Hi
I tried D-mix for the first time last week.
A customer had a back entry she wanted to clean up a little .It was a 1920’s or so Craftsman Style house.Plastered walls,there were cracks and other issues ,someone had rolled on a heavy ugly rough texture,some buckles in the wall,I nremoved the real lose stuff and filled deep voids with durobond 90,taped the cracks also using the 90.
Came home that night got the recipe for D-mix ,I had been following the thread since way back when that coffee thing was going on(read original threads/D-Mix)Anyway I took a recent recipe 1/2 large bucket of joint compound,stir in cheap 1 gal pva primer,then add “1cup” of plaster of paris (POP),after the word 1cup were the words 1 quart
.So being my first outing with D-mix the next day I was a little nervous about messing up the mix so Im thinking which is it I cup or one quart,so I added 1 cup (your basic glass coofee cup the kind you might use at home in the morning,say 12 oz.
I have heavy textured walls so I start rolling it on it goes on fine but I could tell I would have to come back the next day and do another coat,maybe 2 more. I finished my first coat about noon.
I came back after lunch to seen how it was drying ,it was tacky like paint .Homeowner said they would put a fan in the area ,i got there about 9 the next day ,homeowner said last they checked it was still wet in spots.I went and re-read recent D-mix post ,Dino mentioned the POP was to help excelerate drying.Next morning I remembered all the coffee cup jokes ,Dunkin Donuts Cup etc.So I added 2 of the 12 oz .Coffee cups.This Stuff has the consistecy of a very thick paint .I tried using several tools to trowel it on ,a 12 inch knife ,a metal trowel,6 inch knife metal corner tools ,all the metal tools of the rough stuff rode all the bumps telegraphing all the bumps on the wall,So I recalled someone had sugested a rubber rywall squeegee,I went to 2 big drywall suppliers ,they said they didn’t make no suck sqeegee ,I said I know they do,I saw a link on this web site.I went to home Depot nothing.Then I went to Menards and they had a 14 inch Drywall Sqweegee by Warner .It was perfect for the rough stuff ,It floated better.I also used one of those tools will a pad on it some people use for painting inside corners ,I woudnt us one for painting but it worked better with the D-mix than a metel corner tool.I have a full set of Drywall tools ,Bazooka ,Boxes ,corner tools.I did not have those tools with me just a regular drywall hand corner tool.Maybe the other one would have worked better,I will try it when I have more time.
Finished 2nd coat on Friday at noon .It could use another coat.But it is a big improvement ,Homeowner says She is happy with the way it looks.
All this rambling is is my experience with a new product
Observations and Questions
Its like paint on steriods .I have an airless and an HVLP Does any one have any knowledge and experience spraying thicker mediums?If you can roll it on ,and it Rolls on well in my estimation,why cant you spray it on ,It might be EZ-ier?
If you have mixed the primer with it ,does it need to be primed ?I am pretty sure it doesn’t.Am I wrong on this?
The homeowner was amazed,happy,surprised I didn’t have to sand.Based on her previous experiences .
Conclusion
I would deffinately use this again.
I look forward to becoming more experienced with it
I think the needs to be more experinmentation with different tools to make it even EZ-ier.
I am not sure I could have done this in less coats(even if I used regular mud I would have had to make a least 2 more trips maybe 3
How much is to much plaster
If it makes it dry faster can we get it down to a working time of say a durobond 90 or 120
Replies
I predict the answer from the experienced voices will say it all depends on your own experience level with the product.
Some guys with the right knives can get a class act finish at least 10 times faster than I could getting a mediocre finish on the same.
But everytime I use it...better and better.
be line upon line, precept upon precept
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
I'm wondering-
Has anyone else tried using setting J.C. instead of all purpose premixed in this? I mix silverset or durabond 40 with water to a fairly stiff consistency, add PVA, then add POP. It sets up in an hour or two- the working time is less than that, but it's nice and hard on the walls in a couple hours.
Anyone else tried it? Or is there a reason that I shouldn't do this, like it will fall off my walls in a year and a half?
zak
We did the DMix last Friday, and shot it through a texture gun to get it on the walls. This was new construction and the intention was to dmix the entire place. I was so fascinated with the dmix idea that I had to give it a go; plus I really wanted better looking walls than the level 4 standard around here.
The trowel look was decent, and we played with orange peel and knockdown as well, first in a closet, then a bedroom. Our drywall guy brought a friend to observe and learn.
We probably played a little too long, b/c the dmix began to set up in the texture pump tube. Once we got that cleaned up, we started thinking: Why the pop? Then why the PVA?
After we thought about it for the weekend, we simply mixed +3 mud and water and textured the entire place in a knockdown. 3 coats of paint later the walls look much closer to plaster than regular drywall.
We were concerned the pop would make the mix difficult to sand where we needed to clean up corners. this was not the case.
We were also concerned about the paint in the mix making cleanup more difficult if we didn't tape of a window well enough etc. Plus paint costs more than water...
So I'm sure Dmix has its place, but for new construction, we will be using straight water in our mud and blowing it through the texture setup. With the heat cranked we had one guy on the gun (small Graco setup) and me following up with the knockdown knife. We textured 150 sheets of drywall in 6 or so hours. The next house will likely go 1/3 faster now that we have the gun and method dialed in.
