Sanding Drywall

Well, I am trying to finish up our downstairs utility room at that point of sanding and finishing drywall. Finishing drywall is one of those tasks that requires patiences and persistence. Too much mud and you end up doing lots of sanding. Improper taping leads to bubbles at the seams. Based upon a description from Bob Munro, my best friend and next door neighbor growing up in East Gary, of how another of our friends Mike Mietzler does drywall work - I picked up Durabond 90 and Easy Sand 45. Turns out both of these products are setting type drywall compound. Normal drywall works via evaporation. Because it relies on evaporation, it takes longer for normal drywall mud to dry than the setting type. Using the setting type drywall compound changes the way you work. Similar to concrete, setting drywall will setup in the bucket, adding water will not help. So you have to learn to mix what you can finish and you can't mix more than you can put up in about half the drying time. For Durabond 90 that is 45 minutes. For top coat 45 you have about 22.5 minutes, give or take. Since I don't yet have to make a living drywalling, I am going to switch back to the evaporating type of drywall mud in the future.

I did pick up some other worthwhile techniques from Mike via Bob. To prevent bubbling at the tape seam - you should fill in the joint, just the gap between the two sheets of drywall as a first coat. Remember less is more. You can always add more mud, it is tough sanding it off. I use the Durabond 90 for this. That Durabond 90 stuff is tough stuff - it can make up for alot of mistakes. But make no mistake about it, Durabond 90 should be considered unsandable. Use it sparingly. It sure does a good job fixing cutting errors around boxes. Because it is a setting type - it doesn't shrink away or crack like evaporating type mud.

I found a new type of outside corner from 3M. The outside corner is plastic. It is applied with a spray on glue. Hey - this works - very, very happy with it compared with metal and screws. I believe it is faster and is much easier to work with. Costs more of course.

This time, I also found a new tape that is a paper tape at Home Depot. The tape is perforated and also has an adhesive backing. It can be a bit tough to pull off the backing - but once started - you leave some extra backing so you can start the next section. This stuff works well. Much better than regular tape that requires mudding and is also better than the fiberglass tape which is just a bit to thick and seems to come through the mud.

I continue to use a product for inside corners that is more like a vellum and a paper. Like regular paper type it has a crease where you can fold it. However, this stuff is much more rigid. The crease ends up forming a very clean, straight line. Also, the product being much tougher than paper doesn't tear when applying mud as regular paper tape does when it is mudded by amateurs like me.

So back to drywall for a minute. Seems like I get a good head of steam going then when it gets towards the end I start to procrastinate because I don't want to mess it up and I am afraid of the outcome. It is tough to stay in the moment and enjoy the process. There is a certain joy and quality of existence when doing a craft or trade when you can be fully present in the moment. Not letting past events or mistakes take up time creating negative emotions, not allowing the anticipation of the future to drive one to fear, frustration, or impatience. Just trying to make each sanding, each application of mud, as good as you can do it at that moment. Don Migel Ruiz in his book The Four Agreements which presents the Toltec beliefs talks about trying to do your best at each moment and at each activity. Forget the worry, the past is gone, the future is a projection that may or may not happen.

Speaking of staying in the moment, I was able to really make some spiritual progress reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. A powerful very accessible book. Especially for someone who has permitted that constant thinking and worship of the intellect to keep me in a state of dis-ease for most of my life. I figured I could always learn myself into a better place in terms of happiness. It took me along time to realize that constant brain chatter either reliving the past or worrying about the future was what kept me from experiencing health and well being. Make no mistake about it. There is a huge difference between knowing this and actually living it. It takes a real committment - it is like learning to ski, to ride a bike, or any other skill. Persistence and practice. If I can continue - I might be able to be riding a spiritual tricycle soon, on my way to riding a spiritual mountain bike. Gary Zukav quotes his Sioux Uncle saying the longest journey you will take is the one from your head to your heart. I can only travel this journey by feeling, by being in touch with my emotions, the intellect won't help me.

I am now driving back and forth to Chicago instead of flying to reduce expenses. I have not had a financially profitable year for my wonderful firm, Jordan & Jordan. But, I have been given an opportunity to work on gaining my self esteem from who I am not what I am. I fought this all year up until recently. Then reading The Heart of the Soul by Gary Zukav and Linda Francis and attending with Sonia, the Journey to the Soul Institute in Oregon led me to see that life has presented me a great opportunity to internally gain my self esteem as opposed to gaining it from career, complex projects, sales, world travel, public speaking, and external power positions. How fortunate for me. I can tell you this is not how I felt for a long time. But it has been liberating.

I hope wherever Camus' and Algren's souls are now - they have found the beautiful, supporting, and alive universe available to all of us with just a minor adjustment in disposition and perspective.