look or plan to use high-gloss paint, a Level 4 simply won’t cut it. You need to go the extra mile.
The Art of the “Butt Joint”
Let’s get a little technical for a second, but I promise to keep it simple. Drywall sheets have tapered edges on the long sides. When you butt two tapered edges together, they create a nice little valley for the tape and mud to sit in. It fills up flush with the surface. Easy, right?
The problem comes with butt joints.
These are the ends of the drywall sheets that aren’t tapered. When you push them together, they sit flat against the stud. So, when you put tape and mud on top, you are technically building a hump on the wall. There is no recess to fill. This is where most homeowners mess up. They try to sand that hump flat, end up Sanding right down to the paper tape, and ruin the joint.
Feathering is the secret.
To hide a butt joint, you don’t sand it flat; you widen it. We’re talking about spreading that joint compound out 12, sometimes 18 inches on either side of the seam. By ramping that “hump” out over a wide distance, your eye can’t detect the curve. It tricks the brain into seeing a flat wall.
Mud Selection Matters (More Than You Think)
You might walk into the hardware store and see a dozen different buckets and bags of joint compound. It’s overwhelming. Do you grab the blue lid? The green lid? The bag of powder?
Using the wrong mud for the wrong stage is a classic mistake.
| Mud Type | Best Used For | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Hot Mud (Setting Type) | First coats, filling gaps | Hardens chemically (doesn’t shrink much). Great for Utah’s dry climate. |
| All-Purpose (Green Lid) | Taping, second coats | heavy, contains a lot of glue. Sticks tape down well. |
| Lightweight (Blue/Purple) | Final coats | Sands incredibly easy. Not strong enough for taping, but perfect for finishing. |
Here in Utah, the air is dry. Like, really dry. If you use a high-shrinkage mud for a deep fill, it’s going to crack before you can say “Great Salt Lake.” We often use “Hot Mud” (setting-type compound that comes in a powder) for the first coat because it sets hard and doesn’t shrink back. It allows us to recoat faster without waiting 24 hours for a bucket of wet mud to dry out.
Skim Coating: The Luxury Finish
So, you have an older home in Sugar House or the Avenues, and the walls have that old, heavy texture—maybe even some damage from settling over the years. You want that sleek, modern, museum-quality look. You can’t just sand the texture off; you’d be sanding for a hundred years.
You need to skim coat.
This is an advanced technique where we apply a thin layer of joint compound over the entire surface of the wall. It sounds excessive, doesn’t it? But it’s the only way to get a true Level 5 finish.
We use massive knives—sometimes 24-inch skimming blades—to float a thin layer of mud over everything. It fills in the pores of the drywall paper and creates a uniform surface. When you paint a skim-coated wall, the paint absorbs evenly. Without it, you often see a difference in texture between the paper of the drywall and the smooth mud of the joints. This is called “joint flashing” or “photographing,” and it looks terrible in bright sunlight.
The “Critical Light” Check
Speaking of sunlight, lighting is the ultimate test of a drywall finisher.
Have you ever walked into a room during the day and thought it looked great, but then turned on a lamp at night and saw ripples everywhere? That’s because of raking light.
When light hits a wall from a sharp angle, it casts long shadows from even the tiniest imperfection. A grain of sand can look like a boulder if the light angle is low enough.
How we fix this:
We don’t just sand under the work lights. We take a handheld light and hold it against the wall, shining it down the surface. This mimics the harshest lighting conditions possible. If we can make it look flat with a light pressed against it, it will look perfect under your dining room chandelier.
It’s tedious work. Honestly, it can drive you a little crazy chasing every tiny scratch, but that’s the difference between a “good enough” job and a professional finish.
Texture Matching: The Utah Challenge
While smooth walls are trendy, the reality is that most homes in Salt Lake County and Davis County have textured walls. Orange peel and knockdown are the kings here.
Repairing drywall in these homes requires an artist’s touch. You can’t just buy a can of spray texture and expect it to blend.
The variables involved include:
- The mix: How thick is the mud? Pancake batter or peanut butter?
- The pressure: How much air is pushing the mud out of the hopper?
- The dry time: Did the original texture dry fast or slow?
When we do a patch, we often spend more time testing the texture on a piece of cardboard than we do actually spraying the wall. We have to tweak the air pressure and the nozzle size until the splatter pattern matches your specific wall. If you skip this step, the patch will always look like a patch, no matter how well you paint it.
Dealing with “Glancing Light” Issues
Let me explain something that drives homeowners nuts. You hire someone, they finish the wall, it looks smooth. You paint it with an eggshell or satin paint. Suddenly, you see a wide vertical band where the joint is.
It’s not a hump. It’s a texture difference.
The paper face of drywall is slightly rough. The sanded joint compound is perfectly smooth. When you paint over them, the paint lays down differently on the two surfaces. The smooth mud reflects light better than the paper, creating a visual stripe.
To avoid this, we use high-quality high-build primers or PVA (Polyvinyl Acetate) primers. These seal the mud and the paper so they absorb the topcoat of paint at the same rate. It equalizes the surface texture. It’s a step many budget contractors skip, but we consider it mandatory for a seamless look.
Why Call a Pro?
Look, I love the DIY spirit. It’s satisfying to fix things yourself. But drywall finishing is one of those trades where the learning curve is steep and physically demanding. It’s dusty, it’s messy, and it requires a specific muscle memory to feather out a joint smoothly.
If you are dealing with a simple nail hole, go for it. But if you are Remodeling a Basement, fixing water damage, or trying to update the look of your living room, the frustration of visible seams and sanding dust isn’t worth the headache.
You want walls that fade into the background, showcasing your art and furniture, not walls that demand attention because of a bad seam.
Let’s Get Those Walls Perfect
Whether you need a seamless patch, a full basement finish, or you’re looking to upgrade to a Level 5 smooth wall, we have the tools and the experience to handle the unique climate and housing styles of Utah. Don’t let bad drywall ruin your renovation.
