Finally, a Workman Who Does a Good Job

Where I was hanging wallpaper / grasscloth today, a workman was patching a cut-out in a wall. At first (top photo), I thought, “Geeze, this patch looks like crap, surely he doesn’t think that’s ready to be painted!”

But a little later, he came back and did a little sanding, then refloated the patch, and, I have to say, his work looks fantastic. And he’s not done. He still has to texture the patch – and it’s a skilled craftsman who can match new texture to the texture already on the rest of the wall.

This man used what we call 20-minute mud – joint compound that is formulated to dry in 20 minutes, much more quickly than the regular kind (which is what I use when I’m smoothing textured walls). Since he was working in several areas in the house, he could spend 20 minutes on another project, then come back and fine-tune this patch.

Tags: 20-minute mud, hanging wallpaper, joint compound, smoothing textured walls, wallpaper