I used to think a 6-inch drywall knife was fine for everything, but taping a 12-foot ceiling with it was a huge mistake.

3 comments

3 Comments

My husband swears by a 6-inch knife for the first coat on any seam. He says the smaller blade gives him way more control for laying in the mud. He used a 12-inch for our kitchen ceiling and it left way more ridges to sand later. I watched him fight with it for hours.

chen.jenny8d ago

Oh man, I feel for your husband @angela40. I did the exact same thing on my first drywall job in our laundry room. Grabbed a 12-inch because I thought bigger would be faster. Nope. Ended up with mud everywhere and sanded so much I almost went through the paper. A 6-inch really does let you get in there and press the mud into the tape without dragging all that excess along. I still use a 12-inch for my second coat but that first pass is always with the small one now.

derek783mo ago

Honestly I read a DIY article that said the same thing. It argued a smaller knife forces you to focus on filling the seam first before worrying about feathering. Makes total sense after seeing your story.