Buy Joint Compound

Best jointing compound ever! USG Middle East Sheetrock All Purpose joint compound is an air-drying, compound suitable for all three coat applications or as a finishing coat for all plasterboard joints, angles and fastener heads. Complies with ASTM C475.

buy joint compound

Drywall mud is a material used when hanging sheetrock or drywall. It is used to cover the joints, make indentions flat, and make repairs in drywall after you hang it. It is necessary to use during the process.

The first thing you do is mud the joints and any screw indentions. Start with the screw marks, adding a swatch of mud to each mark. Then, add mud to each joint that is a bit wider than the tape you are using.

Now, add tape along each joint. Do one at a time as you mud each joint. After you put the tape along the joint over the mud, smooth the tape out with your trowel or mudding knife. It should be flat when you finish.

After smoothing down your entire wall, make sure and use a good primer before painting or installing wallpaper. As a general rule, joint compound should always be coated with primer before painting. Happy skimming!

Lafarge Rapid Coat is an all-purpose joint compound, ideal for use in all phases of gypsum board finishing: taping, finishing, skim coating, texturing, filling corner beads and trim, and concealing nail or screw dimples. Rapid Coat also makes an excellent bonding agent for laminating gypsum wallboards together.

I would agree with @ArchonOSX if you were a pro. Someone who uses it for a living will use a 5 gallon bucket of joint compound fast enough to prevent storage issues. I have always had issues storing the left overs. By the time I get back to use it, there is dry compound stuck on the edge that falls into the mix. I use the dry mix. I mix enough to use in the designed set time. If I have to stop the work for some unseen issue and it sets up I have only lost a small amount to waste. The rest of the bag can be stored for years.

Joint compound and spackling paste are two products that basically perform the same job, so it's understandable that homeowners and DIYers get confused about the differences between the two. The products can be very similar, but at other times they are completely different in their chemical makeup, purpose, and ease of use.

While both are meant for fixing imperfections in walls, joint compound, also called "drywall mud" or just "mud", is usually used on new, unfinished walls to conceal joints, seaming tape, and screws. It is sometimes also used to make large repairs to previously finished walls. Spackle, on the other hand, is almost always used on finished walls to fix the dings and nail holes of daily life. Joint compound can perform spackle's job reasonably well, but you wouldn't want to use spackle to conceal joint tape when hanging drywall. And even if you did want to, you probably couldn't, since joint compound is engineered to have the consistency and properties you'd need for smoothing large quantities over a fairly long period of time. Spackle is specifically designed to fill small holes and dry quickly (via Lawrence Journal-World).

There are a number of ways of looking at the differences in various joint compound products. It might be most useful to think of them as premixed versus powder. There are also drying-type joint compounds versus setting-type joint compounds. However, the most useful way might be to break the products down by purpose and their special characteristics like all-purpose, topping, taping, and quick-setting joint compounds.

Spackle is really a purpose rather than a particular class of compounds. Indoor spackling pastes include lightweight and standard or all-purpose spackle. These are gypsum-based like joint compound and are basically meant for small drywall repairs (via HomeServe). Spackle containing vinyl, acrylic, or epoxy can be used both indoors or outdoors and are formulated for more specific or broader uses. Vinyl spackle, for example, is useful for filling deeper holes. Acrylic can be used on a lot of substrates, including brick and wood. And epoxy is a super-durable oil-based product useful for wood repairs.

Many spackling pastes and most joint compounds made for drywall are made up primarily of gypsum, a soft-mined mineral (calcium sulfate dihydrate) used extensively in the construction industry. You'll find gypsum in drywall, plaster, patching compounds like joint compound, and portland cement (via Bit Service). Spackle also generally contains a fine aggregate, often sodium silicate, and a binder. This type of aggregate helps spackle dry faster, reduces shrinkage, and enhances smoothness. Some spackle includes chemicals that make it suitable for a specific type of use. Vinyl, for example, is often found in lightweight spackling pastes (via the Lawrence Journal-World).

The main body of most joint compounds is usually gypsum and limestone, along with such minerals as quartz, talc, mica, and perlite. All-purpose joint compound is also likely to contain clay. Beyond clay, things tend to get a bit more unpronounceable including binders like polyvinyl acetate and its plasticizer, polyoxyethylenearyl. Formulas can also contain thickeners such as hydroxyethyl cellulose, methylcellulose, and gum arabic (via My Chemical-Free House ).

Comparing the costs of these two items can be a challenge because of their differing uses. Joint compound is used in large quantities by builders so it can be a lower cost and can be purchased in large quantities. Spackle tends to be used in very small quantities by homeowners so you can purchase every size from a tiny jar to a large container.

Both spackling and drywall compound have safety risks, and they are nearly identical. The conventional wisdom is that the most immediate danger of modern joint compound applies mostly to tradesmen who are exposed to it, and its dust, nearly every day. However, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, research in the seventies showed that some risks can extend to homeowners. And if your home was built before 1980, there's a good chance that they contain asbestos, since both drywall and joint compound manufactured prior to the '80s were likely to, according to DoItYourself.

Joint compounds, on the other hand, typically feature incremental improvements in performance over dramatic innovations. Features like "reduced shrinkage" and "improved open time" appeal to builders where these marginal improvements add up over the course of a building season. Many of the top joint compounds on the Lowes website have similar bulleted features in common. Reduced dust and improved slip were key features in 8 of the 14 formulas. Nearly half touted that they were pre-mixed and quick-setting. And one even promised to not clog sandpaper to make the finishing process more efficient.

It's fairly to say that applying joint compound is meant for those with professional skills while spackling paste is purpose-built to be usable by anyone. Some spackling pastes take the ease of application to an extreme by building applicators into their packaging, such as DAP's Fast'N Final Lightweight Spackling. But in general, it involves pushing some into the hole to be filled, then smoothing with the edge of a putty knife. Simply let it dry, sand it, and reapply layers as necessary,

Using joint compound involves a lot more complexity. It can be used for seaming two pieces of drywall, taping an inside or outside corner, or filling a large gap. There are also some more tools involved. If you were to fully outfit yourself for installing drywall, you might have a collection of knives in various sizes, including 8 to 14-inch options. You'll need a mud pan that can accommodate a knife of that size, a drywall hawk, a drill attachment for mixing joint compound, and a pole sander for getting to higher spots when sanding. Knowing how to use any one of these tools isn't difficult, and drywall mudding is considered a beginner project. However, the smoothness of the end result is directly related to the mudding and finishing skills involved. Watching instructional videos is useful, and If you can find a way to practice, that would be very effective as well.

There's always a gray area to be found, but generally speaking the pros and cons of joint compound and spackling paste align with their purposes. For example, joint compound is engineered for large-scale use. It is easier to apply smoothly over a large area and easier to sand. As a rule, it has a short open time, meaning that you're going to want to move fast, using material efficiently in a short period of time. There are different formulations for different purposes. Filling large holes, for example, will require a heavier compound than applying a thin topcoat. Joint compound also tends to shrink more than spackle, and it's often a good idea to apply joint compound in multiple layers, to manage dry time and shrinkage better.

Joint compound also benefits from the use of professional tools. You might get away with a broad putty knife for some uses, but a proper tape knife, pole sander, and even more specialized tools are required for most projects. You likely don't need to spend thousands of dollars on drywall compound pumps, corner finishers, drywall tapers, and flat boxes like high-volume drywall pros will (via Level5 Tools). However, you certainly want to be prepared with the proper tools to make your finished walls look as good as possible. If drywall finishing is something you don't have a lot of practice at, compounding the problem with poor tools isn't the best approach.

If you're rearranging the wall art in your living room or repainting a bath, spackle is made just for you. Finishing a basement or building a new house, on the other hand, clearly calls for joint compound instead. These uses for both are fairly clear, but what about the gray areas?

Mold Resistant Lite All-Purpose compound is formulated to resist mold. It is suitable for all phases of finishing, including taping of wallboard joints, corner trim and fasteners. Can be applied with either hand or mechanical tools. Provides good workability and low shrinkage. 041b061a72