If you are thinking of pop or durabond through a texture setup, be certain to move quickly - we almost plugged the hose on a brand new texture pump.
Im a little confused .
You are completely set up with automatic finishing tools. That puts you above this method. Most people here are not .
The only way you could have sprayed drywall mud in an airless is with somthing like a Graco Bull Dog. Then you would had the troweling to do to suit you from walls fully wet.
If I had wanted to try the D mix , I would have pumped it in a 12 inch float box and set it to feather coat. I would have left 10 inches voids around the room and floated the corners with a 6 full wide tapering out to 8.
Then came back and ran the 12 over the voids.
The 12 inch float box would have provided a level coat as you already know , thus a leveled finish. That would have been EZ and mechanically taken care of high lows in the old finish. You could have dragged out a 14 finish knife and slicked it too if it needed it but that would have been the final coat .
The idea Dino had from the start of this was a stonger finished wall that was more resistant than joint coumpound as a finish. The vinyal primer was to skip the priming in telegraphing walls which is the same as my finish less the pos. My question has always been the pos but thats the way I would have tried it .
You could have hand troweled the walls with 90 minute mud too and been done with the float coat to finish in the same day with vinyl primer and could have used high build , so with the equipment you have and experience running those tools you had several methods in your arsenal most dont have here.
Tim
Hey thanks
for the responseYou are more knowledgable on this subject than me.I have the tools but I guess I don't have much experience or knowledge of using the outside of new sheet rock.I am a remodeler,buy neccessity.I live in rural Nebraska ,I have lived and worked all over the country.I am mostly self taught on my Tape Tech tools .It depends on the job if I break them out or not. I find your post interesting and imformative .I guess I never thought of using the boxes to float out the walls..That said ,I am trying the D-mix in a tight entryway ,stairs,with high ceilings,even using the D-mix with paint roller i have to keep the extention pole off,Your right about floating it with 90 minute mud to But i wanted to experiment with the mix since i heard all the buzz. I have some old rental houses 100yrs or so that need walls (plaster)floated.I thought D-mix might be the answer,but maybe I need to re think it.
Thanks for your educated opinion
Rick Sheehan
Friend Nebraska
I dont mean to sound negative on the Dmix . That wasnt my intention at all.
I have Tape Tech tools too so when you mentioned it and what you were doing it confused me . Youve got 6,000 dollars worth of tools or more dedicated to this purpose already which separates most of the readers.
I have no experience at all on plaster . I think thats where the Dmix came from in repairing those surfaces. I also believe thats where Dinos experience comes from and mine is drywall extensively. When we met here we butted heads a little bit and that has been behind us for a long time . Most of it was my misunderstanding . When I understood I saw the benifit of his purpose . Dino is an outstanding gentleman to gentlemen. He has a big heart and thus honest purpose.
Said that to say this ;
The purpose of the Dmix was to slick a wall with a material that is durable . Those two things are the sight of purpose in the method and also the pos makes the material working time longer as he stated . I dont remember anywhere he said that the material goes off quicker. Actually it seems the reverse. Also I read two conflicting measurements as you did . A coffee cup and a quart which has to be different measurements. I understand that though because in my mixes I use that I shared here I also use different amounts depending on what I want to do. Just that simple . He also mentions that the difference in mixes doesnt matter because you are not going to hurt anything . I say that because the only difference in the Dmix and my mix is the pos . I dont use it as I only use mud and vinyl primer over a slick wall for a smooth texture coat , a first coat of paint and a hiding treatment comming from the vinyl primer all in one step. Its very cheap in material cost and labor as its shot in a mist and back rolled. There Im covering large amounts of surface in a quick time in production. So see its a different horse to ride for a different purpose . I think we should keep all the tricks we can for our arsenal so I think the Dmix also has its place.
Tim
Do you mean POP instead of pos? Plaster of Paris vs piece of ???? My fingers sometimes outrun my mind but sometimes it is the other way around (:-). Is the float box the same as the flat box on the link? That is some serious DW tool stuff. The guy that did my 125 boards had a system of mixing several different dw products to get multiple coats in a day.
Watching someone like him or you is a real study in time and motion. Dad worked as an industrial engineer and was always doing time studies. You great DW folks waste no motion!
Edited 1/30/2006 11:16 am ET by rasconc
I apologize.
POP
Flat box and float box be the same .
Tape tech equipment is very serious . Thats why I was originally confused. He was fully tooled to do what ever he wanted to do.
The reason I advised the float box is that it is a mechanical finish. If it is set to run an 1/8 inch pass it keeps it on plane passing over bumps no bigger than that and with in reason all dips. So if there was a 1/2 inch depression it would fill it . If the surface was worse than that they make a 7 inch float box that is primarily made for build and a 10 inch which builds and finishes by dial settings.
Tim
Cool, I was not trying to be ugly by the way. I have typed things before and I keep seeing what I meant rather than what I said. It was confusing to a degree.
Bob
Edited 1/30/2006 2:09 pm ET by rasconc
Me and the other old man [pif] dont pay enough attention to our typing sometimes. <G>
Whatya say? Im hard a hearin too. <G>
Tim
12 inch float box?
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter
Yea, if you click on this theres a moving pic of a guy running a bazooka and a 12 inch float box.
http://www.tapetech.com
Tim
thanks
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter